Realy Bad chest pain

[BRPORSCHE]

If there are any Md's out there I would love for some advice.

Symptoms:
Sharp chest pain everytime I inhale. Slightly below my heart. no other things wrong with me.

It has been liek this for over an hour and I would like to know if I should go over and see my dr?
TIA guys

[Nathans_Dad]

That's called pleuritic chest pain. It's due to irritation of the lining of the chest wall. Most often it is transient and goes away after a few moments. The scary part is that it can be due to pneumonia or possibly a blood clot that has traveled up to your lungs. I would probly go see a doc if it has been going on for an hour...

[IROC]

If it doesn't subside, then you probably do have pleurisy. Most likely diaphrammatic (sp?, Rick?) pleurisy. The doc can fix you up.

I somehow had a bout of this in college. Don't know how I got it.

Mike

[BRPORSCHE]

Thansk Rick!
Just got off the phone with the Doctor (not my doctor) , and he told me to take 2 tablets of motrin 3 times a day for 3 days.
But what you said and what he said are almost word for word!

[Oh Haha]

Stress related? I used to get chest pains when I was married the first time around.


Yep, stress was causing it. Ok, smoking and eating crap didn't help but mostly it was her causing the pain.

Got out of the marriage, changed my bad habits to good and no more chest pain. It's been about 9 years now. I was 30 at the time.

Go see your doctor,man.

[BRPORSCHE]

Yeah how is this caused? I am not very stressed out but I do occasionally Party to hard and stay up most nights till atleast 2 and wake up at 7 for class.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

How old are you?

I had a spontaneous pneumothorax at 19 y.o. Scary as hell, I was right on the borderline between surgery and tube thoroscopy...they tubed me and it turned out all right in the end but damn what a way to spend your first month at college!

Key diagnosis before radiology was having me lie down on the "bad" side and breathe in deeply...I could feel/hear my popped lung lobe fluttering in the breeze. Creepy.

Had pleuritis (pleurisy) about 6 years later...thought it was a recurrence but after some downtime and a week of 'roids it went away.

Highest risk group for spontaneous pneumothorax is males 18-28.

[BRPORSCHE]

i am almost 19.

P.S. Oh Haha:
The guy wasn't my doctor per se, but he is one of my good freinds dad who happens to be a heart specialist. I just thought if I should get immediate care he was the one I could call.

[cstreit]

Huh. Always wondered about that. I've gotten it on occasion every few months, but it went away after 4-5 breaths... So I never worried about it much.

[Nathans_Dad]

Almost everyone gets an occasional pleuritic pain, almost impossible to tell exactly what causes these transient pains.

More constant pleuritic pain can be due to a viral infection which is irritating the thoracic lining, called pleurodynia. The treatment for this is usually anti-inflammatories (like motrin).

As a 19 year old, otherwise healthy young man, you are unlikely to have any of the more serious causes of pleuritic chest pain. I would caution you that if you develop shortness of breath or cough, you should see a physician promptly.

[Dottore]

Originally posted by Oh Haha

Got out of the marriage, changed my bad habits to good and no more chest pain. It's been about 9 years now. I was 30 at the time.

Getting out of a bad marriage will do wonders for your health.

A recent study out of Germany claims that a good bonk can add a week to your life. From this it follows that if you get properly laid once a week you will live forever.

[Oh Haha]

You are only 19?!

You should most certainly go see a doctor, no matter who it is. Unless you just ate a HUGE burrito, it could be serious.
Please let us know what you find out, if you don't mind sharing.

[Tobra]

I occasionally get that type of pain,pleuritic. I exhale deeply, raise my arms over my head and inhale and it goes away every time.

[artplumber]

Originally posted by Oh Haha
You should most certainly go see a doctor, no matter who it is. Unless you just ate a HUGE burrito, it could be serious.
Please let us know what you find out, if you don't mind sharing.

Probably not. Rick pretty much laid out the landscape of the most likely cause of the discomfort in his second post. I highly doubt anything more serious (as suggested in Rick's first post). Sorry I wasn't here earlier to chime in.

[livi]

Like any medical consultation the advice is based on probability. In your case, all facts considered, I would think its muscles in your lower ribcage area thats decided to contract sending pain nerve signals to your brain. Like Rick say, it could also be the double layered lung sack thats producing the pain from a small local inflammation - possibly infectious, most likely viral.

In any case, if it does not go away and definitely if it gets worse or you get breathing difficulties - go see a doc.

Disclaimer: Being a pediatrician the panorama of potential causes is somewhat different, although not much at your young age.

[BRPORSCHE]

Thanks guys it has gotten better, but I do find that if i run around my house little, like up the stairs and start breathing hard it starts to hurt again.

[artplumber]

Take the ibuprofen with meals for 5-7 days. Then withdraw the drug and reevaluate.

[930addict]

Not to take away from the original thread but when I was younger I would get this pain in the same area when I inhaled. I've heard of this referred to as a "catch" (spelling?). Is this related or is it something completely different. Just curious.

[ronin]

was it a sharp, stinging pain similar to getting stuck by a large needle?

[dennis in se pa]

Could be a bad mytral valve. I would get a serious exam. It could be something serious. I have been there.