What causes tightness in the chest?
Patient: OMG...Just where do I begin...my array of problems started 4 days before Thanksgiving of 2010...My Dentist gave me some antibiotics to take before he pulled my tooth...and all was well...til one morning I woke up scratching like I was entering the world record for how many times can one person scratch per minute...believe me I would have won, hands down...lol..being 49 years young...lol...lol..I have never experinced HIVES ever before....yep this was my first ride....I have to say I hated it lol...not fun at all...I phoned a friend which told me to take a oatmeal bath, I thought to myself....that my dear friend has lost her mind, an oatmeal bath???...hmmm it was not what I expected to hear...lol...well, to make a long story short...we are now in March of 2011 and I have turned a year younger....lol...and I still battling hives like its nobody s business...I am now having chest tightness, but I don t have shortness of breath...its only when I stretch my arms apart...that I will feel the tightness...I feel jittery most of the days and night, sometimes I feel my heartbeat all over my body...and sometimes my heart is at the derby..lol, yepppp its off to the races it goes, I must say I don t like the race, but I can deal with it... I think lol...within a year I had to pull three tooth all of them are at the back of my mouth, each time the Doc tell s me that its because I m losing bone so therefore there is nothing else for the tooth to hold on to...hmmm...I am fatigued sometimes, and sometimes I feel like I can take on the world...although rare, but I do have superman moments...right now as I m typing...I am experiencing pain on my right arm, and back shoulder pain...my legs are often swollen, but I think this is due to the fact that I am sitting on a desk for more than 12 hours a day...my hands are often tight, sometime I feel like if I squeeze them anymore than I already am, they will pop like water balloon.....so Doc s any Doc s...can someone ease my mind, as to what I m going through...any help and advice will be well respected and followed. Yes I am desperate for some answers... Doctor: Hello,  In your case, it could be related to Drug-induced allergy, idiopathic allergy or something else. Therefore, I suggest you go through a series of tests (RBT, KFT, LFTs,  Routine and microscopic urine test, ECG, ABD USG).   Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.  Take care  Regards, Dr Sandeep Kumar Karn, Internist / Hospitalist