Chest Pains

H

Horn_Spanker

250+ Posts
I woke up about 4am this morning with chest pains. Scared me enough to go take an aspirin. But at 6:45 I sit here at work (dedicated) and the chest still hurts. If it was my heart, wouldn't I have at least passed out by now?
Oh, I'm 43, high cholesterol and no exercise!
 
Dangit, WTF are you still doing at work, go to the doc.
Hell, you state employees can have a tummy tuck, botox, and hair implants for $10.
 
I work in the ER department at a hospital and I would also tell you to make a visit to the ER...only if it doesnt get better. Let them give you a chest x-ray and EKG atleast, just to make sure. They can also give you some meds to relax and help the pain. In the end you will feel better and it will be simple procedures that you insurance should pay for.
 
Taking the time out to go to an ER might just save your life. Been there, done that. I've had more blockages than Bush's judicial nominees.
(heart attack - a couple of TIA's - three separate stent implants).
 
"insurance should pay for"

You obviously don't know how much state employee benefits have been cut lately.

The last time I went to the ER was a couple of years ago for kidney stones. Got some nice pain meds, a UA, a couple of MRI's (or some other scan) and a prescription for some more pain meds and was sent home to "pass the stones".

Total bill was $4,300 bucks of which I paid about $500. In the old days my part would not have exceeded $50.

Being a state employee ain't what it used to be.

Oh yeah Horn Spanker, go to the Doc/ER before you die in front of your co-workers. Dieing ain't a pretty sight.
 
If you haven't been the Er already, get your *** there pronto! Very rarely is a heart attack accompanied by loss of consciousness. When it does happen, usually they don't live long. A large percentage of heart attack suffers feel nothing but chest pain. Other typical symptoms are pain or numbness that radiates to the left arm/shoulder/jaw, shortness of breath, nausea, sweating, and some will only describe it as a pressure-like sensation or "heartburn".
 
Have you had the flu/cold recently? Sinus Infection?

I had an episode where I was feeling chest pains, went to the doctor, and discovered it was just a condition known as "Costal Chondritis"...or "Tietze Syndrome" basically an irritation/inflammation of your chest cartilage from coughing, etc. Very common, often mistaken for a heart attack.

Definitely irritating, but not life-threatening. Hope that's all it is. Get checked out regardless.

Raise your arm above your head, do you feel a slight tug or a pull?
 
IS spanker dead?
frown.gif
 
I can vouch for the costochondritis. When it flares up, it can get intense and actually shoot pains all down your left arm. I havent had a bad one in 2 years, but I can pop my sternum and clavicle joints all the time, which is not a good thing.
 
as far as Tejas's bill for the trip to the ER....500 is not so bad considering you had two MRI's and Probably and Ultrasound.....each MRI even with the best insurance is still going to cost you a couple hunred bucks out of pocket....its the main revenue generater in the hospital...(along with all the other imaging equipment) unfortuatly they should have only given you and ultrasound....i was speaking with an ER doc the other day and he told me at a major hospital that he works at in Texas that they are highly encouraged to send people down to get MRI's and CT's by the admin...they say...wink...wink....this is for malpractice reasons....but this is the way the hospital is making money...

Oh yeah...go to the hospital spanker....
 
He's joined the choir Invisible.
He's an ex-Horn_Spanker.
At least Hornfans administratively speaking.
blush.gif



He's fine. Bad chorizo.
 
I had something like that happen to me when I was
about 30. I called my insurance company and they
told me if it was an emergency they would cover
it 100% and she advised me to go to the hospital. While at the hospital they found that my problem was I had made a small hole in my throat
from taking a pill right before I fell asleep and that
was what the pain was from. Anyway, since that wasn't an emergency I had to pay for it. I didn't have to pay for all of it but it was the only time I went to the doctor all year so there were deductables and other charges.
 
Considering that this is now several days later you should at least make an appointment to see a doctor (right away). You don't necessarily pass out when having a heart attack.
 
Thanks guys, for wondering about me. Right after I posted I had some web problems, so it's taken me awhile to get back on.

Here's the story. I went to my GP, he pulled out his little Ronco EKG machine. Whatever he saw, make him send me to a Cardiologist right away.

At the Cardiologist office, they injected me with some kind of radioactive stuff and had me sit in the waiting room and drink water. About an hour later they took me to a machine that rotated around my chest for about 15 minutes mapping out my heart. Next they strapped on their EKG, put me on a treadmill, and ran my butt off. Injected me again with more radioactive stuff and mapped the heart again. When they were finished, they sent me down the hall to a guy that gave me a sonogram.

Diagnosis is, my heart is too muscular or too thick. Doc kept interchanging these two terms. Muscular in this sense is not good. He said it was a hereditary thing and not a lifestyle cause.

In the end, I’m on medication that cost me $85 for 30 pills WITH insurance and MY PART of the Cardiologist bill was $600! Which of course, hurt worse than the chest pains!
 
Glad you had yourself check out and will be okay, Spanker.

I had an MI a little over two years ago. I had chest pains for three nights. I finally called my husband from work, told him to come get me at work and take me to the ER. In two hours they had me in the cardiac cath lab, stent in place, and in a bed in CCU.

Honestly, the pain was not that severe. I do have to add I live with arthritis pain everyday and having both types of pain at the same time, the chest pains, relatively speaking, were not that painful.

The humor in the situation was my husband. God bless him I think he thinks I am indestructable. Reality still had not set in with him when the doctor was wheeling me into surgery. He stopped, told him his wife was having a heart attack and he was taking me into surgery now. My husband's jaw was literally flapping. Bless him. He is dependent on my handling things for him and I could not do it this time.

The message here is the chest pains may not feel that severe. The pain may be felt more in your back but it is not back pain. You may feel more tired than usual whether you get enough sleep or not.

Take care of yourselves people.
 
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