I don't want to mention this to my mother, because she tends to be a hypochondriac, and I can't just call up my doctor because it's after office hours and it's not an emergency.... I guess I just want some reassurance.
I am having very, very, very minor chest pains. (More towards my right side of my chest.) I am only 19, and am very skinny and healthy, don't have asthma. (Although my sister does, and I do have allergies.) The thing is, though, it wasn't just one twinge... it's been little tiny twinges for about twenty minutes or so. What could it be? Should I worry about it? I'm in the process of getting over a cold... but nothing worse than usual. I can't think of anything else. I'm not on any medication, nor have I been for at least six months. Is it just some freak thing that isn't going away because I'm thinking about it too much and therefore causing it to keep on going? (I do occasionally get very minor twinges and aches in various muscles and occasionally back.... But very minor and very infrequent.) I'm not on any sort of vitamin supplement; could this be caused by some sort of nutrient deficiency? I think I have a pretty healthy diet, though.... (Although I know I'm not getting nearly enough fruits.)
I've been trying to google other possible causes for very minor chest pains, but I'm not finding good results.... Just heart attack related info.
If anyone knows enough to tell me what it might be (or if it means absolutely nothing at all) that would be great....
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Did you have a cough with your cold and maybe strained some muscles from coughing?
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Or have you done any physical activity that could have strained a muscle?
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Like...using a jackhammer?
Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
I had that happen to me and when they checked me into the ER it turned out just to be a pulled muscle. One thing to remember there is a difference between heart pain and pec muscle pain. Can you move a certain way and make it change or occur? Can you cough and it happens? How about your pulse?
Not something you want to take a chance on though.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
The jackhammer was actually amazingly stress-free, mack. I really felt great afterwards, the vibration was kinda like a massage. And it only weighed 80 pounds. *shrug*
The rotary edger when I refinished my upstairs floors, now, that's a little tough on your body. You have to basically waddle in a crouch all around the edges of the room while controlling this thing that wants to go spinning off in every direction. I'm not looking forward to doing downstairs.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Your knees must've been killing you.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
What kind of pain? Stretchy, tearing pain? Sharp, stabbing pain? Throbbing, achy pain? Does it feel like a pulled muscle?
Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
Yeah, we saw: *cough* How funny too!
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
mack: And lower back, which was compounded by being a little too short to effectively use the rotary sander for the rest of the floor. Puts a bit more stress on your lower back instead of your upper back and shoulders when you're shorter. But I was in pretty good shape at the time, so it wasn't too bad. And the floors are pretty.
</derail>
Sorry, reader.
[ February 28, 2005, 06:05 PM: Message edited by: ElJay ]
Posted by reader (Member # 3888) on :
I didn't have much of a cough at all with my cold... although I did cough up flem once or twice today, and that could've strained a muscle, I suppose. It didn't start hurting right after that, though. I haven't coughed at all since this morning.
Have I done any heavy work recently? Definitely not today, not at all. I did pick up my younger brother yesterday (as a joke) - and he's eight years old, and weighs quite a bit - but then wouldn't it have started hurting yesterday? It just started about forty minutes ago....
And it's a very steady (minor) twinge...twinge...twinge.... Coughing doesn't seem to make it get worse....
Edited to Add: Rivka, it's definitely NOT sharp and stabbing - like I said, it's a very minor twinge. I can't tell if it's a pulled muscle, because I don't really know what that feels like....
[ February 28, 2005, 06:07 PM: Message edited by: reader ]
Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
Reader isn’t on her AIM or Yahoo. Wonder if he went ahead to the hospital? Hope she’s ok.
Edit: Guess she's there
twinge...twinge...twinge.... like in beat with you heart?
Edit three: She! (No wonder I'm single)
[ February 28, 2005, 06:28 PM: Message edited by: Jay ]
Posted by reader (Member # 3888) on :
Reader's a she.... And I'm never on AIM, and rarely on Yahoo.
I'm in a house full of people, by the way, so don't worry. Posted by reader (Member # 3888) on :
My pulse is normal (at least, within the range of normal; I don't know if it's normal for me, because I can't remember the last time I took my pulse). The twinges are happening at a much slower rate than my heartrate - maybe about a third to a quarter as fast.
Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
Oops… sorry about the he she mess up. Have no clue why I picked he.
Ok, that’s different. The twinge beating has me concerned. A pulled muscle is steady usually. Unless of course it might be something pulled with your breathing. So not to scare you, but it’s really not good to take chance with this sort of thing. Do you have insurance? A book you can take with you? Some homework to do while you wait? If so, it can’t hurt and if it is something bad you’ll be glad you went.
Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
I've gone through this numerous times. Things that have caused it for me:
1) Muscle strain -- this is really very common and need not be the result of anything particularly strenuous, or even something you did in the past few hours. It can be delayed.
2) chest colds, coughing, etc.
3) too much caffein. This really BUGGED me, but every once in awhile the caffein level gets to the point where I start having symptoms like chest pains and heart skipping beats, etc. So, I go off of caffein for about a year and it clears up.
4) Stress. Like the caffein thing. But stress can, in some people, cause this kind of thing. It's not a heart-related thing. It's more like muscle and nerves firing off too much. Related muscle strain??? I don't know, but it sent me to the doctor 3x before I figured out that I was actually stressed out enough to make it plausible (divorce, move, and other stuff all at once...)
However, I don't recommend that you ignore it. There's always the chance it could be something to be concerned about. If it is stress, knowing that's all it is will help you calm down, I bet.
So, if you have medical coverage, go see a doctor and get a checkup. They might end up running an EKG to be sure you aren't the rare 19 year old having a heart attack.
Posted by reader (Member # 3888) on :
Okay, they've totally stopped now. For a while they were getting fainter and fainter, and now they're gone. I think I'm just going to assume it was some sort of strained muscle from sneezing/coughing. Thanks, everybody. And if it happens again, I'll go to my doctor.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Huh. I hadn't even noticed that you'd listed an AIM id.
Glad to hear the pain stopped. Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
Cool. Glad to hear it. Might not be a bad idea to take some Advil or some ibuprofen medicine tonight before you hit the hay. It’s a muscle relaxer as well as pain killer and could help loosen anything up that might still be aggravated.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
If it is stress or anxiety, simple deep breathing may help. I don't think it could hurt. You might also want to try a little walk. My father in law gets fibrillations from chocolate. Pray that it isn't that.
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