I Have A Pinching Feeling Near My Heart. My Heart

Posted on Sun, 1 Sep 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 1 Sep 2019 Answered on

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Question : I have a pinching feeling near my heart. My heart beats heavier when this is happening. I take blood pressure medication and I have been taking the meds earlier in the past 2 days since this has been happening, but it takes the meds over 2 hours to bring it down. I woke up 2 days ago to this feeling of pinching and heart beating harder, and BP was 142/112. Today it was 140/92, until I took meds and now it's 136/82. Have been able to control BP through the meds, but the pinching is a new symptom.

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (24 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome to Ask a Doctor service!

Regarding your concern, I would explain that your symptoms are not suggestive of a cardiac issue.

High blood pressure or anxiety can trigger this clinical situation.

Anyway, if this situation persists, I would recommend consulting with your attending physician for a physical exam and a resting ECG.

An exercise cardiac stress test would help exclude possible coronary artery disease ( although your symptoms are not typical of this disorder).

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr.Ilir Sharka, Cardiologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Ilir Sharka (18 minutes later)

I took an aspirin & it relieved the pinching for about 12 hours. Should I continue taking an aspirin until Tues when I can hopefully get an appt? Also, would soaking in Epsom salt bring down BP?

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello again!

Thank you for the additional information!

The fact that aspirin has helped improve the situation, could be indicative of possible local inflammation.

For this reason, I would recommend trying ibuprofen and see if it helps the same. If ibuprofen helps improve your situation, we would be sure that it is just musculo-skeletal inflammation and nothing serious is going on.

Hope you will find this information helpful!

Wishing all the best,

Dr. Ilir Sharka, Cardiologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Ilir Sharka (43 minutes later)

Thank you so much!!
What can I do to get my diastolic number lower than the high 80's (which is most of the time)?

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (14 hours later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello again!

I recommend adding a diuretic like hydroclorhiazide or torasemide to your therapy, to help lower your blood pressure further.

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Wishing all the best,

Dr.Iliri

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D