“I have a heart-related question?”
I’m a 22 year old girl, my height is 5 feet and my weight is 54kg. It has been 2 years since I had pain in my left side of the chest. At first, I had only a slight pain in the left side of the chest. But, a year later in 2020, I had COVID-19 and a few days before COVID, I had squeezed pain in the chest. During the COVID, I had pain in the middle of the chest and also had pain in the left and right chest. Even after the recovery of COVID-19, I had pain in the left side of the chest that comes and goes. Now, in 2021 I had no chest pain at all, but a few days ago, it started all again. I had a weird pain in the middle of the chest that comes and goes and lasted for 3 days. Today, I had pain again in the left side of the chest and when I was walking today, I felt pain 2 times. The pain disappeared suddenly but when I sat, it again started. Then after coming home, when I lay down on the bed, it again started and lasted for a few seconds. I told my parents about it a few times and I also wanted to consult a doctor, but they didn’t believe me. They told me it was gastric pain but I am very nervous and I badly want a suggestion. Also, when I felt pain, I became very anxious and sometimes I started sweating. I don’t know is it because of anxiety or pain.
Female | 22 years old
Conditions: I have palmoplanter and axiliary hyperhydrosis
3 Answers
There is still a lot we are learning about Covid, or should I say "Long Covid" (symptoms that can linger after the infection is gone). With respect to the heart, a rare long term problem could be a "myocarditis" or inflammation of the heart, seen rarely but mostly in the young. The symptoms are generally shortness of breath and fatigue but may include chest pain. Having said that, the timing of your symptoms doesn't exactly fit in that you had your covid a year ago. However, maybe you should see a cardiologist and have a simple test called an Echocardiogram (an ultrasound picture of the heart) which can easily rule this out. If there is still any doubt your doctor may order a cardiac MRI. Most likely though (and you may not want to hear this), your symptoms may turn out to be GI (and/or stress) as suggested by your family.
Chest pain that comes and goes is usually either muscle pain or anxiety. However, it is possible that you could have inflammation around your heart, which is called pericarditis. The pain is usually sharp and gets worse with deep breathing, and lying down. It is usually caused by a virus, but can have other causes. If you can take Aspirin, try taking two adult (325mg) aspirin tablets when the pain starts. If there is pericarditis, the pain should get better. You should see a doctor to try to identify a cause and do an EKG.
You are very young and female, I doubt you have a heart condition. BUT you must be tested, especially if you had COVID. See your Cardiologist and request the following: EKG, EchoCardiogram, and a stress test. You should have blood tests for Cholesterol, lipids, cardiac. Enzymes. Do not smoke. Healthy foods and mild exercise daily.
