I am going to run this by you to see if you have any suggestions. My brother is a family physician and either he doesnt believe my mom or he just doesnt know what is causing this. She has also seen a gastroenterologist and her colonoscopy found slight diverticulitis and 2 non cancerous polyps that were removed and no problems found with the endoscopy other than she had a slight inflammation at the top of her stomach that the physician didnt seem too worried about. This is her symptoms... She complains of a severe tightness around her rib cage to the point where she has to take off her bra and has trouble breathing. She also gets bloated sometimes when this happens. I cant stand to see her in pain like this anymore. I did a search on the Internet, (yes, I know you guys hate armchair doctors.. Lol) and it seems a lot of people complain about this but have no answers. A bit on her background- she is 80 years old. Shes a diabetic. We thought the metforman was causing the pain so they put her on lantus and humalog. I know diabetes can cause peripheral nerve damage, not sure if that can cause the tightening. She also has had her left kidney removed because the artery that carried the blood to it got clogged and it failed, so they removed it 12 years ago. She also had two stints put in her left and right illiacs to open them as well. She recently had an MRA, and they found two of the 3 main arteries to the bowels are become blocked, but the physician didnt seem to think this would cause tightening, but chronic diarrhea, which she does not have. This all started after she had the flu last January. She has not visited any foreign country recently, so I dont think its a parasite. I read that maybe she should have a stool sample to check for parasites. Have you heard of this condition? Any of you? Any suggestions on what to try? I am at my wits end. She lays in her bed and moans when this happens and shes not a complainer so I know its bad. Thanks for your time.
The picture that you have portrayed seems to be more in favor of a heart related problem than anything else. It is not explained by any of the problems that you have cited, namely, polyps in the colon, diverticulitis. She has a history of blockage in various arteries-kidney, small bowel, Iliads. So she probably has a tendency to excessive clotting. She may have had blockage in one of the arteries supplying the heart and suffered from a mild heart attack. In diabetics, the symptoms of a heart attack are suppressed and atypical. So, I would suggest that you immediately show her to a cardiologist