Medical advice, might be close to a heart attack

And just go to the doctor and put myself another 5-10k in debt, when there are a number of issues that cause chest pain like this, isn't really an obvious choice to make.
 
Mike said:
And just go to the doctor and put myself another 5-10k in debt, when there are a number of issues that cause chest pain like this, isn't really an obvious choice to make.
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How old are you?
 
Also pretty sure your ass would be grass by now. A few of my family members died from heart attacks. T
 
Mike said:
Mid to late 30s
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You're alright as long as your family doesn't have a history of heart disease and you're not obese. That said since you said you don't go to the gym, you probably moved one way and pulled something.
 
HTTR21 said:
You're alright as long as your family doesn't have a history of heart disease and you're not obese. That said since you said you don't go to the gym, you probably moved one way and pulled something.
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Yeah I'm under more physical stress than normal, but also have some heart attack risk factors. So it could go either way. I'm hoping it's just muscle strain, or inflammation.
 
When i got my first panic attack I thought I was having a heart attack. Kept checking my pulse and using one of those blood pressure machines over and over. Sometimes it would show Irregular Heart Beat and I would freak out even more lol. It was all in my head though. Everyone is different though.
 
@Mike Go to the ER. By law they have to see and treat you, then when the bill comes virtually every hospital has legit financial assistance available to people who need it
 
Mike said:
Yeah I'm finally almost out of debt. But it's not just the money, you can't even get into anything but urgent care and the ER here without insurance or cash up front.. Urgent care can't deal with anything serious, and any ER visit is thousands of dollars. I didn't want to go without trying to figure out if they could actually do something, because they bill you either way. It sounds like I might have to go to the ER.
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How much do you think you would pay for an ER visit?

Do you have a credit card with a good medical plan? I don't even know if this is an option or not but can you book the cheapest trip to Canada you can with that card and then show up here and suddenly 'find' you have that issue and rush to a hospital emergency room here? I think the Canadian billings for an out of country patient here through the ER will be between $1000-$5000 depending on the tests they feel they need to do but your credit card medical might cover almost all of that.

Might sound like a weird option but it might save you piling on a bunch of debt again.
 
MikeMcMann said:
How much do you think you would pay for an ER visit?

Do you have a credit card with a good medical plan? I don't even know if this is an option or not but can you book the cheapest trip to Canada you can with that card and then show up here and suddenly 'find' you have that issue and rush to a hospital emergency room here? I think the Canadian billings for an out of country patient here through the ER will be between $1000-$5000 depending on the tests they feel they need to do but your credit card medical might cover almost all of that.

Might sound like a weird option but it might save you piling on a bunch of debt again.
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Almost broke. Have enough for food, car insurance etc. but that's it. Just spent a lot of money moving and got a new job, which is why I'm in a tight spot. No medical until you're with the company for a month or so.

The pay is pretty decent so if It's not serious and I can tough it out I'll be in a much better spot in a month or two. If it comes down to it I can go to the ER and have them run a bunch of tests, but I know from experience EKGs and the like cost thousands of dollars at the ER. So I'd rather not go that route unless I HAVE to.

Posting the thread has been helpful though, I did some searching on my own but anything chest pain related leads straight to you're gonna die, it's a heart attack bro. Something like the costochondritis actually sounds like it could be it. They advise stuff like Aleve and icy hot for that so I'm going to try that and see how it goes.

*makes final post*


<Moves>
 
A portion of my chest being sore to the touch a day or so after the acute pain also makes me think it's a pulled or strained muscle, hopefully. But the location and severity of the pain was disconcerting to say the least.
 
koolinkunming said:
This @Mike. This.

Or come across the border here to Canada and go to the emergency for free and at least see what the problem is.
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Non residents receiving health care in Canada do get the bill. And that bill is typically $1000-$5000 depending on the test or care needed.

That said I have no idea how good Canada is at collecting on that if he just goes back to the US nor do I know if he has any credit card insurance that cover it.
 
Costochondritis is caused by inflammation. Most of the time, the exact underlying cause is unknown. Viral and bacterial infections may trigger costochondritis. The condition may also occur in cases of chest trauma, overuse injury, fibromyalgia, reactive arthritis, and in the presence of tumors. Costochondritis may develop after surgery. Pregnancy stretches a woman's rib cage and may trigger costochondritis.


I've been more active AND have fibromyalgia, so I think I may have found the culprit here hopefully.
 
Mike said:
Almost broke. Have enough for food, car insurance etc. but that's it. Just spent a lot of money moving and got a new job, which is why I'm in a tight spot. No medical until you're with the company for a month or so.

The pay is pretty decent so if It's not serious and I can tough it out I'll be in a much better spot in a month or two. If it comes down to it I can go to the ER and have them run a bunch of tests, but I know from experience EKGs and the like cost thousands of dollars at the ER. So I'd rather not go that route unless I HAVE to.

Posting the thread has been helpful though, I did some searching on my own but anything chest pain related leads straight to you're gonna die, it's a heart attack bro. Something like the costochondritis actually sounds like it could be it. They advise stuff like Aleve and icy hot for that so I'm going to try that and see how it goes.

*makes final post*


<Moves>
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I hear ya. Iv'e done similar despite having money and free health care available to me here in Canada. I was having severe chest pains about 6 years back and thought it was the big one. But I so hate going to a hospital emerge I thought I would just go lay down and hope it would pass. it did, two days later. So I was a lucky dumb ass. But I definitely gambled with my life on that one. Good luck sherbro.
 
Mike said:
A portion of my chest being sore to the touch a day or so after the acute pain also makes me think it's a pulled or strained muscle, hopefully. But the location and severity of the pain was disconcerting to say the least.
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Go for a long walk and see if it acts up again. If you start feeling the same pain again, go to the hospital. Sounds like a strained muscle but you never know.
 
Mike said:
So I have a number of medical issues including chronic pain all over my body, so typically I'm not immediately worried by severe pain. Recently I started a new job, long hours on my feet. Ten hour days.

About half way through my shift last night I started having fairly severe pain, around my sternum. It started out as more of a severe ache, but near the end of my shift it changed and began to feel more like muscle spasms. I have a relatively high pain threshold, but by the end of my shift it was all I could do just to manage the pain and still move. Pressure on the area, just a couple fingers pressing into my sternum, seemed to alleviate most of the pain.

Today the pain in my sternum is gone, but I have a dull ache in the upper right side of my chest around the breast/pec area. Some preliminary googling suggests possible coronary artery spasms, which can be a precursor to a heart attack, particularly if they last for a long time. Sounds like most coronary spasms last for up to 30 minutes, but this was for hours.

I don't have medical right now, and I'm not really sure what to do. I could go to an urgent care, but from my experience in the past they are for colds and minor injuries and aren't equipped to deal with anything serious. Getting medical will take weeks to a month, whether I go through the state or wait for my jobs medical to kick in.

As I said I'm used to having a lot of issues and just toughing it out, but it seems like I could possibly die if I do that here. Should I go to an ER? Would they be equipped to run the right tests and give me heart medication like nitroglycerin for the time being? I'm really not sure what to do here. I need money but I'm worried if I keep going back to work I could have a heart attack.
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Stress can do that to you too.
 
MikeMcMann said:
Non residents receiving health care in Canada do get the bill. And that bill is typically $1000-$5000 depending on the test or care needed.

That said I have no idea how good Canada is at collecting on that if he just goes back to the US nor do I know if he has any credit card insurance that cover it.
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Huh.
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