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Posted by lymebrat (Member # 3208) on :
 
Hi everyone,

Many of you know that my 6 year old daughter Mikayla was diagnosed with Lyme in Sept. of 2003.

She has been doing very well and Dr.Jones has cut her meds down to 1 Zithromax a day and we are hoping she can go off all meds in July.

On Friday, she began complaining of chest pains. The pain is located in the center of her chest..sometimes it radiates under her right breast, and sometimes it feels like it going from the front right through to her back...but most of the time it is localized to the one spot in her chest.

I called the on call doctor who assured me that she probably pulled a muscle at school and would be fine.

She had another chest pain that lasted about 5 mins on Saturday.

On Sunday, she had 2 chest pains. One happened to be at a Scouting event and the school nurse was there to check her breathing and pulse.

When I picked Mikayla up, the nurse thought she might have asthma or pleurisy ( something to do with an infection in the lungs). Also around her lips was a little blue.

So I immediately called the on call Dr. again and was told to bring her in on Monday.

The school nurse asked me to send Mikayla to school in the AM, before her appointment so she and the other school nurse could listen to her lungs.

I got a call at 10:00 asking me to come pick Mikayla up as she was having another chest pain and was crying..( I couldn't get her into the Dr.until 2:00)

When I picked her up, the nurse said this one lasted over 30 mins..her skin was very white and she was scared.

So I took her to the high school nurse who thought she may have pleurisy as several elementary kids have had it in the past few weeks. But when she listened to her chest, she said everything sounded great.

I took her to the on call doctor at 2:00..she listened to her chest..poked around for less than a minuet asked me if she had fallen or injured herself, which I said no she hadn't..

She then tells me that Mikayla probably pulled a muscle or ligament in her chest wall and would be fine.

So I asked her what I was suppose to do when she has these pains at school, and she said to have the nurse give her Motrin and have her lay down..

I then asked if it could be pleurisy and she abruptly said no. Then I asked if it could have anything to do with her having lyme..this time she all but rolled her eyes and said NO.

So I said I was concerned as around her lips turned blue and her skin turned ghostly white when she had the chest pains and she said this was a normal reaction to pain.

I'm not very comfortable with this doctor, or her diagnoses..or the way she handled Mikayla's concern about being scared...

Mikayla's primary doctor is on vacation until next week...so until I can see him for a second opinion, I really don't have much choice, other than go to the ER if things get worse.( which I will..referral or not!)

I'm just wondering if any of you have had children with these types of chest pains?? Or if anyone had any advice...

Thanks,
~Missy


 


Posted by cootiegirl (Member # 3216) on :
 
Missy,
Have you given a call to Dr. J's office? If you haven't, that might be the best place for info.

Is there a possibility of your daughter having a panic attack? Anxiety can cause chest pains....just a thought.
cootiegirl

[This message has been edited by cootiegirl (edited 15 March 2005).]
 


Posted by lla2 (Member # 2364) on :
 
I woulnd't take any chances...I'd do ER and chest xray just to be sure and rule everything out..especially something related to lungs or heart...I don't like the sound of the blue lips or white face..

I'm a school nurse, adn i sure as heck can't diagnose or NOT diagnose pleurosy or any lung or heart disorder with the instraments I have at school! Pleurosy is fluid between the lungs and the ribs..how could a school nurse tell that????? I sure as heck couldn't!

I would definitiely have her checked out at ER to get a clean bill of health..DR. jones i'm sure will recommmend the same as he did once with my son...and we're even closer to him than you are as we're in RI..

I"ll keep her in my prayers..i'm sure she's fine..but i'm sure mom will rest easier ruling out heart and lung issues...


lisa

[This message has been edited by lla2 (edited 15 March 2005).]
 


Posted by NP40 (Member # 6711) on :
 
My son has a lot of chest pain with his lyme. Believe me, we definitely ruled out heart, lungs, pleurisy, etc.

Everything was fine, but you have to make sure.
He turned white as well, but he was scared. Now, when the pain comes, he knows it isn't going to hurt him, or kill him, so he handles it much better.

The blue lips are a little puzzling though. Definitely get some lab work, x-rays, and probably even an ECHO to rule out all the major organs.
 


Posted by lymebrat (Member # 3208) on :
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks for the replies..

Cootie

I did try to get in touch with Dr.Jones all day yest. and today, but no luck, not even with his other number. I will try again tomorrow!

I don't think it's anxiety as it happens at all times of the day and even when we are just sitting together coloring or reading..

Lisa

I think the reason the school nurse thought it might be pleurisy, is because several elementary students have been diagnosed with this the past 2 weeks or so.

I'm going to try and get in touch with Dr.Jones tomorrow and I think I'll have the school nurse call me when and if Mikayla has another chest pain tomorrow and take her to the ER.

I know most chest pains in kids are nothing very serious, but your right, I would rest alot easier if some testing was done to rule out lung and heart problems.


NP

My son had chest pains as well, I was told it was a pericardia catch and nothing to worry about. When he started lyme treatment, the chest pains reduced drastically.

The pain my daughter is having is (or at least from her reaction), seems more severe or painful.

Also when I say her lips turn blue, I should say that the skin around her lips turns a slight blue..

But either way, it's concerning me. She hasn't had a chest pain tonight or I would have taken her to the ER..but I plan to take her tomorrow if she has one..


Thank you all again for posting..it helps ease my mind some

~Missy
 


Posted by henson2 (Member # 463) on :
 
Hi,

See my reply under Medical Questions, ok?

Hang in there!

 


Posted by cootiegirl (Member # 3216) on :
 
Hi Missy.
I'm still trying to think this whole thing thru to try to help. It does sound like you have all bases covered. Yes, the blue coloring at the lips did make me worried also.

In the case of pleurisy, it is hard to detect with just a stethiscope unless you are pretty adept at it. I had a physician tell me once that there is a crinkling sound in the lungs that sometimes can be heard if you listen very carefully, but it's not something one can just pick up on. You still need xrays and things to make that determination.

I think I might have been confusing when I was talking about panic attacks. Anxiety is usually stimulus induced - something makes you feel nervous and then that produces all sorts of physical reactions. With regard to a panic attack - they are not induced by stimuli - they occur at any time - even when a person is sitting calmly. I used to have panic attacks while sitting in church or sitting in a chair watching TV. For me it was palpitations, but I know others do experience chest pains. Probably not what your daughter's problem is, but just wanted to clarify what I was thinking.
cootiegirl
 


Posted by Carol in PA (Member # 5338) on :
 
Missy,
I'm not sure what's wrong with your daughter, but I know that fear can make it hurt worse.

If she is scared, the adrenaline will make her skin pale, which is a normal reaction to the "fight or flight" syndrome. Bloodflow to the skin is reduced, so that a laceration will bleed less, and blood is reserved for the internal organs and the muscles, in case of a fight or a quick getaway.
So, her very pale skin is a normal reaction to the fear.

Usually when a person is not getting enough oxygen to their blood, the LIPS will turn blue. The next time this happens, see if her lips are dark colored. If they still look pink, but you notice a blueish coloration around her mouth, check her nailbeds also.
The capillaries are visible there, and if they go from pink to blue, that means low oxygen.

Chest pain is not something to be ignored.
Maybe she has pleurisy, maybe it's pericarditis (inflammation of the sac around the heart.)

My guess is that it's not stress, but the stress of everyone's reactions is going to scare that little girl and make it worse.

She is pale, but she can breathe.
If pain is extreme, the person will perspire, although the skin is cool. You've heard of a "cold sweat?" This is NOT a good sign.

Help her to relax, so that the fear won't be feeding the pain.
Cuddle her in your lap.
If it were an adult, I'd suggest a "hot cup of tea," which is soothing and relaxing. Could you give her little sips of something warm?

I used to do an assessment of my boys when they were little, similar to when I was a nurse.

I'd go right down the line....
How is your head? Does it hurt?
How are your ears, your eyes, your throat.
How is your chest, your tummy.
How about your arms, your legs.
Show me where the pain is. Here, I'll hold my hand against it.
Breathe slowly, by making your belly move up and down. (belly breathing, gets more oxygen into the lungs and the blood)

Keep track of the spells of pain. It may be useful to show the doctor in a week or so, how often they happen, and if there's a pattern.

Has she been running a fever?
How is her appetite?
Does she feel well enough to play?
It doesn't sound like she's been acting "sick," except for the pain in the chest.

Apparently the doctor who examined your daughter didn't notice anything unusual. But I don't see why she would discount your fears. As we learned on the pediatrics ward, nursing the children means nursing the parents too.

I hope you get this figured out.
Take care,
Carol

p.s.
If you do take her to the ER when she's having a chest pain, by the time you get yourselves ready to go, and drive there, the pain will probably be done.
And she still has to be admitted, and may wait a while to see a doc. By the time they see her, they won't be able to see any symptoms.

 


Posted by JillF (Member # 5553) on :
 
I get that type of chest pain too. First time thought I had to be having a heart attack.

Apparently, I had inflammation and they told me to take some tylenol.

Since then I now sometimes get it in the middle, left and/or right side. Makes me feel a little better knowing it isn't always on the side of my heart....

Forgot to talk to my LLMD about this. Will have to write it down for next visit.
 


Posted by Mo (Member # 2863) on :
 
Hi Missy..

I'm sure you and Mikayla aren't feeling very comfortable with this..so sorry.

Pluerisy and chest pains can be caused by Lyme/Mycoplasma/Bartonella.

Since there was a recent change in doses I'm sure Doc J' would want to know this, and have insight, even in as much as what scan to do locally through the hospital.

This is a scary symptom..and so you know..
in any situation like this, you can leave a message through the oncall service, which is always on during lunch and after hours..You can always get someone with a call on something like this no matter what.

If it can wait till business hours (which for Doc J are 9AM-7PM at least)..the staff can ask him directly. (he's there all day, I just got rhough today on a problem with my son this way)

and one of the staff gets back to you.

They are usually there, just dealing with massive patient load when the phones are busy or it goes to service..

(when the phone is busy, constant redial gets you through but may take many tries in a row)

But this is the kind of thing you send message through the service for if you can't get through.

Another way is to send a fax..
or leave a message with on-call service to have staff please call you in the AM when Doc J is in and leave in the message that Mikayla is having chest pains.

This doesn't sound like a muscle pull, and Doc J is a general pediatrician focused on Lyme, so he readily can advise you what to do to figure this out, where to go, ect...in ruling Lyme in or out.

Best of luck, and I hope you have a calm and quiet evening..

Mo

[This message has been edited by Mo (edited 17 March 2005).]
 


Posted by Barrie (Member # 1796) on :
 
My daughter had terrible chest pain and it was lyme related. A year before she was diagnosed, the dr said it was anxiety due to fear of going to middle school. Then when she got really sick the chest pain was severe. She has had all kinds of pains with lyme but, to this day, the chest pain was the most severe. She had a lot of inflammation of her ligaments. Dr. Jones told us that it was her ligaments in her chest that was causing all the pain. Has the pain started since the abx has been decreased? My daughter was asymptomatic and doing great. Our last visit w/Dr. Jones we all agreed it was time to stop the abx after three years. Within four weeks all her symptoms had returned and she is back on all her meds again. Does Dr. Jones know about the chest pain? hope your daughter is feeling better soon.
 
Posted by lymebrat (Member # 3208) on :
 
Hi Everyone,

Thank you all for the posts. It has been a rough few days and I am exhausted.

I left a message Tuesday night for Dr.Jones, but I have not heard back from him. I tried all day yesterday to get through to Dr.Jones.. it was busy until 11:45 and then I got a message that they were off until 1:30 for lunch.

Mikayla had 4 more chest pains at school yesterday so I called the doctors office. Unfortunately the same doctor was on call and she again insisted that it was a pulled muscle and that there was no need to worry. Our PCP isn't abck until next Wed.

I tried to get an appointment for her to be seen by another doctor, but she was the only one on call.

The school called at 1:20 and said Mikayla was having another chest pain, this one was more painful... so I went to school to pick her up.

When I got there, the pain was easing up and the nurses and I discussed what to do next. We decided that as she was feeling better and that the only doctor I could see was the on call Dr, that I should go home and try to get through to Dr.Jones.

So I went home and once again tried to get through to Dr.Jones. I kept trying until after 3:00 and I was still receiving the message that the office was closed from 12:00- 1:30 for lunch..very frustrating.

Mikayla started to have another chest pain, so I did what the on call doctor said to... calm her down and gave her some Motrin.

About 15 mins later the pain became very bad and she was sweating on her forehead and her hands were ice cold. She said it felt like a needlem was in her heart.... and on a scale of 1 - 10 the pain was 11teen. ( means more than 10)

So I called my husband and told him screw the on call doctor, I was taking her to the Emergency Room.

So I dropped Derek off at my moms and my husband met me there and we took her to the ER.

Once there they rushed her into a room and began monitoring her. They asked all kinds of questions and one of them was about throwing up, which we remembered to mention that Mikayla has always had sour burps or what she calls throw up in her mouth.

( I mentioned this to the on call doctor this morning and she said it was two separate issues and that they were not related)

She was checked for gerd, reflux, etc when she was 18 months old by endoscopy , gi tests..everything checked out fine. And she continued to have sour burps once in a while.

But over the past few weeks, she has had the "throw up" in her mouth more often..

So the ER doc said this might be what was causing the pain.. he didn't think it was a pulled muscle like the other doctor.

And he said he was surprised that the on call doctor didn't order an ekg or x-ray, as even if one suspects it is just a pulled muscle they should rule out anything more serious.

He also said that when a child tells a parent that it feels like a needle is in their heart, that there isn't a mother in the world who will rest her worries, until she has proof that her child's heart is okay.. I like this man!

So the ER doc ordered urine & blood tests, and ekg and x-ray of the chest. He did a thorough evaluation and talked to me about the lyme.

Hours and hours later, the good news is that her heart and lungs look and sound great!!! Phew! The bad news is that he still isn't sure what is causing her pains.

He gave us several possibilities..the reflux, possible lyme relapse.. and he mentioned the possibility of growing pains. He also mentioned pains from puberty, I can't remember the technical name...

She is only 6 years old but has already started to "sprout" in her chest region. I was a C cup by the time I was 11 years old. So he mentioned that as some girls developed, it makes the muscles ( or something) under and between the breast bone become inflamed and that this could cause the pain she is feeling.

He also said that in most cases if it isn't heart, lung, or illness related, they rarely find the cause of a child's chest pain.

He did say he feels there may be some mild inflammation in the chest wall, so he wants me to give her Motrin every 6 hours and to have her get extra rest. No gym, outside recess or other activities that might aggravate it.

So while I still don't have any definite answers to what is causing her chest pains, I do know that it is not her heart or lungs...


The doctor even showed Mikayla her chest x-rays as he said it was important for her to see that her heart and lungs were healthy, so she wouldn't be afraid.

We joked with her and said, see no needle in your heart. She was visibly relieved to know that her heart is okay. They even gave her a handmade doll to take home when she left.

We got home around midnight and she only had 1 more chest pain attack last night. I kept her home from school today and she has had several more chest pains today, but I think having the Motrin in her system every 6 hours is helping, as they aren't as severe. Though she is still in a lot of pain.....

Plus as she knows the pain isn't from her heart, she didn't get so scared and while she is still going very white, and she does feel a little clammy from the pain, I haven't noticed the blue around the lips.

We have an appointment with her regular pediatrician on next Wed at 9:15 and he will look into the reflux issue and we'll go from there. He is a great doctor and if she is still having the pains, I am sure he will shed some light onto the cause.

Thank you all for all your advice and prayers, they are truly appreciated.

~Missy
 


Posted by Mo (Member # 2863) on :
 
Oh..she must be wrung out.

These poor kids..

Missy, I should have been clearer..
when you get that message on Doc J's phone, it says to hold on and the answering service picks up..
that's how you get the message through to the office. They deliver it right away.
Knowing there are chest pains, ER, and recent change in meds, ect..they'll get right back.

Hope you all can get rest.

Mo

[This message has been edited by Mo (edited 17 March 2005).]
 


Posted by cbb (Member # 788) on :
 
Missy,
I'm so glad you found a dr in the ER who would listen to you & explain things so thoroughly.
It's wonderful to hear that Mikayla has improved.

Will be watching for more updates when you have time.
Love to all of you!!

 


Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
 
Three cheers for the ER doc!! Wow! I'm so glad you went...as I'm sure you are too!

Tell Mikayla we love her and pray she will be rid of those pains very soon!

She's a star in my book!

------------------
oops!
Lymetutu

 


Posted by Melanie Reber (Member # 3707) on :
 
Hi Missy,

I'm so relieved to know that Mikayla checked out fine at the ER.
Keeping you each in my thoughts and prayers.

Much love,
Melanie

------------------
C O L O R A D O * S U P P O R T * S Y S T E M
[email protected]
 


Posted by lymebrat (Member # 3208) on :
 
Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the posts!

Mikayla is still having the chest pains and it seems to me that they are lasting longer and are more painful.

I am giving her Motrin every 6 hours and this does seem to help with the intensity of the pain, but these attacks are still coming.

She also continues to get what she calls "throw up" in her mouth. So we may be dealing with a reflux issue on top of the lyme..

Her pedi comes back from vacation on Wed. and we are seeing him at 9:15 a.m., so hopefully we will get some answers then.

Mikayla continues to be in a lot of pain, please keep the prayers coming!

Thanks again,
Missy
 


Posted by bg (Member # 46416) on :
 
try this: Costochondritis
http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=AN00394
\
That's what they say I have; very painful. Also in SAME area as our FIBROMYALGIA tender points.

Best wishes to you & daughter tomorrow.

Betty G., Iowa
 


Posted by troutscout (Member # 3121) on :
 
Babesia.

hey...she should be on Xango Dear.
(It has worked so well on my girls.)

Trout

------------------
Now is the time in your life to find the "tiger" within.
Let the claws be bared,
and Lyme BEWARE!!!
Iowa Lyme Disease Assoc.
www.ildf.info

 


Posted by NP40 (Member # 6711) on :
 
I can sure relate to the chest pain, as my son has these sharp stabbing pains as well. Doc thinks it's babs, or possibly lyme inflammation.

We had every test under the sun to rule out all the major's, heart, lungs, liver, etc.

Hey Trout, what's Xango ? Please enlighten, as I'll buy anything if it will help alleviate my boy's symptoms. Thanks !
 


Posted by GEDEN13 (Member # 4151) on :
 
i am never any good at this ,when it come's to kid's.prayer's for your little sweetheart missy.and you to.hope today,goes well ,gary

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Posted by Linda LD (Member # 6663) on :
 
My seven year old son has acid reflux and chest pain.

I figure it is the lyme.

What is Xango?

Linda
 


Posted by fatigued15 (Member # 6437) on :
 
My daughter went through a period last year of having chest pains. This was before her Lyme diagnosis. At the time her CFS doc checked her out and said it was common and in studies they found no cardiac problems. A scary time but it passed.

Since your daughters ABX was just decreased I would give Jones a call to let him know

Good luck and I will keep you all in my prayers.
 




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