How to treat chest pain?
Patient: Hello, I have been having chest pain for months now. I have been working with a cardiologist who gave me a clean bill of health. Everything was done short of a catheter. I exercise almost daily and was in the 98th percentile for my age, which is 44. In any case while working with the cardiologist I developed a blood clot that was superficial. I h ad a pain develop in my back about a month ago. It was excruciating and went up to my jaw and down the left arm. I could not event chew gum it hurt so bad. Saw my family doc again. He did a d-dimer test which came back as .9 where normal is .4. I am now occasionally coughing up small amounts of blood. I am sweating profusely from time to time and have a general fog or dizziness where I feel that I am favoring my left side. Any thoughts? Doctor: I highly suggest you revisit the doctor for formal testing with Chest-X ray and Blood Work. This sounds as if it were a potential atherosclerotic like disease of the central arteries, with some blockage leading to the symptoms described. I would also rule out pneumonia and or infection of the chest. Note that D-Dimer is very non-specific and can be raised for a number of reasons. Nonetheless coughing up blood, profuse swatting and the unilateral fogginess and dizziness are symptoms that in and of themselves would would warrant formal workup and ADMISSION TO THE HOSPITAL. I wish you the best of luck.