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Avatar universal

Chest pain with exertion

Hi everyone, I hope I've got the right forum.

I'm a 27 year old male with no risk factors for heart disease but I get chest pain with exertion. I've had chest pain after exertion since around about 14 years but it's got worse lately and hurts more than it has in the past.

It's unusual because the pain starts when exercising and then peaks when I stop. For example, while running I feel incredibly uncomfortable in my chest and then when I stand still the pain hurts really bad. It's a discomfort pressure and it does increase in intensity and I get a painful ache after I stop exerting myself!

I've had an EKG and stress test EKG (with the pain afterwards, nothing came up on the ekg), heart 100% healthy apparently. The cardiac specialist said it could be exercise induced asthma but I don't really get wheeze and inhaler doesn't relieve or prevent it. (my peakflow actually went up following the EKG stress test).

I often get the same pain when I get up in the middle of the night and it starts when I stand up and peaks while using the loo!

I have been diagnosed with a hiatal hernia (confirmed with a scope) so I do have that, I also have very mild asthma.

The pain is inconsistent like if I go swimming it doesn't hurt too bad (but definitely there), treading water it hardly hurts at all but when I exit the water and stand at the side it hurts so bad.

Has anyone ever heard of anything like this and got to the root cause of it? It causes me unnecessary anxiety and google just keeps telling me I have heart disease.

Thanks a lot if you can help me,

Ben
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Avatar universal
Hi there. I advise you to get further doctors advice.I  will give you my experience of Hiatal hernia. I began to suffer occasionally from chest pain, usually when walking around, I was sure I was going to have a heart attack, I was scared. It gradually got worse, it was acompanied by acid reflux. I remember one day speeding down the stairs, when i got to the bottom, wow it was like a boot being pushed up my chest. I had several visits to the doctor, x ray , heart tests etc (All clear) I was going crazy with it for months. The doctor was giving me the vibe it was all in my head. Eventually i got a new consultant who did the scope to stomach. He immediately diagnosed the hernia and said it should be repaired. I went for it and he did keyhole surgery to repair it. It worked a treat, its still fine. Basically its like if you could imagine that the top of your stomach is floating loose, it occasionally pushes up into your Diaphram and lung cavity causing the pain, slowly sinking to ease the pain again. I definitely think that having read your post that it seems so similar.? You should investigate how bad the hernia is and whether they would repair it. Sometimes they offer antacids as a remedy! I cant tell if this is your problem, but i think it may be. Let me know how you get on when you go back to your doctor ( By the way google anything and its going to tell you a grim story. I mean if you go on with a pain in your toe, it will probably say its cancer. So try not to google diagnose!!)
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Avatar universal
Hi, I think that you can consult this situation with your doctor or take a second opinion and do the proper diagnosis.
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Avatar universal
Thank you so much for your response! It's driving me crazy and I feel like I can't go back to the doctors because I've had so many tests.. the last GP I asked about it said it's probably your stomach or your chest wall but I don't think it's your heart. Gee, how reassuring! I've had a full endoscopy (TWICE! they made me have a follow up). I'm on Lanzoprazole once a day which stops the burning but like clockwork every time I run up stairs or.. well run in general.. I get chest pain!

you're absolutely right about google I was kinda worried about responses on here, I thought the first response was going to be "You have face cancer" or something absurd!!!
Helpful - 0
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