Left side chest pain???

I am not sure..but here are some questions that need to be answered. I am assuming you went to the ER pretty soon after onset of symptoms and that you were seen fairly quickly.
What did your cardiac enzymes show? (these are typically done 3 times 6 hours apart from the arrival to the ED. Sometimes if the second set is stone cold normal and there are no other indicators 2 are sufficient)
What is your risk for heart disease? (age, family history, other illnesses like diabetes or high cholesterol, lifestyle (I am assuming you don't smoke )
EKG's are not always useful indicators but was yours normal?
Did you have any other test like a Nuclear Stress Test (not just a graded exercise test), echocardiogram, CXR , CT Scan, ? Other labs?
How do you feel when you are not exercising? Any unusual fatigue, any feelings in your chest (tight, heavy, "crampy", pressure or soreness? Any shortness of breath?  I could go on some more but and your post did say they did a lot of test. In short, if these questions have been answered and you don't have a lot of risk factors it could be chest wall pain or something GI. (but it could also be a blood clot or a small tear in the lung called a pneumothorax, I personally know of people having both of these yet they continued to work and carry on) *However, I am no doctor and I don't know you, the best thing you can do is to go see your primary care physcian, if you don't have one GET ONE. I hope it all works out. Keep us posted.

Thanks for the response.  They did do the cardiac enzymes and that was fine.  No history of heart disease, but no stress test.  They did ct scan and echocardiogram  along with chest x-rays and EKg's.  I feel ok when exercising just have that irratating tightness on the left side if I take a deep breath.  I can still get the oxygen to my lungs it feels like, Just gets tight as I get to were my lungs fill.  When I am not exercising it will be their at times, but not all the time.  It does go away.  But will come back.  Most times while on the bike.  Maybe thats just when I notice it the most.  Anyway thank you for taking time to read my post and replying.  I will keep you all updated.  I have IMOO Sept 13.  Wish me luck.  It will be #3 for me.

Does it happen only when exercising or sometimes when you are sedentary as well? There could also be something going on with your upper left lobe that is resulting in the referred sensation of pain in your chest...the thing with referred pain is that it is pretty standard to any visceral disturbances (ie. in myocardial infarct there is pain in the left side of the chest), but this pain could also arise from abnormal lung functioning. You probably would only notice this when breathing deeply because typically the upper lobes of the lungs are not active in gas exchange--only in deep breathing and exercise. Possibly a minor pulmonary embolism, infection, asthma, bronchitis, bronchial spasms, bronchiectasis, some fibrosis and the list could keep on going...I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but maybe it is something you should ask your physician about.

Edited by mndymond 2009-08-23 3:18 PM

Not a doctor, but decided to chime in when another poster mentioned "pulmonary embolism".  Your symptoms sound eerily similar to those that a friend of mine had, and it turned out to be a clot in his lung.  They did catch it in time, however he is now on blood thinners for life.  I don't know if any of the tests the ER did, would indicate a clot in the lungs...just thought I'd throw that out there as something to think about. 

Caveat - I am not a doctor.    But, having just gone through PEs, and their diagnosis (and living and exercising with them for 5 weeks while they diagnosed almost everything BUT PEs), i'd say if you had a CT angio (of the chest/lungs) with contrast, they would have found clots there.   THe CT is the gold standard for PE diagnosis.

Thanks for all the reply's.  Update.  Saw two more docs and more tests.  They both determined that it must be my sturnum rubbing against a muscle in my chest.  Again every test you can imagine and they found nothing.  They said that it will eventually go away.  So for that I am relieved to hear.  Once again...Thank you for all your kind words and suggestions.