"3+ months of chest pain & breathlessness"

May Ambulance to A&E – gallbladder pain – 6 hrs sat in wheelchair in corridor of A&E – told to come back next day to see specialist, sent home @ 2am.

Next day – 4 hrs in general surgery ward, = ultrasound & chest x-ray, chest ok, a few gallstones, gallbladder probably very inflamed, white blood cells slightly raised but not a concern.

Prescribed 7 day course – Augmentin & Codeine phosphate & see surgeon in 3 months & sent home.

Pain still constantly annoying ache & got worse through the afternoon, feeling very nauseous by 3pm, had to lie down which helped, but severe ache in back and side again, extremely uncomfortable. Hot water bottle on abdomen and heat pad on back, soothing for a while then it flares up again, have to keep changing position, none are comfortable.

Following week - GP appointment, explained I was feeling very sick with meds, changed to Amoxycillin & presc. anti sickness tabs & told to stop codeine too. Severe ache around middle under ribs, all way round back, heat helps.

Not much changed over the next week, still much pain under middle of rib cage, pain meds not doing a lot, still aches around middle and back, difficult & hurts to take deep breath. 

Week after that - another GP appointment, checked scan and blood results, all good, a few small g/stones but nothing to concern, pancreas blood test ok, pain around middle & back under ribs likely to be muskulo/skeletal, could take a few weeks to ease off, prob caused when trying to ease gallbladder pain and sitting/standing putting strain on muscles as a result. No change over the next week, still in a lot of pain and having difficulty breathing.

End of May another trip to A&E, sent to general surgery ward, spoke with a surgeon who suggested buscopan to stop gallbladder spasms and added me to the surgery list. Blood tests showing raised white blood cells.

No change since last A&E visit, buscopan finally worked, the GB pain subsided after 3+ weeks, but still have constant chest pain and difficulty breathing, feels like not getting enough air in my lungs.

Saw GP mid June – sent for same day bloods & chest x-ray, GP suggested diaphragm may be inflamed from GB issues.

Pre-op following week – more blood tests & an ECG.

Mid July – saw COPD nurse, changed inhaler to Trimbow (aerosol).

Following week – GP telephone call to discuss June blood tests which showed raised white blood cells/platelets.

GP suggested possible infection or inflammation & prescribed a 7 day course of Clarithromycin & Prednisolone, If no improvement after completing the course I should contact GP again to arrange further tests etc.

So 1 week later, no change, still getting chest pain, dull ache & sharp stabbing + same in back/shoulder blades.

Chest pain = central (sternum), left side, right side, upper/lower behind ribs, sharp stabbing, aching like pulled muscles, hurts to breathe, can’t take deep breath, sneezing and coughing extremely painful, nothing is consistent, each day the pain is different or in a different location/side, a dull ache/spasm to the left of centre chest and sharp stabbing pain in the shoulder blades area.

I tried to get an appointment with same GP, nothing till mid August, Am fed up having to explain everything from the beginning of May, in under 10 minutes, to a different GP every time, so I wrote a summary of the pain to the GP who last treated me & included a diagram with pain locations and severity.

7 day’s later, I am still getting constant chest pain, am still struggling to breathe, simple activities such as walking from room - room = out of breath, anything involving raising arms above chest level hurts a lot. Climbing 14 steps to bed or bathroom = 2-3 steps, stop, rest 60+ seconds, another 3 or 4 steps, same again until I get to the top, then sit on bed for 5 minutes until my breathing is regulated and my heart beat settles down.

My heartbeat after the slightest exertion = 110 - 127 bpm, even when at rest it can be 110+.

Almost 4 months of constant, unrelenting pain & still no idea what is causing it, chest pain has not improved at all, one day the left side, next day it’s the right, next day it’s both sides and in shoulder blades, dull aching or sharp stabbing pain, right now a mix of both as I sit and type this.

Early August I managed to get a GP appointment, with a Locum, it was impossible to explain all of this in 10 minutes, however she checked my pulse which was very fast & was a concern, she said perhaps the chest pain and breathlessness may be heart related & she wanted an ECG & bloods done asap.

We are now in August, I have had more bloods taken and another ECG, the effort of walking to the consulting room= very breathless, my pulse was racing, the machine refused to print, after about 20 minutes of much muttering, switching off & on and finally changing the paper roll, it worked, by now I was quite relaxed, pulse rate & oxygen levels normal.

I have a USB portable ECG machine, having used it over the past 3 day’s, it shows repeated possible tachycardia.

It can detect arrhythmias, missed beats, tachycardia & brachycardia & provides accurate heart rate readings and ECG reports which can be shared with a Dr. 

Since the onset of this chronic pain I have lost around 1 stone (14lbs) in less than 4 months.It is having a major impact upon my quality of life 

I have been extremely patient and have no complaint about any of the medical professionals I have seen but it has now got to the stage that I feel I am banging my head against the brick wall, 3 months of this chronic and unrelenting pain which is not getting any better is completely unacceptable, I am fed up having to explain everything to a new Dr every time.