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The story
A thread went up on 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” board after a 22-year-old man posted, “My heart’s hurt for about a month now, I’m probably going to die.” According to him, the area just right of center on his chest hurts every time he moves or lies down, and even after visiting both a pulmonology and a cardiology department and getting an ECG and an echocardiogram, no abnormalities turned up. A poster claiming to be a psychiatrist showed up in the thread and, after asking about his age, the location of the pain, and how long it had lasted, suggested it could be “a chest wall condition, intercostal neuralgia, or possibly a psychological factor.” Meanwhile, other posters shared stories like “I was told there was nothing wrong at one hospital, but another hospital found an actual illness,” and opinions split over whether he should seek a second opinion even though his tests keep coming back clean.
What people said
Quit stalling and get to the hospital already.
They already told me there's nothing wrong
The echo's tomorrow, but it's more of a "might as well check" vibe.
Deep breaths actually hurt quite a bit, and yawning, sneezing, and hiccups all hurt too.
If it's the heart, pericarditis is about the only thing that hurts on a deep breath
It's probably a chest wall or pleural issue.
For example, a heart attack would show up clearly on an echo (ECGs can sometimes be ambiguous)
I'm half-joking, but a heart attack that's lasted a full month would already be fatal, so it's probably something else.
The plain ECG at the pulmonology clinic got a "this looks a little off," but the cardiology department I got referred to said there was nothing wrong
Guess it's something minor then.
If you are, no wonder it still hurts.
It hurt even before I started drinking
Haven't had a drink in about three months anyway.
You're too wound up, get some calcium in you.
I did go through a rough patch mentally, but I've had way worse than this before, so can stress really cause pain like this?
If you'd rather not, I'll just leave it alone.
What kind of personal info?
The deep breathing thing is more of a "sometimes it hurts"
It also hurts when I lie down or sit back up.
Sounds like you might have a broken or cracked rib.
– Sex
– What kind of pain is it?
– Has it been gradually getting worse since three months ago?
– Is there one spot where it hurts the most?
– Besides breathing, does it also hurt with movement?
– Is there any time of day it doesn't hurt?
– Conversely, is there a time it gets worse?
– Are you on the thin side?
– What else makes the pain worse?
– Have you had any major illnesses in the past?
That about cover it?
22
Male
There are times it hurts no matter what when I move, but also times it doesn't
Just lying down alone often hurts too
Three months ago I didn't feel anything off at all
Right now it's just right of center
Actually it hurts more from things other than breathing — saying "my body moves" sounds dramatic, more like when my heart moves, I guess?
There are times it doesn't hurt, but there's almost always a sort of clogged feeling
Can't say about time of day (I don't really track it) so probably no pattern, doesn't seem worse at night
Pretty average build, maybe slightly on the heavier side
It really comes on out of nowhere — I can't tell what triggers it
Broke a bone a year ago, and about two months ago hit that same spot and fell; also have asthma.
Thanks. Does it hurt after eating, especially between the shoulder blades?
Have you had a chest X-ray?
I had this assumption that cardiology stuff shows up easily on tests, guess that's not really true
Sounds like it's not a clear-cut case
Well, guess it depends on tomorrow.
Sorry, it wasn't cardiology.
Cancer surprisingly doesn't always show up on screening blood tests.
Stress really can cause a lot of pain too
Though hearing the details makes me want to suspect pleurisy or a collapsed lung.
Sounds like it could be something serious, that's rough.
A friend of mine who died two years ago said the exact same thing.
If I'm going to die, I'd at least like to know when.
Everyone's heart basically hurts.
Does everyone's heart really hurt that much?
Well, I did tell myself it was nothing and ignore mine for about three weeks too.
The whole "let's listen to your chest" thing
Plus a verbal exam.
If a heart attack were suspected, a blood test would've been run first, and if CRP or WBC were elevated, they'd definitely have mentioned it. Pleurisy often raises CRP and WBC too (not always), so that would've been caught, and it can come with a fever
Given that, it's probably down to a chest wall condition, intercostal neuralgia, or a psychological cause.
Oh right, since it got so unbearable — or rather, since it just wouldn't get better — I went to the ER during Silver Week (Japan's late-September holiday stretch), and for some reason I had a fever that time, and that was actually pretty painful
It's not that it never hurts otherwise, it's more like… I can't quite put it into words, but that's not it.
If it's chest-related that sounds relatively mild, that's reassuring
A psychological cause might honestly be the most annoying option.
My left chest never hurts in one pinpoint spot.
Actually there are times both sides hurt at once
My teeth are at least fine though.
How bad does the tooth pain get?
Pain that's clearly not normal keeps going, but the tests come back clean every time
So you end up hospital-hopping.
Shows like The World's Most Amazing News always have this scary pattern — told there's nothing wrong, ignore it, and it turns out to be something terrifying.
Exactly this
But for me, every single place I went just told me there was nothing wrong, every time.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
ECGs and echocardiograms are effective for catching acute heart conditions like a heart attack, but symptoms caused by intercostal neuralgia, pleurisy, or stress often don’t show up in test results, so the pain itself can persist even after being told everything looks normal. Where the thread split was on how far to keep pushing with testing after one hospital says there’s nothing wrong. Some argued it’s fine to just wait and watch, while others pointed to experiences like “I went to a different hospital and they found something,” arguing it’s worth seeking a second opinion. It’s also worth noting that while a poster claiming to be a psychiatrist offered possibilities based on the described symptoms, a diagnosis made on an anonymous message board is only ever a reference point and is no substitute for an actual medical exam and proper testing.
*This article is an excerpt and summary based on the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “My heart’s hurt for about a month now, I’m probably going to die.”
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