Esophageal spasms that feel like a heart attack

I was wondering if anyone here has ever had an esophageal spasm that felt like a heart attack.  The information I have been able to find on the Internet has pretty much all been a quote from the same text and not very encouraging about treatment options.

I'm not 100% sure, but my doctor thinks that I have suffered at least two of these this past week (after eliminating my heart as the cause of my chest pain) and I was just wondering if anyone else here had ever experienced this problem and what if anything can be done to treat it.

I have never had esophageal spasms.  I hope you can find the information you need and that it has some good news. 

I have had gallbladder attacks that felt to me like a heart attack.  The best way I can explain it is an elephant sitting on a golf tee right in the center of my chest.  It hurt like the devil and it was very scary.

Sending you my best wishes.  I know how it feels to know something is wrong and not be able to find our what it is or not be able to find info about it if I do know what it is.  I hope you feel better soon!

Yes, I had an esophageal spasm earlier this year. It was really weird. Irritation of the esophageal lining, acid reflux, etc. can cause these. But, the funny thing is, I don't really have acid reflux. It happened when I was in the shower and I turned funny with my arms over my head to rinse my hair. All of a sudden this pain started, dull but deep. I knew something was strange. I'm only 41, but these things happen. I called my doc but because women don't have "normal" cardiac symptoms, they sent me to the ER just to rule out anything with my heart. It turned out to be a spasm. I took Zantec for about 7 days and it has never happened again. Hope you get the answers you're looking for.

Well, I don't suffer from acid reflux either as far as I know.  At least I have never had any of the heartburn type symptoms.  As for the pain, I would have to say that it was anything but dull.  It was very intense for between 15 and 20 minutes to the extent that I felt compelled to call an ambulance.  I have a high tolerance for pain, having lived with migraines since I was a teenager and back and joint pain for a long time while I was over 300 pounds, but this pain was almost unbearable.  And it doesn't help when you panic and start to hyperventilate.  When the attack is done, I feel fine and one nice thing about this whole event has been getting my heart checked by a cardiologist who tells me that my cardiovascular health is very good (blood pressure on the low side, a resting heart rate of about 50 beats per minute, normal EKG, etc).  I guess all of that cardio I have been doing at the gym is paying dividends.  It just bugs me that in two visits to the hospital, that they were only able to eliminate my heart as the problem and not give me a more concrete diagnosis.

Thanks for your good wishes.  I am not especially worried about this and am hopeful that as I continue to investigate this issue, that more information will be forthcoming so that I can avoid a repeat of this past weekend.

I had this this past winter. I was told it was something like that. The nurse told me to take Maylox, but it didn't help much. Are you under alot of stress? That was my problem. I went on vacation over Christmas, and, when I came back (nice and relaxed), the pains stopped. But it was pretty intense and mimicked heart trouble. They were along my left side and under my breast bone right around my heart. I would just sit on the couch and cry, until they went away.

The other thing it could be is a panic attack from the hypervenalating point of view. Panic attacks can feel like a massive heart attack. You should see a doctor about that and maybe they can prescribe you ativan for the bad attacks. Also, take note of how your body feels leading up to the pain. Are there any noticable signs that the pain is coming? These can help you stay calm and try to incorporate relaxation responses, when you start feeling this way.

Remember, if it is panic, you often cannot tell what the mental cause is. They tend to just come on. But if you pay attention to your body, you can tell when they are coming and lessen your response.

I almost completely sure that it is not a panic attack.  It takes a lot to make me panic (like thinking that I was dying of a heart attack) and the panic I felt during the first attack was a reaction to the pain, not the cause of it.  All I was doing at the time was sitting on the couch with my wife, talking about our days.  The second attack, I didn't panic and instead focused on breathing normally, laying down and elevating my feet, and concentrating on what was happening so that I could accurately describe the symptoms when I got to the hospital.  I believe that this helped the pain ease quicker, although it didn't go away entirely for some time.

I am not prone to panic at all.  In fact, it takes a lot to get me worked up.  I am passionate about certain things, but I don't stress over much of anything.

I had the same thing a month ago! I started to have an uncomfortable sensation in my stomach, 5 minutes later I had to lay down.  My husband was with me, and I said that if it didn't feel any better in 10 minutes I think we should go to the hospital. Two minutes later I was screaming at him to kill me, he called an ambulance instead. 

Like you techdog, I have a very high pain tolerance level, I have lived with Crohn's and arthritis for years.  First off, they thought it was gall stones, even though I had not eaten anything for 4 hours, and have been on a low fat diet.  They kept me in overnight once the pain had settled, and the surgeon came and saw me the next morning, and she said that she thought it was a esophageal spasm rather than gall stones.  They put me on Nexium, and had a 'wait and see' attitude.  I did some research on my own, the one good thing I found was someone recommended drinking a glass of warm water quickly (gulping it down) as soon as you started having any symptoms.  The only treatment if they become frequent (if the antacids are not working), is to surgically sever the muscles around the esophagus, which is rather drastic.

I have a history of reflux, but I have never felt it, it is something the gastroenterologist found when having a scope a few years ago.  I went on Nexium for awhile, but then stopped, because I never felt anything and it never bothered me, so why take another pill? Stupid me.  Anyway, now my esophagus is quite scarred from the reflux, and it can be a precursor to cancer.  I also had 2 stomach tumors removed 2 years ago, they were really close to the vagus nerve, so that could have something to do with it as well.

I have only had the start of one episode since going to hospital, first thing I had some liquid Zantac (Ranitadine HCL) and gulped down a glass of warm water, and went and sat down very quietly.  It never developed further. Typically esophageal spasm can be triggered by drinking something cold after eating something hot, but there was no pattern between my two episodes.

Anyway, maybe that will help you, but it really is an awful awful pain. 

OMG!!!  I have been going to the doctor for what I called panic attacks for YEARS and they could never figure out what was wrong.  I called them panic attacks for lack of better words.  I tell them that it stars in my throat, an achy feeling and moves into my chest and feels like I am being stabbed repeatedly...  I was sent to have my heart checked out and there is nothing wrong with my heart...  It was annoying because they wanted to put me on Lexapro (didn't work) and other medications like that... The more stressed I get the more often it happens, and I am in frigging Law School!  (that means I get them alot) Anyway now that I have looked this up I think that this is what it is that I am getting...  Maybe I need to go see my doctor again and sppon feed him the answer so that I can finally get some relief!

Well, I am taking a medication similar to nexium, but not nexium (that stuff is just too expensive).  I guess I'll just have to wait and see if the pain returns.

As for treatments, I also read that biofeedback can be used and I am actually pretty good at that.  I use it for pain management of my migraines and I was able to slow my heart rate the other day in the ER just by concentrating on the monitor I was hooked up to.  I watched my heart rate go from about 60 beats per minute to as low as 44 beats per minute.  I finally stopped when the nurse got annoyed at the alarm continually going off because of it.

I don't know if it is related but I have LPR cousin to GERD - noticed I was getting hoarse and went to ENT with fears of throat cancer.

Anyway - with LPR the reflux goes higher but is not as acidic as with GERD so it may not give you heartburn but it tears up the upper esosphogaus.  I take nexium 80mg a day. 

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/294 /12/1534

I had an esophageal spasm that felt like a heart attack many years ago at the age of 27/28 or so. It woke me up in the middle of the night with all they symptoms of a heart attack. Left arm numbness, heaviness in the chest, chest pain etc. Went to the ER and they treated me with an antacid after determining that it wasn't a heart attack. Haven't had it since am now 61. But I did have a heart attack a couple of months ago that was induced while I was in the ER for extreme heart burn, belching, and high blood pressure. Forgot to tell them I had used viagra the previous day and the nitro they gave me for angina and/or stomach problems dropped my BP. The drugs they gave me to bring BP back up induced heart attack - truly a blessing because I had no other symptoms of the blockages that were forming. Over 90% in main artery!

What was interesting is that it took 3 visits to the ER with heart burn, belching and flatulation before they finally figured out I have an irritated esophagus, reflux, and abrasions on the wall of my stomach as well! I was kept overnight because my heart enzymes were elevated indicating the heart was having a problem. It seems that, at least for me there are interactions between esophagus, stomach, and heart and its going to be difficult to differentiate the symptoms if other of my arteries start shutting down.

Good luck to ya and keep on top of it. We have to be our own medical care advocates!

Hi Techdog.  I suffered an espohageal spasm last year and it was one of the scariest things I have ever experienced.  I really thought I was having a heart attack, it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and my arms went numb.  I was rushed to the hospital for a possible heart attack and after a day in the hospital and a gazillion tests later, it was determined I had an esphageal spasm.  My chest stayed sore for several days after that.

I do have a mild case of acid reflux.  Since that incident I take a Prilosec anti-acid pill every morning when I wake up and luckily have not experienced anything like that again.  Hope you don't either!

Well, I hope it doesn't recur, it sounds like a pretty miserable experience. You probably already read this article on esophageal spasm on emedicine but it's pretty complete, accurate, and helpful. Medication is the first-line therapy, though the article suggests that eating softer foods might help prevent recurrence in some patients (not everyone).

I appreciate all the responses and I have read pretty much everything I could find on this condition.  I'm just going to hope for the best and deal with whatever comes.

hi i have what i believe to be these spasms daily they thought it was a stricture then have dilated my esophagus and dont ever test possible i have taken nexium prevacid even some calcium blockers.  nothing has helped at all.  i am ficing to have another procedure. they are so bad i cant even eat anything.

Nitroquick (heart attack medicine)  is what my doctor prescribed for these. I get the spasms when I take certain kinds of painkillers (tylonol with codine does it every time). I also take Protonix for GERD; acid reflux can cause the spasms as well.

I had these for about a year- oh the pain. they did a scope and my esophagus has  uclers in it. 10 yrs later the uclers are there but haven't had pain as often since going on a acid blocker twice a day. doctor was some what concern that it hasn't healed up. The nerve ending are the same one as if you had a heart attack. My concern now is cancer for the ucler not healing. The only think that stopped the pain was drinking some milk- don't know if that will help you, I guess since mine was from stomach acid it worked. I was even put on bed rest once . prevacid works better for me then nexium. I'm due for another scope this year. hope you feel better.

I had another one of these this afternoon, Techdog.  We had gone out drinking some last night and I did feel queasy this morning, but not sick.  After eating a BLT, boiled egg, and a coca-cola, the attack struck with a vengeance.  I had alternating hot and cold spells, the back of my arms felt heavy and ached, and a severe pain was in my chest.  Just got the all clear from my doctor, so it's not my heart.  I tried several medicines (Nexium, et al) and got no relief.  Finally I FORCED myself to throw up and this eased things for a while, but not for long.  After telling my wife to "please kill me", she gave me a pain pill she had not taken during her dental work.  This knocked me back out for four hours (asleep) but when I woke up, my chest was still sore but the stabbing severe pain was gone.  Twelve hours later and just now able to sit up at my computer again.  If this is similar to your spasms, let me know, and if you find something to help, please let me know this too.  My email address is ddawson15@bellsouth.net.

DD

 

Acid reflux can cause some weird symptoms.  I was just diagnosed with esophogeal/larygeal problems.  I had a constant, unexplained cough that would come on suddenly when I spoke.  It was caused by GERD that I didn't feel - no heartburn at all, just the occassional spasm, as you describe.  Acid was rising to the vocal chords and pharyx, causing the cough and a feeling like something was going down the wrong way.  A complete GI exam showed that I do have a small hiatial hernia.  The treatment is with Prevacid one hour before meals.  The cough has disappeared.  If I do feel the urge to cough, I take a tums and it goes away. 

 

I'm bumping this up to the top so it won't get lost in the sea of undereater's threads.

I have had these for years.  They got much worse about five years ago, with not only the very painful esophageal spasms (I have three children and I would compare the pain to that of childbirth), but also flushing, sweating, bowel movements and even a few times projectile vomiting.  Fortunately this doesn't happen very often!  I have had five of these attacks of the major type.

I can feel the attacks coming on and try to moderate them.  My approach is to drink a lot of water immediately, with hot water being the best,  Then I take an imodium pill and half a Xanax, or if it seems really potentially bad, a whole Xanax.  This really is infrequent, but I carry these meds with me everywhere I go just in case.  There are no obvious triggers.

I have been to several doctors and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with my esophagus.  I actually have the curious impression that the really strong attacks are related to a low-carb/high fat diet.