Question: Yesterday I was going up two flights of stairs in a parking garage, carrying my 30 lb son and a bag that probably weighed at least 10 lbs, maybe more. Immediately when I started up the stairs it felt like my heart was being squeezed, but it stopped immediately when I got to the top of the stairs and put my son down. Though I felt anxious (weak, warm) for a while after. I'm worried this sounds like angina. I'm a 35 y/o female. I've had heart palpitations, various benign rhythm abnormalities, and anxiety for most of my life. My last echo was two years ago after my son was born because my heart rate went up to 175 after he was born. Echo was normal. Lately I've been having bad episodes of shortness of breath that I've been attributing to illness and panic attacks. I've been having kidney issues and after a renal scan I thought I was going to die with heart pounding, shortness of breath, tingling fingers, almost fainted. But it all seemed to subside once I ate and calmed down. One weird thing with some of my episodes is that it seems that the shortness of breath is worse on the left side. At first I thought this was lung or muscle related, but now I'm thinking maybe it was this same squeezing feeling and maybe it was my heart. There are no known cases of heart disease in young people in my family, but I also don't know my father or his family. My grandmother did have heart disease, diabetes and asthma in her 70s. I do have mild asthma but generally allergy and not exertion related. Due to the stress of kidney issues, I have been very sedentary the past few months. I'm not obese, but my diet isn't the greatest -- not the worst either. Anyway, I'm hoping it was extreme and sudden overexertion but I wasn't sure with the squeezing feeling. It was different than the normal tightness I get with panic attacks.

My kidney issue is right side hydronephrosis. Still of unknown cause, but might be minimally affecting my kidney function. It likely requires surgery, but I'm worried my heart can't handle that. I have a follow up with my urologist next week.

Is there any chance this can occur with just overexertion? The squeezing wasn't painful, just felt weird. In any case, I will mention it to my doctor, though she tends to attribute everything to anxiety.

I've had a stress echo in the past, though probably ten years ago now.

Thanks for your response. I definitely have hypochondria, so any worry like this makes me not be able to function for my son.