Heart Palpatations, rib pain, etc...

My symptoms are heart palpitations, tachycardia, constriction of veins, and pain in my rib right behind my heart. Been through several months of testing. Though I was not directly tested for it, a doctor suspected I am going through an ADRENAL INSUFFICIENCY (aka adrenal fatigue). I do have a stressful life, but thought I could handle it all mentally.

Thought this information would be helpful, as many doctors in Western medicine do not recognize adrenal insufficinency as a condition (only Addison's disease).

I'm an M2 medical student so normally I just assume when I think something is wrong with me it is my mind overanalyzing my studies.

BUT- lately I've had this strange sensation while I study (when my back is pressed against the couch or propped up with pillows) of feeling a pulse in my mid-upper back musculature-- it's a pulsating sort of sensation.

When I lay down in bed to fall asleep, I feel a weird vibrating sensation throughout my body. I used to think it could be the house I live in but after it happened more than once i realized it was me!

Other symptoms I've had are occasional muscle twitches (fasciulations- common in medical students with a lot of stress).

I'm 23, I don't smoke, I eat very healthy, rarely drink (anymore since college). I don't work out anymore (no time... but I used to be a distance runner). I'm not overweight (5'5" 120).

I occasionally get palpatations and tonight when I tested my HR it was around 90... which is high but i had drank a BIG cup of coffee. I drink a lot of coffee... at least 2 cups a day.

I searched some of these symptoms on AccessMedicine today and found nothing.

Sometimes I feel an annoying crampy pain under my left chest which feels sort of better when I grab my rib from underneath and sort of pull it.

I've not had any heart pains... I figure this is caffeine but I'm concerned with my heart. I'll post back after we get through cardiovascular pathophysiology.

I forgot to mention... I am very sensitive to cold. My fingers turn white pretty fast if they are exposed for even a short period of time to cold temperatures.

I do not have Raynauds (I know this because I've seen a LOT of pictures and I don't have the characteristic color change of white to blue to red) but I essentially have the same sensation.

My fingers, toes, and (embarrassingly enough) nipples get extremely cold even when the weather isn't freezing. I have to use a heating blanket at night during the winter. I live in the midwest and this cold sensitivity did not develop until midway through college (about 5 years ago).

I'm not sure if anyone else has this problem... but I thought I should add it.

To reply to this individual... Her symptoms sound very much like sleep apnea. Also, the concept that you are "afraid" your heart will stop is typical of an irrational fear disorder-- this is something my 13 year old sister had (not to make it seem insignificant, she seriously had major difficulty sleeping because of this.) She had a few weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy and no drugs. You do NOT NEED ANTIDEPRESSANTS. Get off of them. Those are for people with serious depressive illness and/or certain other things such as fibromyalgia (which none of your symptoms suggest). And I am not insinuating fibromyalgia is a depressive disorder- it is a central sensitization disorder and it exists.

I suggest for this person's post, to get a sleep study done and to quit smoking ASAP. I am curious to know their weight. Smoking + overweight can lead to sleep apnea.


PostPosted: 03/21/07 - 20:19 Post subject: Heart Palpatations, rib pain, etc...
I am responding to the 18 year old in College experiencing this. I have been feeling the same way for 2 years and the doctors have been telling me it is anxiety and I know it is not. The medications they were putting me were not working, Prozac, Zoloft..ect. My pain is on the left side where my heart is under the breast and it is not even really pain, it is this discomfort. At night I feel my heart stop and I wake up to breath again, like a jerking sensation. I feel dizzy, faint like. I also smoke, so I have been trying to quit thinking that it is worse when I do smoke. If you find out anymore info, please post it because I am wondering what is going on and scared my heart is going to stop.

I'm finding the same~ I did not recognize it as stress at the beginning, but after having shortage of breathes a few times and feeling chest pain in the left side of my chest, doctors determined its panic attack~ now it's been after 2 months when it first started, but I'm still having chest pains~ chest x-rays and pulmonary tests all came back normal~ I've even quit my job which was somewhat stressful~ so now just sitting at home still having the same symptoms makes me wonder if it's really anxiety at all~ seems like a lot of you have gone through the same thing~ I really want to find out what's going on~ as it is driving me crazy when it happens and I don't know what is causing it~ any suggestion would be helpful! thanks!

It's nice to see that I'm not alone in this. I've had palpitations since I was 13 (I'm 16 now) and then about two weeks ago, I started getting the exact same chest pain that you described. Two different doctors took EKGs and said they were fine and I've had blood work done that turned out fine. I get palpitations, pain in my chest/ribs (mostly left side), short but intense pain and twitching in my left arm, unusual heart sensitivity (walking across a room will make my heart rate increase way more than it should), shortness of breath, pain in the muscles/veins in the front of my neck, near my throat, and in the past week, my pulse has gotten very weak. My doctor told me it's just anxiety but my life is not very stressful, except for the fact that I can't figure out what's wrong with me. It's gotten to the point where I have panic attacks and I can't sleep because I'm worried that I'm going to have a heart attack and die, even though there's really no solid evidence to suggest that I am in that kind of danger.

i also have the same pain and have read all of the post people dont understand panic or anxiety attacks you may think you are not worried or stressed but back of your mind it is i have panic attacks and i dont even know why they come on they just do so dont rule it out

I had similar problems with chest pains, palpitations, and even tingling in my chest and down my arms. My doctor did an EKG, blood workups, and several other tests but they all looked fine. I searched the internet and decided to rule out caffeine. That didn't help, but then a nurse friend of mine suggested I eliminate aspertame from the foods I eat. I didn't realize it, but I was eating SO much of it... diet soda, light yogurt, sugarfree mints, etc. I started feeling somewhat better after 2 days and totally better after 2 weeks. It seems like aspertame is in everything these days, so it is difficult to elimiate from your diet, but it will probably help so give it a try. Even several years later, I still have to eliminate aspertame..... if I am accidentally served diet soda at a restaurant, I will get chest pains within an hour. I have found that in general, I can consume items with splenda, but I suggest eliminating all artificial sweeteners until you are feeling better.

Wow. Same here. 33 year old male. Constant pain around my heart and under rib cage. Tests show nothing. Somedays I swear I will die. I guess this is something we just have to live with.

Ok I have half figured this out after a year of misery and doctor searching visits and my own research. After all the same tests yall have had, and my symptoms are similar if not exact. I was finally told that I have a few upper and lower ribs out of the correct rotation in my rib cage. The vibrating sensations are the muscle spasms desperately trying to pull them back into the correct rotation both in the front from the sternum around the sides to the spine. There are both nerves and muscles that run between each rib that are not happy. The inflamation your body purposely is causing because the pinched nervous are informing the brain of an injured area makes it all the more painful, hence the throbbing. When your rib cage is not in alignment with your spine your neck and shoulder muscles are having to over work overtime to hold you erect and become very rigid. When your swollen rib cage holding your lungs is pressing uncessesarily against your heart muscle you find it difficult to take in a full breath and can easily get palpations in your heart. You are not sick, this is a simple mechanical skeletal misalightment whose symptoms are expressed in a neromuscular pattern that is often not checked for or easily corrected unless you find a very experience orthopedist or chiropractor that can pinpoint the offending ribs that are also quite often accompanied by rotated vertebrae that must also be realigned. (this re-alignment is taking awhile and sometimes temporarily exacerbate symptoms I like to imagine its like moving teeth with bracers over time which is not comfortable either)

Hieatal hernias can cause the same effect if your pain is only in the front left and under your your breast bone, as your protruding stomach lining is pressing against your heart and lungs-But this was not my case however.

-To help nip a chronic inflamation issue causing additional pain in the but, do about 6 days of prednisone and ibroprofen-no more than a week period!!
-Ice the throbbing part, and put heat on the vibrating parts.
-Get a low back cushion in your chair to help support your ribs and spine while being upright.
-'Lyrica' may work for nerve pain and reduce the jerking but takes time to take effect.
-Do side-to-side and reach for the sky stretches for ribs, and bend down face-to-knees and curl back up slowly for vetebrae stretches
If I need to sit or stand for awhile I take 2 'xanax'-it reduces the vibrating/shaking enough to stay erect without becoming out of breath.
-You can reduce the "pounding heart episodes" by going to lay down as soon as you are starting to feel the out of breath weakness symptoms from trying to hold your self up-cant overtax an already overworking heart.
-MSM, Arnica, Boswella, Manganese, and Phyoletic Acid are all supplements that help reduce muscle and joint pain and inflammation.

You know your body better than any doctor, listen to the super highway of your nervous system ie. 'direction of pull' or 'route of vibration' or 'preferred movement' as to where your hiccup is at.

I have been having heart palpations and or irregular heartbeats for11months now I have been experiencing anxiety and panic attacks mostley at night i have been to the er at least once a month since feb been to cardiologist wore holiter monitor for 22 days had echeocardiogram and ive had ekgs at least once a month if not twice a month and nothing palpations are getting worse I dont understand why i feel like this i also get alot of chest pain on left side of breast can someone help......

Just a thought......

PVST: Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia & WPWS: Wolfe Parkinson White Syndrome.

***edited by moderator*** web addresses not allowed

being only 15 i know i should be afraid but ive had it too long to care anymore. when the pain comes its under my left breast and if i breathe in too deep it hurts even more forcing me to take really short almost gasping breaths. when it goes away it feel like it, say, 'pops back in place' and its suddenly gone with only the faint reminder of pain left behind. it however is kind of starting to worry me because its getting worse and it happens more often now. if you have any..suggestions on what it wmay be id like to know so i can search them and mention them to my doctor..thanks

I am a 16 year old male. a have had all the same symptoms as most of you. I was just thinking. all of you seem to be very thin. and when i went to the hospital the doctor told me because I was so thin my heart was hitting my rib cage. this normally happens in female athletes because they are soo thin. I also am very jumpy, and twitch occasionally. i don't smoke, I try to stay fit and eat well. I hope that helps.

I agree with the Guest posting on 03/30/09. You cannot rule out panic attacks or anxiety. I have been dealing with them for about 5 years now, and alot of the symptoms everyone is experiencing is part of having a panic attack. However, they are also symptoms of other major problems so it is hard to diagnose. I have all the same symptoms as everyone else. I have recently had to see a cardiologist for bradycardia (low heart rate) and a pulmonary specialist for sleep apnea. I am 24 years old and experienced nothing until after I had my son 4 months ago. However, I'm reassured it has nothing to do with giving birth. Anxiety can come at a point in your life when you think you are completely stress free and not a care in the world. Mine did. There are more causes for anxiety attacks other than just a stressful lifestyle. If anyone believes their problem is more serious then I suggest seeing a cardiologist and perhaps a pulmonary specialist. My cardiologist was unable to find anything after an echocardiogram, stress test, stress echo, numerous EKG's, a heart CT and bloodwork. He said my heart is very healthy. However, you can have problems with the electrical part of your heart. So by all means make sure you get checked out. For the person who wakes up twitching and gasping for breath, you may have sleep apnea. With my rib pain it usually occurs when I overexert myself and then i start getting short of breath, like when walking through the grocery store. I have an appointment with my lung doctor today...I will post if anything significant is found out.