Boyfriend gets occasional unexplained chest pains

Hi all,

My boyfriend will occasionally get fleeting moments of chest pain on any random day (I would on average say it happens maybe once a month as a guess?). He may just get one moment of a few seconds of pain and that's it or he'll get it for a few seconds and than a few seconds more in a few minutes or half an hour or something. But it is not daily or anything like that. He tends to have fleeting moments of more intense pain but after just have a mild noticeable pain for a little while.

He says it feels like a tight feeling but also says it is hard to explain. He has been adamant that it is his lungs which is causing him pain. For a bit of background, he is in his 30s, is a former smoker (quit three years ago after over 15 years of on and off smoking) and also was a stonemason for over 10 years and inhaled a lot of dust over that time. He thinks it must be to do with the cigarettes and stone dust. After he quit smoking, he used to cough up a lot of phlegm etc. He still gets some mucus come up every now and then. I noticed tonight when he had the pains, he had some come up. Could that be related? He has said that he thinks his lungs are just trying to heal and get rid of what is in there by squeezing it out, but would they still be healing 3 years after quitting smoking? He was working as a stonemason last year though.

When he first started noticing the pains about 4 years ago, he had the full tests done. Doctors found nothing wrong with him. I wasn't with him then so I don't know what exactly he had done but sounds like the full works. As much as my hypochondriac self would like to suggest another full assessment, it is a nightmare trying to get him to go to the doctors and he won't if he had already had the tests.

I will also add that he is stressed a large portion of the time. He doesn't handle stress well either, and is often anxious too. I've considered perhaps it is anxiety that causes it, but there are times where he doesn't seem that anxious or stressed and gets the pains.

I have also heard his mother say that she has had chest pains all her life once. I don't know about this in detail but she doesn't have any dangerous heart conditions or anything. Could it be a heriditary thing?

He does suffer from some digestive issues and has an unhealthy diet right now. His stomach can be quite sensitive and I think he gets acid reflux. He always eats a lot super quickly, doesn't chew properly.

The pain doesn't spread elsewhere. It is really worrying for me when he suddenly gets pains and puts his hands to his chest and says he's in pain. I have terrible health anxiety. Whilst he seems uncomfortable and worried when he is in the midst of it, he soon says its nothing to worry about because its been checked out.

What could this be? He's had it again tonight and I will struggle to sleep tonight now because I get so worried :(

Chest pain is one of the main symptoms of reflux/stomach issues.

Yup this sounds like acid reflux to me.


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