On my way to self diagnosis? [Don't think I'm crazy]

I know we live in an age of Google and where any wacky minded person can go off looking to match symptoms in order to self-diagnose.

I found myself as part of that set of persons, but hopefully you've know me long enough to know that I'm still VERY open-minded and not too wacky-minded.....but

What I found just now is hitting home.

Let me bring you up to speed.



THE CHEST PAIN IS BACK!

UGH!

And even though it's still at a dull stage (and I DOWNED 3 ibuprofin within the first hour of it coming on), it's still a nuisance and bothersome. I certainly hope the ibuprofin is keeping the (potential) pain at bay.

Rather than retyping just about everything I did on a forum, I'll paste what I wrote there:

The world of Google!!!!

For the past 6 months, I've had this reoccurring SHARP left (ONLY left) chest pain that (naturally) started to scare me once I felt it "spread" beyond my left shoulder down my arm. (the third remembered incident).

I am 35, avid runner, 45BPM resting heartbeat.....in shape! Eat well; my only vice is my too-occasional cup(s) of coffee (daily). (1-5 depending on the day).

The time this pain occurred at the end of May, 2011---it was just scary! I was incapacitated; as I literally couldn't do much except mope off to bed and PRAY that sleep found me. It was so painful to breath; couldn't take deep breaths. The pain felt quite sharp, and constant pressure---location seemed to be "surrounding" my heart on the upper left and lower right sides. Ibuprofin is my drug of choice, but nothing helped. This incident was the 3rd that I really remember, and they were reoccurring every 3-4 weeks (my only simple recollection at that time.)

In June, I felt the oncoming of this pain again, and I FEARED for the rest of that day, so I headed in to the ER, simply fearful of the unknown. Heart attack? Heart problems? EKG and heart ex-rays showed an excellent heart; no other tests were done. Doc didn't know or have much to say.....was giving me the "must be skeletal/muscular" speech and had me follow an ibuprofin regime for the next 5 days. That week, the pain never reached that of May's episode, BUT it lasted for 4-5 days before I felt back to normal. Maybe the ibuprofin WAS doing something afterall?

NOW! It's happening again. And I just started menstruation this morning. This got me to thinking about June's episode----the nurse asked me when I last menstruated, and I KNEW I was due to start any day. Sure enough, the next day, my cycle started.

So, I thought......hmmm....maybe a connection? So---google lead me here. Is there a connection? I'm thinking YES!

I used to take birth control pills for much of my adulthood, however no longer have a need to for the past 5 years and have never had any pain like this (that I recollect). I only recall this pain for the past 6 months. So, I'm trying to put pieces together to make sense of this.

My pain ranges from minor dullness to ACHING, SHARP, CONSTANT PRESSURE POINTS. It mostly is noticed in the upper pectoral region near the shoulder joint, however can seem to travel over the shoulder/down arm at times, and also migrates to the inner left breast area (which is the most painful.)

I realize my post/comment is lengthy, but like many of you, I'm glad I found this list and simply want to debug my symptoms too. I will observe more for the next month or so.

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If you're still with me, I hope the part that stands out from my post is the connection that I've made to menstruation times. The connection didn't make sense to me, but I googled "chest pain with menstruation" when I got online tonight just to see what I'd find.

Nothing I found gives any diagnoses, but I found other women who also share many of the same pains that I have.
- Forum I posted to: MedHelp: Chest pain with menstruation
- Case report: Angina menstruation
- BBC news: Link between heart pain and menstruation?

I'll stick to being a teacher, but I'll also keep tuned in to my chest pain/menstruation cycle. As for treatment----all I can do is stick to ibuprofin and hope it keeps the pain at bay as best as possible.

A day of no real plans, but still a change of plans happens

First off, the rumors about Grandma and Grandpa stopping in to kidnap the girls was true. They showed up around 11:30 AM. I had been downstairs all morning, tidying the sewing room; putting the machine back out; unpacking my boxes and bags of fabric.....all the while listening to my last 2 CD's of Sandra Brown's "Breath of Scandal."

I'm not about to make this a non-quilty-picture post, so...


despite ONLY getting my HST's organized because I was so intune to the CD book, sitting idle for almost 30 minutes at one stretch) I at least was able to group together 30 sets for the Quiltville HST swap for Bonnie's Smith Mountain Morning quilt before G&G showed up. AND I only had 20 minutes of my book left!!!!! Agh! It almost killed me to turn it off.....the finale was nearing! **sigh** oh well.

G&G stopped in ONLY for a short while; long enough to get a tour of all the gardens and for me to get the girls packed up. They were back on the road shortly after 1:00.

So, with a quiet house, I got myself dolled up (aka: put my contacts in and a bandana-headband in my hair) so that I could do a quick bank errand. Grabbing the Book/CD, I puttered into town at a measly 54 MPH ;0) No one was behind me, so I enjoyed the leisurely posted speed limit. Still with about 15 minutes left of the book once I reached town, I lolligagged around the 9 mile Lake Drive that runs along the perimeter of Shell Lake, the lake our town is named after. The CD/Book was due today at the library, so I needed to finish it and return it ;0)

While driving along......**sigh**.....my chest pain started up again.

**Rewind 2-3 months**
Off-n-on over the past few months, this piercing ANNOYING chest pain has been plaguing me. When it first happened, it was rather dull, but still enough for me to take some ibuprofin, hoping it would subside, whatever it was. It didn't. But, the next day, all was well again.....not much more thought was put into it.

The next time it happened was about 3-4 weeks later; and this time I tried some Aleeve (sp?) thinking it was muscular related, but again, no help. Mind you, Ibuprofin is my "drug" of choice; nothing else seems to work. BUT, I thought I'd give it a try. Again, it didn't seem to help, but the next morning, all was well again.

The last time (the next time) it happened was 3-4 weeks ago (again, 3-4 weeks after the last incident), and it slowly built all afternoon to the point where by 8:00 PM, I simply crawled into bed, hoping for sleep and hoping it would be gone again the following morning. THAT was the worst, and a lil' bit scary simply because it put me out of commission. I couldn't do much of anything except moan inwardly to myself as to not bother anyone. I couldn't take deep breaths in or out because it was painful. When I laid down, I couldn't lay on my back, stomach or side comfortably because it was painful. I was quite miserable. It crossed my mind that I should head in to the clinic to get it checked out that evening, but I let it go and 'sucked it up.' I really was thinking that it was all due to being out of shape. (??)

**Fast forward to today**
When the pain started up again today, it was dull, but I FEARED it would reach the level it was the last time, so after dropping the CD/Book off at the library once finished, I turned in to the clinic to see if I could be seen for chest pains.

Those who know me know that when attention is paid to me....undue attention....I get so blasted emotional. On a scale of 1 to 10, my pain was only at a 1.5, but when the nurse heard 'chest pain' and showed concern...and I thought of Paul's worrying last time....and my mom's stern concern......gah! I started tearing up...all the while saying, "I'm really okay...I really am...I just have a slight concern....and wonder if there was anyone who could check me out."

Psht

Over to the ER I was rolled, hooked up to an EKG within 5 minutes...given aspirin.....xrays taken....wires all over. I'm thankful to know that they take their job seriously....in the event I ever REALLY was in need of medical attention.

Well, after an hour of waiting on results of bloodwork and xrays, my heart looks exceptional. My heart beat was low, which had a couple of different nurses question if I was a runner. ;0) Glad that my heart didn't take TOO long to get back into shape from my last two weeks of running....however, I don't ever recall my resting HR quite that low ever.....a fairly constant 45-50 BPM. I don't think the Doc really knew what to prescribe, but it the end, suggested an ibuprofin regimin over the next handful of days and "see how it goes."

So now...I'm back home. Whether it was the aspirin or just the confirmation from trained medical professionals that it's nothing serious, my pain is quite dull....maybe a 0.5 on the pain scale. I can breathe.....and I'm starving! That's always a good sign, right?

The house is eerily quiet. Paul is still at work. The girls are gone with G&G. No TV or radio has been turned on (yet.) The only sound I really hear is the ticking of the clock and the AC air blowing through the vents. I have a pizza in the oven, smells teasing my growling stomach!

**shrug**
It's bizarre right now. I need to find something to do.
;0)

---

5:35 pm: DH to the rescue :0)
Paul just called to ask how I was; I txted him from the ER to inform him I was getting checked out.
He invited me to a boat ride (I'm assuming with the "new" boat). More on THAT whole ordeal some other time, but for now.....I'm game!