Go to ER or DR........?

If you have been having this for months I wouldn't go to the ER, You should get a new doctor who will help you address this. Chest pain should never be ignored like yours is. You may even try and allergist who specializes in the treatment of asthma. I am also going to suggest that you google reflux and see if it fits any of your symtoms. Oftentimes you will not get the classic heartburn sensation associated with reflux-you will get symptoms that will seem unrelated (my shoulder hurts with mine!) You will also get chest pain with it sometimes.

It could be a few things.

1) Your doctor should be able to do a test to determine if it's asthma. My sons just had it done. You might want to go to a pulmonologist for it. They can measure how you breathe normally (capacity), the have you run around for a while, measure your capacity again, then give you a dose of albuteral, and see how your capacity is a third time.

2) You could be having anxiety/panic attacks. These can be symptoms of that.

3) Have you had an EKG just to make sure it isn't your heart? Is it around the time you eat? You could be having indigestion. I say to have your heart checked though because my FIL who was always the picture of health, was complaining of indigestion for a while and come to find out he had had a heart attack.

Definitely go and get your bases covered. Good luck!!

Go to your primary care physician. Unless you cannot breathe, then go to the ER. ER is not really for routine health care and truthfully, they would probably tell you to follow up with your PCP anyway.

Unless you are at this moment experiencing trouble breathing, I would not go to the ER.
You need a proper diagnostic workup and have your medication adjusted to control your symptoms.
If your primary care physician is not able to do this see someone else or request a referral to a pulmonologist.
Good luck.

If you are comfortable going to the ER then go to the ER.

Are you having asthma symptoms? The reason I ask was that for my sisters and I we would get sharp pains and couldn't catch our breathes, on and off. Turned out to be gall ballader flare ups.

M.

Going to the ER they will always do more testing to rule out everything possible in regards to your symptoms to give you an accurate diagnoses..My DR is great he has done several testing on me in the past few yrs because of symptoms and things he came across during an exam..It says time and money to go to the ER than to a reg. DR because then he'll have to do referalls/orders for chest x-rays,blood work,other testing that can take upto a week or more especially if it is with another DR that is a specialist..Also test results come back way faster in the ER than getting them ordered..Yes they will be reveiwed by a DR always then possibly sent off to get another review if there is something there that is questionable..The next time you have an episode go to the ER see what they can do for you.

the next time it happens go to the er...have them run tests and if its nothing great if it is asthma you can go from there on who to see next. Did your doc put you on meds are they helping? if not go and see another doc before you have another attack.gl

HI A.,

I can hear the fear in your voice. The first thing you need to do is to try and relax. Chest pain is scary but fear can definitely make it worse, no matter what it is. I'm not the one that would normally tell you to go to the ER but if it takes away the worry, then it might be worth it. ERs do emergency medicine and that would probably mean they would medicate for precaution instead of waiting for a diagnosis. You are the only one that can decide this. A., our pollen count has been so high this season, many, many diagnoses of Asthma have been made and I'm sure people like you that have had it in the past are having difficulty now. Since you've had it before you probably know what it feels like, but I do understand the need to be reassured.

I have some suggestions that will help with Asthma that are natural and long term. If you'd like to talk whenever you get to that point, feel free to PM me. I have several friends that have kids that have been symptom free for years. I'll be glad to share.

God bless!

M.

If you are having an episode where you can't breathe, you can't catch your breath, you are passing out and/or turning blue - it's an emergency. If it's an ongoing symptom/condition, then get together with an allergist who can treat asthma properly and will have you better prepared for the occasional episode.

Get a referral to an allergy/asthma specialist (I worked for one for years). It will still be less expensive than going to the ER....and you won't have to wait as long. You need to express to your Dr. that you would like to do further testing....if he doesn't listen get a different Dr.! They are so busy and can't possibly remember every patient (sad but true)

It sounds to me like you need a new doctor that will take your concerns seriously. Have you told your doctor that this doesn't feel like asthma has felt to you in the past? There are oodles of problems that can cause that chest tightness. One thing you can do is ask your doctor's office to give you a lab slip for basic blood work and make sure they test your iron stores (i.e., ferritin) along with the CMP and CBC. Low iron can be a cause of this and it's far more common than folks think. It's the iron in the red blood cells that helps to transport oxygen through your body. If you can get your blood work done ahead of the appt, then the doctor has something to work with. You can also get blood work done on your own. This company sends you a lab slip that you can just take to any Labcorp office: www.healthcheckusa.com

Low magnesium and calcium can also contribute to the problem - the magnesium in particular with regards to the chest tightness. As an FYI, the majority of americans have low levels of magnesium and it can be made worse if you take calcium supplements as that binds with the magnesium.

Most ERs are fairly chaotic and honestly if you go in and tell them that your doctor says it is just asthma, while they will do due diligence, there is no magic in terms of them figuring out what is wrong any better than a good doctor. And, indeed a good PCP should be putting together other pieces of information from your past to figure out what is going on.

I do share your concerns as I also have asthma and have periods of severe shortness of breath that are inexplicable to me - i.e., they don't necessarily seem to correlate with other asthma related issues. I have other odd symptoms that point to something else going on. But, I trust my doctor and this is something I'll discuss with her at my next appt - and I already have a lab slip so she will have the most recent test results. I always get one at my previous appt and have the labs run a couple weeks before my next appt - that really optimizes my time with the doctor AND it really speeds up treatment.