My VERY Strange Chest Pain...

Hi all. Could anyone offer any advice on this?

I'm a 30 year old male. For the last month and a half, I've been having chest pains on and off. I usually wake up with the pain in the morning and then it continues for 2-3 days as a constant dull ache in my chest and left shoulder. The ache then goes away gradually, only to come back a few days later.

Obviously, everyone is going to ask "why the heck haven't you gotten to a doctor". Well, besides a doc-phobia, the weird thing is my chest pain seems to be EASED by exercise... Walking on a treadmill for say
45 minutes or so greatly lessens the ache for a couple of hours, but then it returns again.

If this pain were heart related, is it possible that it could be relieved by exercise?

You describe chest pains that are lessened (rather than relieved) by exercise. This could be pericarditis/myocarditis (inflammation of the heart and/or the sack around the heart). Would suggest you see a doctor.

I have similar stories. When I experienced certain types of thoughts, I would have mild pain, sensations or tiedness in parts of my body, mostly around the chest or arms or the head. When I excercise, the pain would disappear most of the time unless I dwell on it.

Not only that, when I assumed certain positions, I feel a pressure around my head and if I exert myself, it gets worse. However, when running, walking or swimming, there are no such symptoms

No doctors could explain these phenomena satisfactorily as my tests all points out the clear. I am 56 years old and my b/p and heart beats per minute are all excellent. However,as my sugar and cholesterol levels are a little on the high side (though I am not diabetic), my doctor has advised me to take 5 mg of Simvor daily so as to lower my cholesterol level.

These are all typical of psychosomatic ailments ...

Exercise causes you to release endorphins which are essentially your body's own painkillers. They are the thing that allows a runner to run past the point of pain ... that lets him carry on. They also work for other pains that may be in the body.

Endorphins also raise your pain tolerance in general.

Mood impacts serotonin levels which has a huge impact on pain tolerance levels. If your pain tolerance level is reduced, then it will tend to make even slight pains seem like they're killers!

So, the question is, what came first ... the chicken or the egg. Do you have a problem which is being eased by the exercise, or mood, or is your pain tolerance level making minor discomfort significant and even making the injury that caused it more significant.

To deal with these kinds of pain issues, you need an understanding doctor. Many are unfortunately not particularly understanding of pain, or mood. "You're in pain, too bad, take some aspirin and if that doesn't work, too bad, nothing else I can do"