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Hello I Am A 32 Year Old Male. I Have

Posted on Sun, 20 Oct 2019

Question: Hello I am a 32 year old male. I have a strange symptom of acute left arm and shoulder pain after eating and smoking a cigarette. I am not a regular smoker as I used to be in my early 20s. I suffered from severe panic attacks and anxiety since I was 25 so I have had an echo about 5 years which is normal . I have had an ekg every year until this year which was normal . I went to a different doctor this year but did not want to do any testing saying that eating causing left arm pain is atypical and somatic. Did not want to do an ekg or anything else. I also have problems in digestion. I am worried it is a heart problem because smoking one cigarette causes the same symptoms but not exertion. Thank You

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome to Ask a Doctor service!

I passed carefully through your question and would explain that your symptoms are suggestive of possible gastroesophageal reflux or a hiatal hernia.

I would exclude any cardiac disorders based on your description of the pain.

For this reason, I would recommend performing a fibrogastroscopy in order to investigate for the above possible disorders.

In the meantime, I would recommend avoiding spicy food and smoking and trying an antiacid or PPI ( omeprazole pantoprazole, etc.).

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr.Ilir Sharka Cardiologist

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

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj