"Spasm" feeling in chest, no pain involved - part 2

I've had problems with breathing for just over a year, but now I feel a lot better. I react to chemicals and pollens, and the worst of it started over a year ago after we painted our house. I became very sick afterwards and could not go into the house for MONTHS without feeling like rubbish. We sold the house (not because of this issue but because we were going to sell anyway after the renovation), and I've had to throw almost everything from the old house away! Books, clothes, you name it.
We did have a mold problem that may have increased my sensitivity, but since I have found I cope poorly when in contact with various checmicals, dyes and molds especially. I also have a problem with most clothes that I buy, something, maybe the dye or preserving chemicals that give me beathing difficulty (leading to a panick attack on a few bad days), face(sinus) & chest tightness, itching and swelling that lead to a general feeling of CRAPNESS. I've never been a depressive or anxious personality so I ruled these out.

To cut a long story short, I do feel I somehow became over sensitised to things normal people would not notice. I never had asthma but I carried a ventalin pump with me that I used on occasion which helped particulary at night. It was VERY tricky finding a way out of this, but now I am very perceptive of what gives me problems.

I would recomend the following for anyone having these problems:
Sleep NAKED in freshly HANDWASHED bedding (use mild laundry soap).
open the WINDOW, let in fresh air all night.
Do you feel better?
If NO, move everything out of the room EXCEPT THE BED and clean the walls with vinegar and vacuum the carpet (DONT get a professional to wash the carpet, it will probably SMELL because of the CHEMICALS they use, even if they say its non-toxic etc.)
Do you feel better?
If no, do the same in another room (or another house).

For me it was a process of ELIMINATION. One of the last things I eliminated that made this BIGGEST improvment was my CLOTHES! I only have a few garments I can wear and feel FANTASTIC and fully NORMAL when they're on me. I put on another peice of clothing AND THE SYMPTOMS START!

It boggles my mind that however I try to clean the "bad" clothes IT DOESNT WORK! Whatever it is IT HAS BONDED TO THE FIBER! Nothing I can do except THROW IT AWAY.

I wash the few pieces of clothing in a bucket ON THEIR OWN, and I FEEL MUCH BETTER! I've been good for weeks now until I come into contact with mold, paint fumes and other smelly chemicals. But at least I can GET AWAY from these. The problem with the clothes was that they were ALWAYS ON ME. VERY FRUSTRATING. What can you say to that....
Your your own best doctor! Thank goodness I didn't get on any meds for this. I wonder if people with asthma could treat their problem like I did. I think I would have been dignosed with asthma(for starters!) if I didn't make an effort to work out this problem myself. Some days I would feel like a MADMAN. But now I know I'm sane :-D

Have the same spasms in the sternum area, along with heartburn,it used to be bad at night, until I raised the head of my bed 6 inches, stoped eating foods that trigger heart burn, and eat or drank nothing 3Hours before bedtime,I to am 8days into a 14 day prilosec regimen which seem to help a little but not as much as quitting consumtion of tomatoes, and tomato products,onions,garlic,coffee,tea chocolate, sodas and all spicy and fatty foods (what a drag) I to suspect hiatus hernia, but have not had the barium imaging test as yet A good area of research to check out is to google" barrets esophagus", which you all should be checked for because that could turn into something more serious. The doctors ive talked to want to do an angiogram, and stent "if" they find any blockages. Because esophgeal symptoms and angina symptoms mirror each ive opted for screening of all esophgeal,hiatus hernia,and acid reflux (including barrets esophgus) first. One thing That tells me that its not a cardio issue is that I can lift weighs fairly intensely for about an hour and some change and do not get the burning chest pain, however if I walk at just an ambling pace for a few minutes I have to stop because on intense burning in the sterum area. I am still researching and will post again if I find more info

Well same story here, for the last 3 days, outta know where, I've been having these spasms. The first one, of coarse, I thought I was having a heart attack, just like I thought when I had my first 10 anxiety attacks. But this was way different. I have also been suffering from anxiety for the last 12 years, but have been doin MUCH better the last 4 years or so. when this hit me, it immediately caused an anxiety attack! Chowed on 3 or 4 xanax and calmed down, but spasms were still there for an hour or so. The next day same thing same exact time. I have been...."gasy" lately and I belive this might have alot to do with it, but I'm no Dr. because when I let one fly, I do feel the spasms less, but it's still freakin me out. Ive had a million different panick attacks but this just causes them! I already feel better knowing other people are suffering along with me, lol, sorry, but it does help! THANX!!!!

I have just found this topic whilst googling my symptoms as I am getting more and more concerned. Mine sound exactly like what some of you have mentioned - sometimes the spasms are central chest, sometimes they radiate into my neck, sometimes around the back of my left hand side, rib cage area etc etc. The only difference with mine is that I get them every minute of every day 24/7 - sometimes every thirty seconds or so and this time they have lasted seven weeks or more without any release.
Any ideas?

Same problem a feeling like a - bump, squeeze, flutter, heart pumping no blood... causes me to draw a short breath rather than the normal full one. NO PAIN! Been having them constantly for the last few months.

33 years old, healthy, pretty fit, eat ok not super good since I am short on cash I tend toward high carbohydrate meals

It just started this year but I am under a bit of stress, lack motivation (which is killer when I'm in school) and exhausted

I am convinced it is likely anxiety and/or Magnesium deficiency.

Read the post from the MD student. Probably the most thorough post on the forum regarding this problem.

To treat I am going to start meditating again (this can be done in an Eastern style, or Christian style whatever best suites your particular beliefs), and getting more consistant exercise. I may also see about an anti-anxiety drug such as Paxil if it doesn't get better.

I just started getting these yesterday. I ended up going to ER. Of course, I didn't have any while hooked up to their monitors. EKG normal. They said they were probably PVCs.


I was told these are usually benign. They are normally not even noticed but once they are, we notice them more because they scare us and we are waiting for them.

Having them again tonight - but not as freaked.

My post above is missing a link.

Google Premature ventricular contraction

This is the first time I've ever read of symptoms that were so similar to my own. It's exciting!

I started having spasms in my chest/throat when I was about 15. I'm 24 now ( and female! ). The frequency and feeling has changed a bit over the years. At first it was a slow spasm at the bottom of my throat, and it would happen maybe three times a week. Then they vanished for a few months. Then I would have one almost every morning when I sat up in bed. Then they vanished for a year. Since then they've been off and on randomly until about a month ago. Now I get them about once a week, and it's hard to sleep because whenever I lay down, my chest and throat spasm almost constantly. ( and I have to be at work VERY early so they don't make life easy! )

Like a lot of you, I've anxiety for a while. I finally had a huge anxiety attack about four months ago while I was driving. I was dizzy, couldn't breathe, my chest was pounding, my hands went numb.. the works! At the emergency room, they ran an EKG and pulled blood, but the only thing they found was slightly elevated blood pressure - most likely due to my freaking out. Another attack/ER visit later, I was put on Celexa and Klonopin for my anxiety. I haven't had an attack for a while, but I still spasm, which continues to worry me. :p

It's not painful! I can exercise and go about my daily business just fine. It mostly happens when I'm laying down at night.

I do have allergies to certain animal dander and dust, and thought maybe that had something to do with it? I'm more inclined to believe that it's an intestinal thing.

I'm so relieved to hear from more people with this problem! It really does make me feel better.

OK, here's my story. I first started having these... chest spasms... when I was about 15. Like someone reaching up from your stomach and tugging your sternum down sharply. A sort of jerk in the centre of your chest. Usually only a 1 second "jump", occasionally giving me an urge to cough. Sometimes a series of very fast "shudders" lasting several seconds, like a fluttering in the centre of your chest, after which my heart would "recover" by beating slowly and very strongly, making me very lightheaded. Originally it occured only during sudden exersise, like throwing a heavy stick for the dog or something. They slowly got worse and more often. I visited doctors many times and none found anything wrong with me until one suggested what he described as an "allergy to caffiene" and suggested I cut out anything with it in.

I was a lot better for several years. still getting them now and again, but not as often, and not as bad. I didn't suffer from anxiety, apart from once when I had a really bad attack on a bus and had a bit of a panic attack, but that was pretty much a one off. After a while I started getting slowly worse again and went back to the doctor. They didn't think there was much wrong with me, but sent me to the cardiologist anyway. They took a 24 hour ECG, called me back and made me do some treadmill stuff. The nurse asked me if I was feeling odd and I said no. She said "you better sit down" and two seconds later I started getting the spasms. They diagnosed me with Wolff Parkinson White syndrome. This is an electrical problem in the heart. 6 months later I had keyhole surgery and they ablated the suspect tissue from the wall of my heart.

That was back in 2002. I went 7 years with hardly any issues. I still wasn't 100% but I only ever got the feeling after hard physical exertion, such as doing a couple of k on the rowing machine. However, in 2004 my niece suddenly died of heart failure. She was 16. When the doctors were informed of my situation they suggested that she could have had the same issue, although that was almost impossible to prove posthumously.

Now, since last September I have started having the feeling again. It has rapidly got worse until now I have problems going for a long walk, or even getting out of the bath. I have been back to the doctor and they have now referred me back to the cardiologist.

However........ I'm still not convinced that this spasm feeling is necessarily a symptom of WPW, or any other heart condition. I won't really know any more until they have examined me again. Apparently less than 5% of those who have had a successful ablation have a reoccurance of WPW, so I'd say the chances are high that I will be diagnosed as "still cured" and that this spasm feeling is something that was running alongside the WPW, not a sign of the WPW itself. Indeed WPW itself is apparently very rare, with less than 3% of the population suffering from it, and we seem to have quite a lot of poeple here discussing these symptoms. It's also worth mentioning here that, of those who have WPW, the chances of sudden death are even slimmer, less than 0.6% of sufferers.

I'm not trying to scare anybody, I'm only saying what has happened to me. Like I said, I'm in no way convinced that these particular spasms are symptomatic of any heart condition, simply that I have them, and I have also been diagnosed with WPW. Maybe they are linked, maybe not.

I will save this site as a favourite and keep it updated with the results at the cardio. I believe they will find no reoccurance, but I really do not know. I only know I went to the doctors with these symptoms in the first place, and that I was diagnosed with a heart problem.

Update I posted back in September 2009--I tried the magnesium supplements Thank you to the person who did all that research & suggested that, I also have been exercising more--- Wii Fit is fun!:-) and have noticed that the "spasms" or whatever they are have not completely stopped but happen less frequently. They are the worst when I'm really stressed out but it no longer scares me into a panic attack. I've noticed too if I'm having one and I change position it almost immediately stops making me think it is posture/muscle related. Who knows, like I said I still haven't keeled over from one and am able to function just fine if I don't let myself use it as an excuse to not do something!

I had a series of these spasms that started in the middle of my chest, in my upper back and up my throat. mine were painful and scary. i too went to ER twice and they were sure it was from acid reflux. they gave me stuff for that and they wouldn't stop. they gave me two other things and a muscle relaxer. I finally just left the ER so high with no results. They did an EKG and my heart was perfect. My episodes would be set off by something and then i would get the spams for 12 - 24 hours, about every 10 seconds or so. Mine were very similar to what i have read here:

I thought it was posture related at one point becuase if i sat a certain way without my back touching anything they were less frequent. If i didn't swallow at all, they were less frequent. But once something set them off, i was stuck for hours waiting them out. it was horrible. Sometimes i would get it after i brushed my teeth. i would mention this to docs and they thought i was nutso of course. (i even called Crest and asked if anyone had ever had a reaction to their toothpaste. they laughed of course and said no).

I went to all the doctors:
ER twice and they had no clue and thought i was exaggerating. nothing they gave me ever worked, but i was scared and thought it was my heart. it wasn't. they said it was stress.
first doc said try prilosec. I did for 6 weeks with no results. probably stress related too he said.
then gasterenterologist did upper endoscopy - no acid reflux issues. i know they really wanted that to be the reason. he told me i was fine. I had to plead and plead with him to figure something else out because i knew something was wrong!

finally the gasterenterologist took a biopsy in my esophagus and sent off to a lab. That's where he found the probable cause.

There were a high number of "eosinophils" or white blood cells in my esophagus and they shouldn't be there. if a certain amount are present it means something is causing an allergic reaction, and part of that manifestation can be esophagial spasms. Basically, it has been named in the more recent years as "Eosinophilic Esophagitis" alot of doctors dont' know what this is. My doc didn't know but did some research and and printed out some info on the internet. That was all he could do. He didn't know anything about it.

At least he pointed me the right direction. some people can have a mild case with strange symptoms. when i looked this up it matched with the white blood cells present, but mentioned nothing about spasms as a common symptom. i spoke with a research center in Ohio (there is one place who specializes in this type of illness), and they informed me that if the # of eosonophils were past a certain level , it was in fact eosinophilic esophagitis. But everyone manifests symptoms differently. i had spasms. some kids have it really bad and in different ways. It is all allergy based. I was allergic to something.

The research center said the hardest part is to find the allergy causing this reaction, and it becomes a trial and error process that can take a long time. They said start with the basics.

I went to allergist - i called and called until i found one who had heard of this particular affliction. he agreed to see me, but after blood tests, determined i had no allergies at all. Despite my descriptions of how i knew my body reacted poorly to milk, wheat, dust, etc, they weren't "significant" enough to show up in blood test allergies. if you research these tests, you'll see that there can be delayed reactions, and lesser reactions that don't always show up in blood allergy tests (as per research clinic). I KNEW my own body and knew certain things my body just didn't tolerate. After he gave up on me, i tried different health practioners who deal with allergies in a atypical fashion. I found one who without me telling her my history or any issues, immediately found allergies that i had always thought i had, and more- they were all very mild though, which is why i still always could eat them: milk, wheat, barley, 2 preservatives, 1 food dye color, and a few more grass types and environmental things. She called out two other mild allergies that made so much sense to my spasms...MINT and FLOURIDE. FLOURIDE. hmm...so maybe having some episodes after brushing my teeth WASN'T so crazy....

with no other options, i said waht the hell, and started using flouride-free toothpaste. And low and behold, i haven't spasmed since. i was just getting a little bit too much fluoride for my body to handle. I can still drink tap water and even use normal toothpaste now. But i switch off from flouride to flouride free so that it doesn't build up too much to where i have a reaction.

there are so many chemicals, preservatives and weird things in our environment, and our bodies can't process all of it. even if they are mild reactions, you probably are having an allergic reaction. I never would have figured Flouride on my own, and sometimes it is a combo of things. But don't let an allergist say you don't have allergies - you probably do.

that's my story. hope it helps. the two years i dealt with these were the worst two health years i have ever had. now i feel great and i don't feel crazy any more.

Wow! I'm so grateful for having found this site & particularly this thread.

I noticed this strange thump in my chest like a muted "pop" & then I'd want to cough or (most often) come up with a few small, throaty belches. I might feel a temporary tightening in my chest w/ slight shortness of breath, but not every time. Sometimes it's just a small thump. Oftentimes I'm a bit "gassy" in my tummy.

It's all quite quick & happens within seconds & passes, but it's unnerving. It has been happening more often these days & started several weeks ago when I started dieting & drastically changed my eating habits. I don't believe it's related to my heart. Somehow it seems related to digestion, maybe.

I also happen to suffer from panic attacks (which seems to be a common thread among us sufferers). The GI tract is very relative to our overall well being & an anxiety trigger when somehing goes wrong within it.

I don't feel as nervous about it since reading all the testimonies here. I take multi vitamins but will cautiously up my calcium & magnesium supplements. I'm also taking a probiotic to help my digestion system. Thanks for sharing your stories!