Has anyone suffer from tight chest pain when experiencing stress at work? My chest muscles are just so tense that I feel like a python crushing my ribs. I am aware of the risks of stress & heart attack.

Am I the only few people experience this pain? How do you guys relieve the chest pain? The pain appear on my chest muscles instead at the sternum. I just hit 40yr old mark. Am I over the hill??

Exactly what NightHiker said you need to talk to your doctor soon.

I am a medic from Illinois

See your doctor, tomorrow. Do not pass go, do not go to work.

How is your blood pressure? Had it checked lately???

Hey Picard,

I sympathize with you.

The rule of thumb in the hospital is all chest pain is cardiac until proven otherwise.

Not meaning to be an alarmist, but get thee to a physician.

Better to get checked out and know for sure than to blow it off and there be a problem that could've been easily fixed.

Besides, taking care of yourself is a good habit to get into at any age.

In Oct 2006, I was having intermitent midsternal tightness and pain that subsided when I stopped to perform some relaxation breathing. (Not able to do that very often in a nurses station).

I had promised myself that I was going to give myself a birthday present of having an annual physical once I topped 40 (now 43), but kept putting it off until my beloved wife, the chest pain and fearful coworkers convinced me otherwise.

The doc verified that I was in good health though not taking very good care of myself so wasn't going to remain in good health for much longer.

I've made some changes (some voluntary and some not) including taking some time off, stopping to eat lunch (at least more often than I used to), playing a bit more including taking a short vacation without the family which I havn't done in 17 years.

Havn't had a reoccurence of the chestpain and still learning to lighten up (old habits are hard to break).

We men tend to treat ourselves as if we're still 18 and indestructable until reality slams us in the face.

Don't wait to get slammed.

Take care of yourself. You and your loved ones deserve it.

One of the best stress relievers (if not THE best) is a good exercise program, whether it be walking, running, raquetball, aerobics, hiking, whatever.... couppled with seeking humor - good laugh-attack humor - wherever you can find it.

Of course, seeing a doctor about your symptoms and getting a physical checkup comes first. Then you can find out what the problem really is, get your current health status recognized, and make sure you can handle some physical activity.

i spent 20 years answering a "hot line" at a VA hospital..
among other things..if i picked up the phone and you told me
that i would not even put the call thru to the RN who screens
the calls for the ER Doc..i would read the speech off a 3x5
card posted by the desk.."if you are having chest pains you
need to call 911 or go to the nearest ER,i can not answer
anymore questions.i am going to hang up now"..thats how
stone cold,no fooling around,deadly serious,the subject
of chest pains was taken...if you walked up to the urgent
care check in desk and told me that i would call for a RN
and a wheelchair on the overhead pager and you would be
hooked up too a ekg asap..if you were a new and not in
our computer i would "john doe" you untill things slowed
down enought to find out who you were..one of the guys i
worked with told me his 40 something lady friend called him
at work and wanted him to pick her up and he told her "911"
she had 2 heart stints put in that day..i took calls from
guys who wanted to kill themselves and i would chit-chat with
them untill the psych Dr came on the line..minutes sometimes..
i had guys call in that said they were in their house with
a gun and i would chit-chat untill we got the police there..
i was trained to do those things..
chest pain..911..goodby...

"crushing" like you describe the chest pain is CLASSIC heart related chest pain. Go to a doctor. Like, call in the morning and get in that day. If it's happening, call 911 for crying out loud and let the paramedics look at you. I've seen so many people in denial with heart attacks I stopped counting.

10 year EMT, California.
2nd year medical student.

Please take their advice and see a doctor. Years ago during a time of great stress, my father thought he was having a panic attack. He found out at his next physical that it WAS a heart attack. Fortunately (if you can call it that) the dead tissue was at the bottom of his heart, and so was less likely to affect his future health.


See a doctor first. It's one less thing to stress about.

I hope you went to the doctor today, as was recommended by the other posts. I can speak from experience, that is nothing to dismiss as just "stress". I experienced some pains, knew I should get checked out, waited. Two weeks later, heart attack. Still being in denial, my wife drove me to the hospital. Only 39 at the time with a cholesteral count of 160. Now I have a stent. I survived what my cardiologist calls the "widow maker", LAD. Don't mess around. Get checked immediately. A crushing pain should trigger a call to 911. They can start treatment right away. If you do what I did, your heart can experience more damage before treatment can begin.

As others have said, seek out medical care NOW! As a cardiologist I see patients almost daily (including today), who have no clear risk factors for coronary artery disease, but present with a heart attack. Most chest pain is not cardiac, but it’s always safer to assume the worst and be proven wrong. If you called our office we would direct you to go immediately to the ER, not to come to the office. Good luck, I hope it’s only stress, but be sure. PM if I can answer any questions or help.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living???

All the advice about cardiac care is good, and should be followed.

But if work stresses you that much, reappraise your career. Unless you are a surgeon or somesuch, your job is unlikely to be a matter of life or death.

I've worked under some stupid high pressure deadlines, and honestly, if you don't thrive on that sort of thing, let it go.

If you are feeling that still, go call 911 and go to a hospital.

If not, go to a doctor.

I had the same sensation a few months ago and hemmed and hawed and finally went to the hospital. They ran a battery of test and in short, I am fine.

I was hesitating about taking time off work, the cost, etc. but then I realized that it would be far better to be a day behind at work and a little embarassed than it would be to be dead.

I don't regret my decision for a second. You won't either.

Get to a hospital or doctor.

Good luck.

I wonder what happened. He hasn't written in a few days on here. Anyone think he's stuck in a hospital after taking the advice given, or that he's still stuck behind a desk somewhere?

I've thought about that as well.

I hope he's ok.

All information in the universe is given on a need-to-know basis usually after the fact.

I work on contract as network Administrator now. I setup user accounts on network, give permission to users on SAP database, lotusnotes and other IBM software.

I feel so stressed out by paperwork. I feel overloaded with work.

Hi guys,

thanks for replying to my thread. I am still alive so far. thanks for all of your concern. I had doctor check up with me few months ago. He told me that stress cause muscles contraction around my ribs.


Does anyone else feel stress in same way as me?? How do stress affect the upper body muscles??

Glad to hear that it wasn't your ticker. Yet. But I can't help but think that as you get older that stress is going to do nothing but bad things to you. If I were you, I would consider a career change. Different people handle stress, no matter what the source might be, differently. Apparently this job is causing stress that you can't handle well. There are a lot of jobs available out there, but only one life. My wifes best friend, a law enforcement dispatcher for 20+ years, (a very high stress job,) started showing severe signs of stress a couple of years ago, yesterday it killed her. Look for a new job...

I like to troubleshoot problems in IT but this admin job is dam boring and causing great deal of confusion for me. My mind is in constant chaos. My mind blank out a few times while driving home on a local street. I will look for another job in May since I can't afford to quit now.

"...I will look for another job in May..."

Glad to hear it, good luck in your job search...