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Chest tightness - allergic reaction


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Our family friend had chest pain on and off for a year. I'm not sure what type of pain - if it was squeezing or something else. He was rushed to the hospital a few times, and was under the care of a heart specialist. It turns out he was allergic to wheat. He has been several years without wheat and without chest pain. Go figure!

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Two thoughts come to mind (from personal experience):

 

1. Panic attacks

 

2. I have an iodine allergy and was taking it every day in my mulit vitamin without realizing my shellfish allergy included iodine.

 

Are any of these things a possibility? I went through tons of testing, too, including holter monitors and blood tests, etc, and no one could figure out the prob. It was determined by trial and error.

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Is it only happening when you've been exposed to something you KNOW you're allergic to, or is it seemingly random? Do you have reflux, by any chance, or could you be developing it? My mom's been going through something like this for the past few months, and after much testing and worrying, they changed her reflux meds and she's been having less trouble.

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To rule out acid reflux, you could try OTC Pepcid for a couple days. It works pretty darn well. And, quickly.

 

If that doesn't help, an elimination diet to really look at food allergies. . .

 

Panic is possible, too.

 

I had bad acid reflux and food allergies for years. . . the acid was eroding and inflaming my esophagus. Eventually it got bad enough I got food lodged in my throat, and ended up in the hospital and had to get the steak scoped out. . . That's when I found out I had such bad heartburn (I hadn't had typical symptoms).

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If you do think it's EE/reflux related, don't be surprised if you have to go through a bunch of meds to find something that actually works. My mom had to try 4 or 5 different things (Gaviscon, Pepcid, Nexium, Protonic something or other) before she found something that made a difference. It's only been in the last few days that she's found relief because her doctor just changed her meds again. She went through every major test you could imagine, and she was convinced she had lung cancer or heart disease. But no, she's been given a remarkably clean bill of health and better reflux meds!

 

We all have the food-stuck-in-the-the-throat thing here, likely from years of silent reflux. It just happened yesterday, with white rice at lunch. My dad and uncle were both scoped recently and cleared for EE, but they do have inflamed esophaguses. I haven't been scoped, but I'm sure that I do too and am focusing on diet and weight loss to make a difference (for now). So you're not alone.

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