Brief Answer:
Not cardiac; diarrhea could be IBS

Detailed Answer:
Hi, thank you for using Healthcare Magic. Your chest pain does not sound cardiac. I've reviewed the doctors' replies on your previous questions and it appears you have had a thorough evaluation for your heart as well as upper endoscopy, so no worries about this.

The brief periods of pain and ability to locate it suggest a musculoskeletal problem. You could be having brief muscle spasms. Also, did you get checked for costochondritis, as suggested by one of our doctors? This can create some bad pain that persists for a long time. Sometimes anti-inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen are helpful for costochondritis.

Possibly you are hyperventilating, which can cause pains, odd tingling sensations, dizziness, and sometimes shortness of breath. This occurs with anxiety and stress.

You should have a workup for the diarrhea to be sure you don't have an infection or a parasite. I presume a gastroenterologist did your endoscopy, so you may want to ask him/her about an evaluation for chronic diarrhea and see if you might also need a colonoscopy.

I suspect you might have a condition called irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This is a motility problem of the intestine and is associated with diarrhea and/or constipation, often with abdominal cramping. It's aggravated by stress/anxiety, which would go along with your chest pains, which could also be related to stress.

First, however, have the stool studies and talk to your doctor about further evaluation of your intestinal tract. IBS is considered a diagnosis of exclusion; in other words, other things are ruled out first. There are treatments for this if it is diagnosed. You also may want to discuss therapy for anxiety and stress, since this seems to be a problem mentioned in your other posts, and could very well be the source of your current symptoms.

Hope this answers your query. If you have further questions, I would be happy to answer them.

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Brief Answer:
Costochondritis not the same as muscle spasm

Detailed Answer:
Costochondritis is an inflammation of the ribs around the area where bone turns in to cartilage. Muscle spasms are irregular contractions of muscle fibers. Anxiety and nervousness can cause all sorts of physical complaints, including muscle spasms, dizziness, shortness of breath, tingling and numbness, chest pain, diarrhea etc. Anxious people might hyperventilate, which can create many of these symptoms.

IBS is a condition commonly associated with anxiety. Like I mentioned, it is a diagnosis of exclusion, so you want to get tested to be sure it's not something else. And anxiety can set off bowel spasms as well as muscle spasms. Think of it as all the nerves in your body on edge, and setting off all sorts of weird sensations ("nerve spasms").

Then what happens is you get anxious about all the odd symptoms, and this just creates more anxiety, so it's a vicious circle! You've had a thorough workup for your heart, so you can be reassured the chest pains are nothing dangerous. I am glad you are seeing a therapist for the anxiety. That too is a medical condition that can be treated. Hope this helps.

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