Gut Check: Aortic Pain

[KimC]

Hi,

For the past few days, I've felt a deep throbbing ache on my left side. I've tried to ignore it.

This AM I couldn't. When I pressed on the area of pain, I felt excruciating pain under my left breast. My husband felt the area and said it was throbbing.

I went to see my primary care doctor who felt the area which once again prompted the knife-like chest pain. (This chest pain is very different than anginal pain -- I can reproduce it).

He immediately ordered an aortic echo. During the ultrasound, I pressed on the area of pain, and the tech said it was the renal artery juncture from the aorta. He said it looked large but normal -- no bulging aneurysms.

My primary care doc said he wants to "wait-and-see" before ordering more tests. (If I still experience the pain next week, then he wants to run more sophisticated tests).

Does this sound like a reasonable plan of action for those of you who have experienced aortic disease or pain? I don't want to under-or-overreact.

What would be the next line of tests?

Thanks --

 

[Marty]

? pain

? pain

Kim, I think a combined chest and abdomen CT might be indicated. You would need contrast injection. I would get it done with the most modern multislice scanner. They can show amazingly detailed images of your blood vessels. They could also rule out other causes of this pain.

 

[PJmomrunner]

Umm...what about blood clots?

Hi,

For the past few days, I've felt a deep throbbing ache on my left side. I've tried to ignore it.

This AM I couldn't. When I pressed on the area of pain, I felt excruciating pain under my left breast. My husband felt the area and said it was throbbing.

I went to see my primary care doctor who felt the area which once again prompted the knife-like chest pain. (This chest pain is very different than anginal pain -- I can reproduce it).

He immediately ordered an aortic echo. During the ultrasound, I pressed on the area of pain, and the tech said it was the renal artery juncture from the aorta. He said it looked large but normal -- no bulging aneurysms.

My primary care doc said he wants to "wait-and-see" before ordering more tests. (If I still experience the pain next week, then he wants to run more sophisticated tests).

Does this sound like a reasonable plan of action for those of you who have experienced aortic disease or pain? I don't want to under-or-overreact.

What would be the next line of tests?

Thanks --

 

[Sherry]

Hi, Kim,
I've been fighting with this "under the left breast" stabbing pain now for some time. It comes and goes, and I've never been able to get an answer. In fact, as I was returning to school with my class today (we walked a mile or so to the nearest YMCA for a field day), I felt a a terrible stabbing pain. This phantom pain is driving me crazy, as I'm sure it is for you too. I do have an appointment in a few weeks for a pulmonary function study and a "bubble" echo (which I had never heard of), so I'm on hold myself until then. Let us know what you find out, and I will too. Take care.

 

[Yaps]

same thing with me

same thing with me

last week, went to gp and he sent me to er.. he said chest wall pain, from strain..???

 

[KimC]

Hi,

Thank you, Marty. I took the initiative and asked my doctor to run the CT tests today. He once said I'm the captain of my health care, so I told him, (my First Mate) what I wanted done. I'm off to the ER.

PJ, thanks for your .02 re: blood clots. I know you included this because of my sister's recent loss and ensuing bloodwork in our family re: Factor V Leiden. My sister's waiting to hear if she needs to go on lifelong Coumadin.

Sherry/Yaps, this is definitely related to the aorta. I can press on any area of my abdomen and feel nothing. When I press on the pulsating aorta, I feel severe pain that travels up into the heart region. Unlike angina, I feel no pressure or radiating pain in my arm or neck. I'm sufficiently scared. It could just be inflammation.

I'll let you know how it goes. Here's hoping that it's nothing and that I'm overreacting! It sure wouldn't be the first time.

Best,

 

[PJmomrunner]

KimC - I hope everything's okay...?

KimC - I hope everything's okay...?

I hope you are just enjoying mother's day too much to be on-line.

 

[Creed3]

Kim,
I have been checking back to this thread often to see how things are going with you. I also hope that you were out enjoying Mother's Day today. Please let us know how things went yesterday when you went to the ER.

Take Care!
Gail

 

[KimC]

Hi, everyone.

Thank you for your concern. Here's where we're at ...

The contrast CT scan was negative, however, they did not look at the aorta, only the pelvic cavity. (My doc said he would order an aorta study only after ruling out GYN causes due to insurance concerns). He preliminarily diagnosed me with aortic inflammation or vasculitis. (My sed rate's high). He said inflammation would not show up on a scan.

I'm researching vasculitis and welcome anyone's knowledge about or experience with it.

I'm taking heavy-duty painkillers which help but also seem like a band-aid. We're all hoping that the symptoms will pass in a couple more days, and that I won't need the angiogram or steroid therapy. It's day-by-day at this point; I'm not in so much pain that I need to be hospitalized but I am concerned.

I'm calling my cardio in Florida to double-check my local doctor's course of action. I've learned from experience that my local care is very conservative.

I'll post again when I have more news to share! Thank you!!!

Best,

 

[PJmomrunner]

Hi Kim!

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear you're still in pain with no real progress in determining why.... I hope you get some answers or sponteneous resolution soon!

Hang in there.

P. J.

 

[Marguerite53]

wish I could say something helpful...

wish I could say something helpful...

Hi Kim. Just watching and wishing. Keep us posted and I hope things improve for you soon. Pain is so scary. It's hard to work through it when you don't know what it is, and then you wonder if you're just making it worse with worry..... I think you are wonderful to be advocating for yourself so completely. Keep it up. Hang in there!

Best wishes. Marguerite

 

[karlaosh]

Hi Kim.

I've been doing a lot of reading about vasculitis in the past few years because I think I had a flare of it--lots of weird symptoms that converged best under the category vasculitis.

Aortitis is a scary and potentially dangerous thing. I think it can sometimes be diagnosed by MRA or angiogram (but definitively only by biopsy). You might do a little reading about Takayasu arteritis--not that you have this, but its diagnosis and treatment might be of interest to you. See e-medicine's article about aortitis.

I'd be concerned about a "wait and see" approach if you suspect aortitis. And what about dissection? Couldn't a painful aorta signal dissection, too?

Karla

 

[karlaosh]

Haven't heard from you in a couple of days and was worrying about your aortic pain. Any updates?

 

[KimC]

Thank you.

I'm still in the investigative mode. My cardio at SHANDS asked me to see him but that's not a possibility. The pain could be related to the myocardial bridge, he said. I have a cath scheduled with him in June.

The nurse of my local doctor has been in contact with me daily. The latest is that my CT was passed around, and one of the radiologists said he saw a "small abnormality that hopefully won't cause any problems." What that means I have no idea! She said my doctor will discuss it with me in more detail.

If it were serious or life-threatening, I'm sure I wouldn't be here writing this!

Thanks for your continued concern. I appreciate it!!!

Warm regards,