I posted regarding this in the General Forum as well. I'm now wondering if something similar has happened to anyone else.
I've been to the ER twice in the last six months or so with chest pain. The first time was not exactly pain. I thought I had tachycardia. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like my heart was going 200 miles an hour. I got up and wandered around the house for a bit with it thumpety-thumping away like I had a trapped bunny bouncing around in there. Finally gave up and got DH to head to the ER. It turned out to be esophageal spasms.
Second time was a couple of weeks ago. I called my DH and he picked me up at work and we went to the ER again. This time was a bit more troubling. My chest pain was classic for heart attack and waxed and waned. The pain radiate up into my neck and jaw and down the inside of my left arm and through to my back. After a multitude of tests, it was determined I had not had a heart attack after all, and my heart rhythm is perfect. I asked the ER doc if it could be spasms related to MS. He said it very well could be, but he wanted me to follow up with my PCP and get a stress test, which I plan to do. The pain gradually got better and went away after 3-4 days.
Yesterday I started having pain in my right shoulder-blade area. When I lean against a chair back it feels like I have a twisted bra strap, or something poking me (I don't). Today it hurts even sitting straight up. I think it's yet another spasm!
Luckily, I'm scheduled for a follow-up with my neuro next week. I was going to cancel, because it was to follow up my starting Gilenya, which I decided not to do because the best co-pay I can get (even with help from the manufacturer) is $500/month, which I can't afford. I have had difficulty getting my neuro to help me with symptom management; it's like he doesn't want to deal with me since I'm choosing not to take a drug which he can't guarantee me has ANY chance of delaying progression other than anecdotal evidence (there is not even much of that yet).
Has anyone else had MS symptoms that mimic a much more dangerous health problem?
I've been to the ER twice in the last six months or so with chest pain. The first time was not exactly pain. I thought I had tachycardia. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like my heart was going 200 miles an hour. I got up and wandered around the house for a bit with it thumpety-thumping away like I had a trapped bunny bouncing around in there. Finally gave up and got DH to head to the ER. It turned out to be esophageal spasms.
Second time was a couple of weeks ago. I called my DH and he picked me up at work and we went to the ER again. This time was a bit more troubling. My chest pain was classic for heart attack and waxed and waned. The pain radiate up into my neck and jaw and down the inside of my left arm and through to my back. After a multitude of tests, it was determined I had not had a heart attack after all, and my heart rhythm is perfect. I asked the ER doc if it could be spasms related to MS. He said it very well could be, but he wanted me to follow up with my PCP and get a stress test, which I plan to do. The pain gradually got better and went away after 3-4 days.
Yesterday I started having pain in my right shoulder-blade area. When I lean against a chair back it feels like I have a twisted bra strap, or something poking me (I don't). Today it hurts even sitting straight up. I think it's yet another spasm!
Luckily, I'm scheduled for a follow-up with my neuro next week. I was going to cancel, because it was to follow up my starting Gilenya, which I decided not to do because the best co-pay I can get (even with help from the manufacturer) is $500/month, which I can't afford. I have had difficulty getting my neuro to help me with symptom management; it's like he doesn't want to deal with me since I'm choosing not to take a drug which he can't guarantee me has ANY chance of delaying progression other than anecdotal evidence (there is not even much of that yet).
Has anyone else had MS symptoms that mimic a much more dangerous health problem?
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