PLEASE HELP

Here's the story:
There was a time in my life where i used to use drugs on a recreational basis, and at it's peak I was using both cocaine and oxycodone. I was a stupid teenager, and I completely understand that. One night, I was eating dinner and going to a movie with a couple friends, and after standing up from the table I noticed a sharp pain in my chest, and breathing became difficult and painful (I was not on any substance at the time). I never told anyone this, and I did my best to work myself through it. Now fast forward two and a half years later: I have gotten my act together, been completely clean, and I'm also about to go on to law school. Ever since then, however, I have been living with an uncomfortable feeling in my chest that has been bearable at times, and very uncomfortable at others. I have gone to my doctor and have been treated for everything from asthma, to acid reflux, and nothing has changed. I have has a stress test and an EKG, and that has shown nothing. Is there a chance this is completely psychological? Do the doctors not see anything wrong simply because they don't expect to find anything wrong with a 22 yr old? What can I do to make this better? It's hard for me to accept that it would be psychological, because I feel so many physical manifestations of it; my heart seems to race at times, I can feel a pounding in my chest sometimes, I am even losing hair over it. Another interesting issue is that I stopped drinking coffee because it REALLY makes me feel uncomfortable and painful. Sorry for the essay, but any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Not only does this weigh heavily on my mind (and my chest!) but it also affects my social life to an extent.

I agree with ELS. Do not ignore any kind of pain in your chest. Your body is trying to tell you something.

I am not a doctor, but from my own experience I can tell you that diet and lifestyle can probably fix your problem. Like you, I had a history of substance abuse and began havig some problems myself. I looked to nutrition and lifestlye to repair my body and I am great now. I am 50, I have 10% bodyfat, I feel great, workout three times per week for about 30 minutes, I eat very healthy, (lots of greens, no sweeteners, clean protiens) and I can compete with anyone in their late 20s and be competative.

I still would check out another doctor, but there are many instances of issues that they have not seen enough to be familiar with. I know of a few people who stopped eating anything with artificial sweetners and cleared up a lot of problems that were stumping the medical doctors. I guarantee that if you go after healthy nutrition your condition will improve maybe even completely. There are lots of sites with health and nutrition information. If you just change one thing at a time, you can build on that success and make other incremental changes, in addition to seeing a second doctor. Hope this helps.

Post Edited (guitarmanmarty) : 9/24/2008 3:05:44 PM (GMT-6)