Pain In The Neck, Dizziness, Left Arm Feeling Heavy. EKG Done. Taking Aspirin. Panic Attack?

Posted on Fri, 28 Oct 2011

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

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 Answered on

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I am a 41 year old female. I have never been diagnosis with any heart conditions. I just got out of the hospital. I was having pain in the left side of my neck along the carotid artery and my left side of my chest felt like someone was sitting on it. My left arm felt very heavy. I was told that the pain in my neck was a muscle spasm and that my ekg showed that the top part of my heart was beating faster than the lower part and showed to be abnormal. My enzymes were 200 which they said was negitive. The pain in my neck lessened when I was given a shot of blood thinner in my stomache. After the second shot it is now just a throbbing pain not a sharp one like it was. My chest is still tight. I suffer from migrains. I have also had felt sick to my stomach and now have a bad headache. The doctor told me it was anxiety. What can I do to get rid of this pain and tightness. The only other meds they gave me were asprin and a stool softener. I don't know why they gave me these. I have not been on any medications. My blood pressure on my arrival in the er was 178/94 and it was 84/62 when I was released. I am dizzy and just feel kind of out of body like, except the pain in my neck and tightness in my chest are coming back and gradually getting worse. I don't want to go back to the er and be told that it is a panic attack again. What can I do?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Praveen Tayal (11 hours later)

Hello,

Thanks for posting your query.

Gradually increasing pain in the neck with tightness in the chest can be a sign of cardiac ischemia. Since your earlier EKG was not entirely normal, we cannot attribute this pain only to anxiety unless all the organic causes are ruled out.

A complete cardiac evaluation is entailed to rule out cardiac ischemia. I encourage you to consult a cardiologist at the earliest for detailed investigations like
1. Troponin -T and CPK-MB
2. ECG in all leads with a rhythm strip in lead 2
3. Echocardiography
4. Tread mill test
5. Thallium scan (Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy)

I hope this answers your query effectively.
In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad