Menopause Community

Hot flashes are not just caused by menopause you know. You may have other health concerns that are giving you problems. Chest pains can be part of a panic attack, or a heart attack, or what I think this may be is GERD. Go too your dr and tell them you are having chest pains that move outward and cause you to get hot all over. Get the tests and see what it is, because this dose not sound like what we typically get with menopause.

I have to agree with Vicky. When you have chest pains you need to see your doctor. Then check back in and let us know how you are doing..

Good luck.

~Rosie Let's save money together - the healthy way!

This is strange. I had chest pains with my flashes just starting last weekend. Only when I was in bed. It just so happened that they were the worst hot flashes ever. I had to change pj's and pillow cases. My pain was more to the left and kind of under my breast. This happened three nights in a row. I know we should not rule out heart attack. So friend, be careful! I also have an adnexal growth on or close to my left ovary. Just starting Megace to shut down that ovary completely.It's the only thing I have left in there! Going in to my regular doctor on Monday. Are you on other meds? Maybe too much lifting?

I had that as well not always during hot flashes. Mine occured mainly in the evenings. to releive the hot burning pain, I take Proselec twice daily. Seems to work. I even had a hard time swallowing, my jaw would get tight, almost as if a heart attack.... but good thing was not. So far it has been working.

I think this must be rather rare as I have not found more than two posts on the net (and no answers) regarding the co-occurrence of chest pain with hot flashes.

I've had 2 episodes of this. Both occurred after intense periods of stress & anxiety--likely the same kind of effect as your panic attacks. My hot flashes are the result of chemically-induced menopause (Zoladex) as a treatment for breast cancer. My hot flashes began in April 2006 and are very regular--just about every 60 minutes, day & night. For both episodes of chest pain with hot flashes, I had chest pain that began with each hot flash, increased in intensity with the flash, then subsided with the flash. After 3 days the pains stopped. No pain inbetween flashes, but pain with every flash (every hour) for 3 days.

My doctor has no explanation. She told me to go to the ER if it happened again. So I did. My EKG was normal, as were my cardiac enzymes (no heart muscle damage). Neither the ER doc or my family doc thought this warranted a visit to a cardiologist.

I don't have an answer for you. The only thing that I can say is that when I decided to go walking, the pain was reduced for several hours. I've found some interesting reading on a rare condition called coronary artery spasm which affects 1:100,000 people which you might want to google. And I've speculated that the higher levels of stress hormones during an anxiety or panic attack get increased during a hot flash to a level that triggers the pain.

My experience with this is very new--just in the last 2 months. Today my doctor just handed me a prescription for Ativan and told me to take it before I feel terribly stressed or anxious as a way to, perhaps, avoid another episode. I hope you've found something that works.

I have this often -- and always at night. I wouldn't call it pain. It's a very diffuse sort of pressure & it starts in the middle of my sternum & spreads out to each side, then the hot flash hits. I told my internist about this & she referred me to a cardiologist who did a full workup -- EKG, ultrasound, stress test & nuclear stress test. All negative. I have yet to mention it to my ob/gyn; I'm curious as to whether she has ever heard anyone describe this sort of thing. I do notice that it's worse if I'm feeling stressed (which is often) and/or have had wine or other alcohol. Has anyone found anything out about this since the last post? I'm wondering why it has doctors flummoxed. How rare can it be?

I too have chest pains with hot flashes. Usually they occur at night. I sometimes work the night shift and that's when I really notice them.

I had a similar experience last night. I had intense burning across my chest and back with hot flashes. It was very scary. I have recently been prescribed Xanax and Paxil for anxiety. I have yet to take the Paxil because I really don't want to! I take a .25mg Xanax most days when I start feeling anxiety. However, last night during the burning I took 2 Xanax and the pain did not go away. I have had a stress test and nuclear stress test in the past month and both showed everything is fine. I had a miscarriage back in March so I am wondering if my issues are hormonal. I also have numbness/tingling in my face, neck, back, and arms at times. I have had a brain MRI and blood work to rule out MS, Lupus, and other disorders. Everything comes back clear. I am at a loss. I am only 36 years old and this is taking over my life! I hate feeling this way, and I am hoping for relief and answers soon.

I am awakened many mornings with hot flashes accompanied by chest discomfort. My symptoms are an uncomfortable tightness in the center of my chest AND the same pain deep in each armpit this pain radiates down each arm to my wrists and is accompanied with a hot flash. This is the only time of day this happens. It has been happening for at least 6 or 7 years,(since menopause began). When it first started happening I spoke to my OB/GYN she said she'd never heard of that. I'm relieved to hear that it happens to other people as well. I am going to talk to my regular Dr. about this.

too get this

get this also i think this is so crazzzzzzzzy i hate it but had a work up as well came back neg lol stry of mah life right?everything neg like the left arm is always so sore to the touch like near elbow i hate it but better then a heart attack right jeannine

Well, I've just found this site and asked about this very same thing. My doctor told me she's never heard of this either. I've had full batteries of GI Tract testing in case it was that. No heart ailments either. Your original post was a while ago so you might not even get this but if you do, please let me know if you've found anything out.

I experience very similar symptoms. It is very curious none of us has been able to have confirmation by a doctor that these symptoms of menopause "exist" . I experience significant chest pain and/or abdominal pain that radiates from the center of my chest just before a hot flash. Have had open heart surgery for mitral valve prolapse so naturally my cardiologist recommended "cardiac workup" and all tests were negative (nuclear stress test, EKG, blood work) I have to say the chest pain and/or abdominal pain are just as miserable, or worse than the actual hot flashes. Initially I only experienced the chest pain during the night, it would wake me up many times during the night. That was for a couple of years. Now I experience them throughout the day as well. Perhaps because I have learned to recognize them? Hormones (estrogel plus progesterone) helped but did not relieve the chest pain as much as the hot flashes, but once I retired I quit taking hormones. Sure wish this would end... going on 4 years now. Guess the hormones just "gave me a break" and now have to live through it anyway.

Hi-I just noticed these posts, from a year ago - I woke with chest pain infrequently in my 20s. Tried to catch it on a KOH monitor but couldn't. Now 52, it started occurring with hot flashes, only at night. It awakens me several times a night - I feel it as described above, like a pressure and then the hot flash. I ride bikes and don't have any other cardiac risk factors. My doctor wants me to see a cardiologist although I only have very basic insurance I don't feel I can afford it - Seeing that others are talking about this really helps- It is very scary thinking there could be something seriously wrong with my heart - it helps to read these comments -Thanks for posting-