My 70 yr old husband wakes up in the night with severe chest pain mostly starting around 3:00 a.m. and continues through around 10:00 a.m. But can pop up any time. Sometimes he does quick short panting to help ease the pain. He moans with pain. This has been going on for over five months. He saw his physician and ekg checks out fine. He was told if it continues just go to the emergency room for a stress test. Next step was a Covid test which was negative. He quit smoking over 20 yrs ago. He is very active and not overweight. We feel helpless and think perhaps pain is stress. Any ideas what this could be? Or where we should turn?
"Hiatal hernia symptoms include nausea, burping, acid reflux, and burning or pain in the esophagus or stomach. These symptoms can mimic other health issues like heartburn or heart attack.Aug 5, 2019"
My Dad suffered from one of these, eventually being operated on. To help relieve the discomfort, he used a wedge under his pillows so he would not be flat in bed.
Trying to control stress levels right now is near to impossible. I wake up with a pounding heart--sometimes it's 2-3 hours before things settle down.
I have done some things to deal with the stress, as I cannot control everything, but people who are energy vampires don't get a minute of my time. I haven't spoken to my MIL for 10 months and yesterday was her b-day and trying to explain to my SIL WHY Dh and I would BOTH be absent from the drive by party was impossible. 10 minutes with MIL puts me in a terrible state--which I find ridiculous and frustrating.
After COVID settles down I will have to go in for more intensive testing, but my doc is pretty sure (after the testing I HAVE had) that this is all stress related.
Even with his assurance, I so hate the feeling of the impending rapid heartbeat--I've always been an anxious critter and I am less able to handle stress and anxiety the older I get.
My husband is not overweight and had an outdoor job where he was active. He too stopped smoking about 15 years ago, and gave up sugar and coffee 5 years ago. All his tests were normal, too.........the only thing that was abnormal was constant chest pain.
Please get your DH to the ER or to the cardiologist and be very firm about getting to the bottom of what's going on. It's THAT important.
Good luck!
An EKG tells you SOME things about your heart, but there can be a LOT wrong and still have a normal EKG.
Your husband is having chest pains and he needs to know why.
My husband went through this and ended up having a triple bypass surgery. He had a heart attack.
Don't wait.