Having Sharp Chest Pain, No Pain Or Nausea. Worried For Heartburn

Posted on Mon, 1 Apr 2013

Question: I was just awakened abruptly by a strong pain just left of the center of my chest. That was 30 minutes ago, or so. Been on the phone to my partner, describing it to him. It was like a sudden pinch: hurt a lot, went away immediately, no other pain or nausea, just waked me up instantly and scared me. I'm 59, female, white, relatively slender except for some belly fat, don't smoke, stopped drinking over ten years ago, and have a retail job that keeps me on my feet eight hours, five days a week, and lifting gallons of paint, solvent, etc. I feel all right now, but it scared me. I've had less harsh chest pains before, a number of times, and have told my doctor about it. I"ve had stress tests, other tests, the names of which escape me, and stethoscopes and so far I'm told all seems to be well. I had a small plate of nachos before I went to bed at ten. The tortilla chips were seasoned. Heartburn maybe? Thanks.

Answered by Dr. Anantharamakrishnan (1 hour later)

Hi friend,
Welcome to Health Care Magic

Your pain is NOT typical of heart pain. However, at this age, in a background of Diabetes, it should be INVESTIGATED as HEART PAIN. You need an EKG and cardiac markers to rule out the possibility. Diabetes is a risk factor for heart. In Diabetics, the presentation could be atypical, even misleading (at times, no pain!).

In suspected heart attack, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE – if detected early, an attack may even be aborted / the amount of damage and complications can be reduced remarkably. The most important time is the first few hours. You SHOULD SEE YOUR DOCTOR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE... Better be safe than sorry - treated if a problem is found / Happy, if it turns out otherwise

Go to the ER

Take care
Wishing speedy recovery
God bless
Good luck

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar