Acid Reflux or Nerves?

Has anyone experienced the following?
I got first PM in 2000 and the second one in October 2010. All fall I started experiencing periodic pain listed below. However, it has begun to intensify and last longer. It feels like it is a combination of severe acid reflux and the deepest of nerve pain. My symptoms: fiery pain in my chest predominantly in my left side and breast. My second one is that pain shoots up my shoulder and down my arm just below my elbow, deeper than muscle or bone. Sometimes I feel the acid come up to my throat and jaw. The pain eventually goes away, however, my last one lasted over an hour. When the pain subsides I feel like I want a neck and shoulder massage. And I feel tension at the back of my left shoulder.
I was suspicious doctor three visits ago in the spring when at the very end of my interrogation they made a “small adjustment” to make my battery last longer. I told them then that I am very sensitive to any change and they told me that I would not feel any repercussions of the “small adjustment.” Strangely I had no problem before that time. Since the spring I have had periodic episodes. In the fall I was busier than I have ever been traveling the nation. My episodes became more frequent but chocked it up to more stress. Since I have been home for the month of December and especially this last week, the episodes have been more frequent and my last one this evening lasted over an hour. My pain level peeked at a 10+ for quite some time, then began to subside to a 7 then a 3 and now, if any pain, it is dull and tolerable.
Oh yes, my armpit on my left side during these episodes feels inflamed. I have asked myself if this is acid reflux, lymph nodes, scar tissue damage, nerve damage, or PM. At times I wonder if it is a heart attack or is it severe acid reflux, which I have never had before.
I am new to the club and found you as we research what in the world is going on.
I went to see the doctor six days ago—saw only the tech to do the interrogation. She happened to be the same person who had tried to answer my questions about this situation when I called their office three weeks ago. She emphatically said that there is no way their adjustments have triggered what I am feeling. She herself is a breast cancer survivor and has had a double mastectomy and that she experiences similar pain attributed to nerves being jossled and damaged due to surgeries. If this is the case why is it just now happening? Sometimes I fear what will cause the pain to come again and wonder what triggers it. And I cannot continue to live this way. Thanks for listening.

13 Comments

A difficult one.

by ElectricFrank - 2011-12-26 01:12:45

I've occasionally had a similar pain on the right side. For me it seems to be a GERD type thing. I add a teaspoon of Sodium Bicarb to some water to make a fairly strong antacid. I just drink a small amount and it relieves it immediately. I wouldn't use this approach as an ongoing treatment, but it is a good way to identify or rule out GERD as the cause.

Otherwise, it might be a good idea to see a doc other than the one involved with your pacer. I agree with tech that it is unlikely related to the pacer setting. If you mention the pacer though you will keep getting the pacer tech.

Oh, as far as what triggers it, I find that sitting at the computer too long will sometimes bring mine on.

Hope this helps. I was just thinking on the keyboard!

frank

Chest Pain

by SMITTY - 2011-12-26 05:12:54

Hello MCGail

I agree with Don that "You are having the classic
symptoms of a grand heart attack!"

A fiery pain in the middle of your chest was my exact description of a major heart attack I had a few years back. Mine was bad enough that the Drs told my wife it would probably be a good idea to notify our immediate family what was going on with me. Two weeks later I was let go home to see if I would recuperate enough to "withstand the rigors" (their words not mine) of quadruple bypass surgery. I did and 29 years later I'm still here.

I've had heart attacks since then and none have made their presence known with pain like that. In almost every case it has been the classic dull throbbing pain in my chest and left arm. And one time the Dr told me my tests showed I had undergone a "silent" heart attack. What I'm trying to say here is no two heart attacks will necessarily present the same symptoms so if you feel more but different discomfort that does not mean the two are unrelated.

So see a doctor and forget the possibility that this may be connected to your PM or any other health problems you have had in the past. If that is the case the Dr will let you know.

And if we all crying wolf when there are none in the woods, so be it. I had much rather cry wolf and have you come back and tell me I didn't know what I was talking about than to learn your family and friends have just had to go through the soft talking, slow walking and sad singing routine.

Good luck to you

Smitty

Are you having a death wish?

by donr - 2011-12-26 08:12:31

You are having the classic symptoms of a grand heart attack! Why didn't you tell us that you went to the ER to rule that out the first time it happened? Especially since it was so intense & dramatic.

I once lead a bunch of people (over300) searching the woods for a dead man who'd suffered a massive heart attack that killed him before he hit the ground. He was in his early 60's. When his disappearance was reported to me, I asked his sons if he'd been having heartburn at night after supper for a long period of time. They said he had. I knew at that moment we would be searching for a corpse. (but I didn't tell them that)

SECOND - the unbridled arrogance of someone to say that no way the small change could have triggered this. They just don't know! The human body *& the heart's electrical system is just too complex to state with that kind of certainty that there could never be such an effect. Even if it's a psychosomatic thing, it is still very REAL.

Apply "Don's rule of where to look first." look at the last thing you tinkered with. This is a corallary to "Occam's Razor" that says look at the simplest solution first.

Good luck on your quest for relief.

Don

Y'all missed...

by donr - 2011-12-27 02:12:01

...part of my first sentence. The part where I took them to task for not going to the dr/ER the FIRST time it happened.
The rest of my thesis is that McGail is being brushed off by the classic "It's not the PM, stupid." A typical response of the techs who download us. And, quite often the cardios who treat us.

Frank is absolutely correct! At this point it's more than likely not a heart attack, but something else that c auses excruciating pain in the chest.

What really troubles me is that the cardio's office is not assisting in finding the cause.

If we, as engineers, attempted to trouble shoot this problem as the medical field has, we'd be judged incompetent. 1) Rule out the last thing you changed. 2) Go to the next simplest probable cause, GERD. 3) Start working your way up the list of potential causes in order of complexity.

McGail - somewere in this pile of ******* there's a real live pony. May you have success grabbing around in finding it.

Don

Don

For Frank

by SMITTY - 2011-12-27 04:12:45

Frank,

Yep I missed that year part since the description of the symptoms were a duplicate of mine with my first heart attack.

That is why I offer a money back guarantee with my comments and all the person has to do is let me know I blew it and I'll have their refund on the way to them immediately. But in this case would I send the refund to you or to MCGail?

Someones on to me

by ElectricFrank - 2011-12-27 06:12:23

I got 3 offers in the mail today for discount cremation. Should I be depressed?

With our cold weather right now it might feel good.

Smitty, that's why I advertise all my free advice here..it worth every cent I'm paid for it.

cheers,

frank

Troubleshooting

by donr - 2011-12-27 09:12:20

Had to laugh at your troubleshoting problem as a field engineer.

Last night, Wife & I were sitting on couch watching the latest Star Trek on a Blu Ray Disk. There was a rather small furball Shi Tzu snoring away between us. Suddenly dog awoke, shook 10 million hairs into their proper place, jumped up & moved to a new location to sleep. In the process she dumped one clicker on top of another & the screen went blank.

Try to figure out which of the thousands of buttons on a clicker got pushed - & on which clicker!

Took me ten minutes.

AMEN!!!!! to your first two rules of troubleshooting. I have likewise seen some wierd problems to sort out. Intermittent are the worst kind.

Don

Something Strange

by ElectricFrank - 2011-12-27 12:12:06

Hey, folks, think about this:
1. Severe "classic heart attack symptoms for over a year.
2. No mention of SOB, or syncope
3. Has not developed into an emergency heart attack
4. Inflamed arm pit.
5. Doctors office has been notified of the symptoms
6. In spite of symptoms the doc hasn't taken emergency action.

So why all the panic. It likely is GERD or pressure on a nerve.

It might be a good idea to go to ER during an attack for an ECG to confirm things, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

frank

Don

by ElectricFrank - 2011-12-27 12:12:46

I have one rule that over rides them all when troubleshooting a problem.

"Don't destroy the evidence". Avoid any diagnostic that can irreversibly cover the cause of the problem.

In the cardiac area trying an ablation to see if it will help is a prime example. If it doesn't work you have not only subjected the patient to irreversible heart damage, but likely made it harder to find the real cause.

As a field engineer my largest problem was trying to find an intermittent problem where the customer had adjusted every control on a circuit board, or tapped on parts trying to find a bad connection.

frank

Good one, Don

by ElectricFrank - 2011-12-28 01:12:44

I hate remotes!

My other problem solving method was very frustrating to the boss when we were under pressure. We would be down to -15 minutes on a firing at White Sands, and some instrumentation bug would hit us. I would take in all the data I could in about 5 minutes, then walk out the door, take a walk down the road. Usually I was back in about 5 minutes with a solution (or sometimes a cancellation).

The other one I did for a while at the blockhouse was to deal with misfires. We would hit zero and there was no roar. Now the issue was, did we apply firing current to the rocket motor and it is sitting up there smoldering, or was it an electrical problem. It was my job to figure that out in a few minutes and go up on the launcher and disconnect the firing line. Needless to say I was 100% right since I'm here.

fun days,

frank

When were you at WSMR?

by donr - 2011-12-28 08:12:52

And where did you work?

I was there 1963-64 in the Radar Division at South Range Complex.

Knew a lot of peple in safety & range Ops.

I also spent some time up at Green River launch site for the Project Athena effort.

Don

Don

by ElectricFrank - 2011-12-29 02:12:58

We might have overlapped a bit. I was with General Dynamics on the Mauler Missile project. It was a small antiaircraft radar homing bird that was intended to be launched from a moving tank. Our block house was way out on Nike Ave. I lived in Alamogordo.

The safety situation was strange to me. I had spent several years at NOTS, China Lake, CA before going to WSMR. At China Lake all roads down range were closed and guarded during any kind of firing. Being down range during a firing required being a bunker. About a month after arriving at WSMR I was sent down range to set up a radar calibration transponder. I was in the middle of my procedure when a Nike missile went flying over my head on a low angle shot. I got on the radio and asked if they knew I was down there, and the answer was "Sure, but the bird was going to be well over your head. If it bothers you then check with range control before going anywhere down range." I guess the safety culture is only relative.

frank

Good Grief!

by donr - 2011-12-29 07:12:11

Frank, we may have met out there.

I was there for the demise of Mauler. I can still recall the final couple of launches of the missile that did not save it from cancellation.

If you ever wandered into the South Range Radar complex, I was there. As I recall, the Mauler had such a high initial acceleration that we could not get a lockon during its exit from its launch tube. There was a very tall, skinny former Marine who always came into our blockhouse for the launches.

You keep mentioning China Lake. Were you ever there for any of the Navy's Bigeye program?

Don

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