this is an unusual symptom i have had off and on, mostly off.
but given this huge surge of symptoms i have been describing, my chest tightness has returned recently. my chest feels really really tight, and i cannot get in a full breath of air. it is extremely noticeable to me. it is also chronic, for the most part, meaning that it does not just come and go along with my surges of panic. it occurs when i am totally relaxed, and when i am panicked. it first started occurring when i was experiencing constant heart palpitations, but since reducing stress in my life by returning home from my travels, the palpitations have greatly subsided, but the tightness is actually worse.

the strangest thing about the chest tightness it that i also feel this pressure in my upper abdomen. right underneath my ribs in the center of my abdomen. this pressure is worsened after i eat, and makes me feel full very quickly, and i also notice that the chest tightness worsens at this time too. whenever my chest tightness occurs, so does this fullness/pressure in my abdomen. i also think that when i push on it - i think it is the area of my diaphragm - my chest tightness is relieved.

i can't stand it anymore. i cannot even speak without being out of breath and i am constantly uncomfortable. the chest tightness also causes chest pain, i think due to lack of oxygen.

of course, i am also worried that i will just stop breathing. it sure feels close!

does anyone experience this? is this my diaphragm? is this something i should be very concerned about? can the ANS paralyze the diaphragm or stop one's breathing?

I have this too...I've had a ton of tests and it was determined that it is GI related. I would often have to lift my hands over my head to feel like I can take a full breath.

Gracie - it sounds like a combination of upper GI issues and stress. I'm not trying to minimize what you are feeling because it's really scary but it very well may be that. I have severe GERD and a hiatal hernia and at times feel like I'm suffocating. I often feel like I can't breathe or get a good breath. It can happen at anytime but if I am stressed out, it will exasberate the feeling twenty-fold. When we are stressed, the muscles in our chest tighten around our diaphragm and it feels like we just can't breathe. It's awful....
See if you can get to your Dr. and talk to him about GERD. GERD doesn't just cause heartburn - for me it was never heartburn but just chest tightness and shortness of breath. I didn't believe that it could cause such complete discomfort (I was sure it had to be something much more sinister based on how I felt) but after having the tests, it was confirmed and the medicine does help it. In the meantime, stay away from fatty foods, rich foods, chocolate, saucy stuff and see if you notice a difference.

I can tell you from experience that stress and the panic we experience during these "episodes" will really make it worse. I'm not trying to minimize your feelings and your fear Gracie. I know how scary this is. Try to take deep breaths and make sure you tell yourself that you are not going to stop breathing........hang in there friend!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trebleclef,

thank you for all your insights.
i am also inclined to think that this is a GI problem. but it is strange that the tightness really came on, and got worse, with palpitations. but at the same time, the anxiety also gets worse with palpitations. it is also strange that the tightness is ALL the time, for the most part. it doesn't come and go with palpitations, but is pretty much always there. i think this is very uncommon with heart issues.
in fact, the tightness is MUCH better today. probably because this is the first day i've had off in a week. so this is all definitely stress hormone related. i am guessing all those hormones caused my muscles to get tight, like you guys said. probably pushed up on the diaphragm. or the hormones somehow affect my stomach, because the tightness in my abdomen and chest were much worse after eating.
i am going to see my dr. today. i need something to control these hormones. he was supposed to do research on what my very low normetanephrines mean, so hopefully we can start getting somewhere. although, i'm thinking that he might be nearing his wit's end with all this, considering he doesn't know anything about dysuatonomia. ah!

First off, want to make sure the "tightness" is not associated with wheezing which would be lung related.

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see I think you are having a heart related problem in combination with a GI problem.

not a structural heart problem necessarily, but rather amino acid or vitamin problem. You may not be getting enough good nitric oxide (NO) in the heart area to relax the arteries and vessels so that the heart can receive enough blood. Homocysteine can lower Nitric oxide levels and reduce its effectiveness..... Perhaps low adenosine levels....... Low Vasoactive Intestinal peptide...... Deficiency in B12.....or Arginine.....

now, for me the tightness and shortness of breath goes hand in hand with angina.

You could also be looking at a pulmonary artery problem.

Either the heart not getting enough oxygen or pulmonary artery problems are not healthy by any means and can be very serious.

I'd say the GI problem is bloating due to dysmotility problems. Just pressure adding to pressure. Not to mention the heart then has to pump even harder and faster to get enough blood down to the stomach. I'd take 500mg of Glutamine before eating next time.

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The lack of oxygen, tightness, pain, shortness of breath--- I battle this everyday. I've gotten better though. Mildly increased exercise which helped. And hopefully by lowering my 3 times the maximum limit homocysteine level while at the same time raising my B12 level and taking my arginine, my heart should have an easier time receiving oxygen.

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PLEASE LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING:

http://ndrf.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2621035343/m/2891026...221056835#1221056835

There's a lot of great info there.

thanks, nitekitty. does yours come and go with anxiety? my chest tightness was persistent the past few days, but i was also constantly panicked. i am coming off from that now, and my chest tightness is getting a lot better.
could this still be a lung or heart problem, that only manifests due to anxiety? or do you think it is more possible that my muscles are tightening due to anxiety?

well your heart itself is a muscle. It's very probable that anxiety brings it on. Stress causes the body to release different things like adrenaline and cortisol. If it's more anxiety related than exercise related, then you would definitely benefit from learning better deep breathing techniques and meditating. Incidently, my mother can have asthma attacks triggered by stress and anxiety.

and yes, I do get the chest tightness and pain with anxiety. My frustration is that I get it with minimal exercise/activity and this started like ten years ago. I'm 27 now. I'm gasping for air walking up a flight of steps. Not normal. In that case I've ruled out all sorts of problems via echocardiogram and ekg. It's got to be chemical related, amino acid, vitamin related.

I've seen an allergist/ asthma associate since I was 8 though. We've ruled out any lung issue. I do the breathing test for him once a year and I always score well. The tightness and lack of oxygen is different than asthma because I'm not wheezing.

As far as pulmonary hypertension, there is at least one person on this site diagnosed with that--- if you go to the find section you will be able to find their story. They should be able to see the pulmonary artery via an echocardiogram if I'm not mistaken.

thank you so much, nitekitty. i have also had an echo, and all was normal. i'm also not wheezing. so it must leave a muscular/chemical problem as well. it's hard to tell myself that though when the tightness is SO significant!
thanks for your info about the chemicals and vitamins that you suggest looking into. very helpful. i will have to consider some of those to ensure my levels are normal.

Just my 2 cents worth here. After having my autonomic issues for some time, I developed constant chest pain and tightness as well. They took imaging but saw nothing. However, when they did a stress test, it was positive. I required a cardiac cath for following that up. They discovered that I was born with a myocardial bridge which is an arterial entrapment within the heart's muscle tissue. The defect is not life threatening in and of itself. The belief is that the constant monkeying around with my bp and hr exacerbated the congenital defect, and working together these things cause my constant chest pain and tightness. Not suggesting you might have a similar defect as much as cautioning you to push for certain cardiac tests that can lead them where imaging tests cannot. GI or cardiac issue or not, chest pain in a person who can't control their bp and hr is a major stressor. Take care. God bless.

thank you all for replies.
i want to to update this situation, because my chest tightness is still persisting.
let's review. when i first started noticing that something was a little "off" with me over a year ago, this was one of my first symptoms. chest tightness with this pressure/fullness in my upper abdomen. at the time, i was also having a lot of anxiety. the tightness lasted for a few very long weeks, then just kind of went away. i haven't thought much about it since, even though it was such a strong symptom.

so here i am now, with the same exact feeling. i started experiencing extreme stress about a week ago, and my heart started going crazy. i was having more palpitations and panic attacks than ever before. then came the chest tightness and fullness in the abdomen. even after the panic attacks and palpitations subsided, my chest is soooo tight. constantly. there hardly goes a few minutes in the day that it isn't tight. sometimes it will get much tighter than usual though, which is really scary because i really cannot get in a full breath of air. at these times, the pressure in my abdomen also seems worse!

i haven't had much pain in the chest. maybe a few shooting pains here and there, but the tightness is the prevailing symptom.

is it wierd that it accompanies this fullness in my abdomen? does that majorly suggest a GI problem? my abdomen is extremely uncomfortable and seems very bloated. plus, my tightness is worse after eating.
or, does this suggest more of a heart or vascular issues, like pulmonary hypertension? is it strange that it came on so suddenly under a period of extreme anxiety/panic? is it possible that all those palpitations i was experiencing caused it?

what do i request at the doctors?

thanks so much for all your feedback so far. so appreciative.

Gracie -

Okay, here's my two cents. Your chest tightness could be coming from all of the things you mentioned in your post. GI problems like GERD or hiatal hernias can cause very debilitating chest tightness (I am speaking from experience here - and yes, it can be constant). Since you said it is worse after eating, that may be a flag for a GI issue. Hypertension can also cause chest tightness as can your high heartrate (again, speaking from experience). And most of all, extreme anxiety/panic will definitely make you feel like you are suffocating. Anxiety makes all of the above so much worse, hence a worsening of the chest tightness.

Have you considered asking your drs. for a GI workup? Or, even trying some over the counter GERD remedy like Pepcid or Zantac (it may not be strong enough but it might be worth a try - should be safe. I know I have pots and IST and it is safe for me)....

I am really concerned about this constant level of panic/anxiety you are in. If your heartrate is still very fast much of the time, you can be sure that is contributing to this sense of panic you are in as well as all the fear that having all this to deal with is generating (not to mention the major life decisions you have been wrestling with lately). As I said I have IST as well and when my heartrate is crazy, I am crazy.
We need to find a way to get you out of this panic mode. Are the drs. controlling your heartrate? Can you get a massage or do you have some outlet for all of the emotions and stress you are experiencing?
Anxiety is a very real thing and it can wreak havoc on our bodies......hang in there....you're going to come out of all this okay.

thank you so much trebleclef. i have actually felt the anxiety levels diminish greatly, since returning home and to my comfort zone. i haven't had any surges of panic in the last couple days, but the abdominal issues and chest tightness persist, though they are getting better. i suspect that the extreme stress and panic caused something to go awry in my GI system, but it may finally be normalizing, slowly but surely.
i am nervous that my body can no longer handle much of anything outside my daily routine. if this is how i'm going to react to a little bit of travel and change, i don't think i will survive this upcoming move across the country, starting classes, and trying to find a new job.

Gracie. . . I don't know if this will be of any help to you or not, but I was just pondering your last post and wanted to share my observations with you.

I don't know about you, but I can only handle ONE thing at a time right now. You mentioned moving, starting classes, finding a new job . . . and I know you're also stressing about finding new doctors, etc. That's a lot to deal with all at once. I would suggest just dealing with the move now and absolutely nothing else. It will take a lot of discipline to just focus on ONE thing, but I think it may help you in the long run.

I know you're young and have many things going on in your life right now, but you're going to have to simplify things a bit or you're going to have even more problems than you have now.

Your health is important! In fact, it's the MOST important! I'm probably not one who should be giving advice, but I care about what happens to you. You've got a lot of support on here from many people who really care!

Hey Gracie - I agree completely with Mollie......stress can do strange things to our bodies and totally exacerbate our existing conditions and you are juggling so many things at once.

Based on what you've told us over the last couple of months, it does seem that you have some type of dysautonomia. You have also been under huge amounts of anxiety and stress. Dysautonomia + Stress = Blech

I'm really glad you're back home and agree with Mollie that now you need to focus on one thing at a time and try to get some of your health and focus back. Now that the major decision of moving is made and behind you, be proud that you accomplished that and move on to the next step (getting a new Dr. or looking into your school options). The fact that things seem to be calming down with your symptoms may tell you something about how that persistent state of anxiety was affecting you. You said something that caught my attention "I have felt the anxiety levels diminish greatly since returning home and to my comfort zone" I deal with that all the time. I'm able to tolerate things at home and in my comfort zone because my adrenaline levels are at a minimum. Throw me out into the world in a new or overstimulating environment and I'm off to the moon. There's something to be said for stepping out of our comfort zones and increasing our resistance to the affects of stress/adrenaline but with us it needs to be gradual.....a little stress....lots of rest....stress....rest.
So many of us have been where you are Gracie. This is all relatively new to you and you are still learning how things will affect you. I have to tackle one thing at a time. Multitasking makes me dizzy!
In time, you will start to learn how different stressors affect you and what is your "normal" and what is not. I hope your dad is doing alright. Take care of yourself...

trebleclef - thank you for your wonderful advice. you are so very right. all of you are. i am a bundle of stress, and need to just... chill. but you are most right in pointing out that i am still fairly new to this and still trying to find ways to cope. i think that i am still trying to deny that this disorder will prevent me from doing things that i want to do, but the more i try to deny it and the more i pay the price, the more i am okay not doing those things anymore. it's like trying to diet - otherwise healthy, there is NO way i could pass up on a fabulous piece of cheesecake. but now, knowing what that piece of cheesecake will do to me, i have absolutely no desire to eat it. i think i'm getting that in my whole life. the more i overstimulate myself thinking that i can try to live like i did, the worse i feel, and the more i want to ensure i'm just living as comfortably as possible.
i am finding, however, that my life and attitude towards life is changing dramatically. before all this, i thought my career was the most important thing to me - perhaps the only important thing to me - and there was nothing that would stop me. i wanted to travel all the time, and wasn't planning on getting married or having children, as those things would inhibit some of my travels. now, i'm finding myself so drawn to settling down with my wonderful boyfriend and just loving and pampering my four "babies" (my cats). it is also quite out of my character to be giving up a good job opportunity to be moving back home to help with the family - but i feel really really great doing it.
so, all in all, perhaps this disorder is making me a better, more fulfilled person. i would sure have loved to learn these things without the disorder, but who knows if i ever would have!