Is left-sided chest pain and shortness of breath serious?

Question

Hello doctor,

I had a potential blood clot, but a chest CT came back clear. I still have chest pain and upper back pain as well as shortness of breath. What could this be? They said it was potentially a muscular or skeletal pain, but I get pain on the left side especially. They suggested painkillers, but I am not convinced it is a muscle strain, nor could they tell of an infection. They did put me on Morphine. My X-ray and ECG are fine. I still think there is something wrong. I am short of breath, and my left shoulder feels achy. My blood work is fine, and so are my oxygen levels. So, what could be the cause of my shoulder pain, shortness of breath, left side pain, abdominal pain, and nausea? Kindly help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I went through your post.

Any chest pain that increases with body movements such as coughing, sneezing, or picking up an object is not from the heart and is usually from the muscles surrounding the chest wall or sometimes the outer covering of the lung called pleura.

The pain from the heart is of a continuous type and associated with sweating and a feeling of doom. If your ECG and chest X-ray are normal, that means the pain is from a muscle, bone, or joint, which should settle with painkillers.

I hope this information is helpful.

Please let me know if you have any further questions, and I would be happy to assist you.

Thank you.