Unusual pains

[chagrinfalls1979]

Dr. Joshua:

My name is Dave, and for the last couple of months I have been having unusual, recurring pains. It started a few months ago with a slight tightness in my chest that would last for only a minute or two and would not last. Also, I would have sharp pains in the vicinity of my forehead and temple areas. Occassionally I would experience palpitations that would keep me up at night, only once every couple of weeks. However, all of this would generally not keep me from doing everyday activities. About 1 1/2 months ago it all stopped and I thought that it was a passing pain from something that I may have done to myself. But starting last month, roughly 4 weeks ago, I started to experience the same pains in my chest and head. Now these pains are not debilitating or severe, but they are noticable. I have not felt any pain radiating into my left arm, so I do not think it is the signals of a heart attack. It occurs at any time of the day, it does not occur only after exercise. Also, I can sleep fine without interruption from the pain and the pain is virtually gone for a few hours in the morning after I awake. It only happens during the day and evening and has no timing, it could occur within five minutes of each other or within a couple of hours of each other. Also, when the chest pain happens, it typically does not happen just in one place, it occassionally moves around the chest but the majority of the pains occur around the sternum. And I do not sense a quickening of my pulse when these pains occur either. But I guess the fact that they are coming back kinda freaks me out a little. I worry because my mother was adopted so there is vitually no family history on her side of the family and also I am slightly overweight (not terribly so - 6' tall and 220 pounds) also I just stopped smoking about 3 months ago. Could this be something to do with the cessation of smoking? I guess the main question is, is this something I should be worried about and should I see a local physician about it now? The issue is, my health insurance does not kick in until August 15th and I will not be able to see a doctor until then, but if you think that this could be serious enough then I will swallow the bill and see one now. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

[Dave said in another post that he's 27 years old -edit by Dr.Joshua]

[Dr. Joshua]

Hi Dave, thanks for posting your question. I must say you've put me in a difficult position here. Normally I would say go see your doctor right away, but then again you are only 27 years old and it's very rare to have heart disease in your age, and I don't know what kind of financial situation you're in as far as paying the doctor's bills, and I know they can be outrageous in the U.S. On the other hand I cannot possibly exclude serious illness based on your post alone. A thorough history and a physical examination is needed for that.

Since you have chest pains and you are concerned enough to post your question here, my recommendation would have to be: see the doctor. The decision is ultimately yours.

EDIT:
I thought about this a bit more, and talked to a colleague, and the conclusion we came to is this: As a doctor, I am not in a position to put a dollar value to your health, and while your symptoms do not necessarily mean you have a serious illness, on the other hand there are many life-threatening illnesses that may cause such symptoms, and might kill you before your insurance kicks in, so please go see your doctor, right away.