Crohn's and Chest Pains

Howdy,

Does anyone else experience chest pains as a consequence of Crohn's? Just before going to bed tonight, I experienced the sharpest chest pains I have ever felt. They came every few minutes or so and lasted about 3 seconds, and were localized to the left part of the chest just below the nipple.

I immediately thought I was having a heart attack, despite the fact my blood pressure/cholesterol is all normal. Doing some quick research online, though, revealed that chest pain can be caused by the digestive system due to ulcers/GERD/acid/etc.

Also, I recently started (two weeks ago) Sulfasalazine and Canasa, which list chest pains as a rare side effect.

Anyone else been startled by this? Any advice?

HI Dan, yes I had those, turns out I have a Hiatus hernia. I believe my sufferings was from Prednisone. Everytime I was on it I got bad chest pains. How long have you had this happening? Try some Maalox take the good amount and if it goes away it is probably Gerd or HH or ulcers. Either way get to the doctor and see what he says. I had a Endoscopy, that showed my problem. Good luck. Let us know what happens.

Ack! Best to mention to your doc, just to be on the safe side!

Hope it turns out to be nothing - Amy

I had the same problem thought I was having a heart attack :-( Was on Humaria so went off it seems to have stopped however my mother in law has sharp pains and she has had crohns for many years she said she believes hers is to do with inflammation. Duno you will feel better telling your doc and getting checked out.

That's so weird, I've had sharp upper chest pains on and off since I first became ill - they didn't happen very often, and I didn't think they were related in any way to my gut illness (still undiagnosed but it's most likely some form of IBD). The pains didn't feel like a heart attack or heart burn, they felt more like they were coming from my lungs or behind my rib cage. I've been on Omeprazole (Prilosec) and just recently switched to Ranitidine (Zantac) because of acid reflux issues, and I most likely have a hiatus hernia as well. I just realized while reading this thread, I haven't had those pains since I've been on acid reflux meds! I did only get those pains when I was lying down, so that makes sense too, my GP just told me that acid can come up from the stomach much easier when I'm lying down. This all makes perfect sense now, thanks so much for posting this!

Cat, I'm glad my chest pains were of service to you! :thumleft:

Go to a doctor (right away) and find out if you have a partially collapsed lung.