Last Friday, I had pain in the side of my neck radiating up to my jaw. It was very uncomfortable and didn't last long. Shortly thereafter, I had the same thing on my left jaw and then a pain in the center of my chest. None of it lasted long, but I had a aching in the back of my back on the left side the rest of the day. I had an appt. with my pulmonogist, which turned out to be a nurse practioner and she told me if it happened again to go to the ER and talk to my regular Dr. about it. I talked to my dr. on Mon morning and she immediately sent me to the ER for tests. They did an ekg, blood enzyme test, oxygen levels, x-rays, and blood pressure tests and kept me there for several hours. Everything turned out normal. How can that be? Any thought on what it might be? I have had P.D. for 4 years and asthma. Any insight into this would be appreciated. They told me if it happened again to come back. They told me to take prilsec. I said acid reflux doesn't cause you to have pain in the side of your neck and radiate upward into the jaw. they said it can cause strange things. Anyone had anything like this?

I'm glad that you had a good work-up with your doctor. The symptoms that you describe could be the symptoms that women experience with a heart attack. I would suggest going to the ER if it happens again. Here is some info I found in an article on heart attack symptoms for women:

Common heart attack symptoms in women
Women may have all, none, many or a few of the typical heart attack symptoms. For women, as for men, the most common symptom of a heart attack is some type of pain, pressure or discomfort in the chest. But women are more likely than are men to also have symptoms unrelated to chest pain, such as:

Neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back or abdominal discomfort
Shortness of breath
Nausea or vomiting
Abdominal pain or "heartburn"
Sweating
Lightheadedness or dizziness
Unusual or unexplained fatigue

Mary,

BrownEyedGirl has it on point. Please see your primary medical doctor ASAP. If it happens again, go straight to the ER.

But the Dr.'s in the Er told me it was not heart related and my blood enyme turned out negative. I can't imagine what it could be if it wasn't heart. Also, I don't know if this is related, but I have terribly sore spots all over my body. They hurt so bad. I take Cymbalta, but it doesn't seem to be helping or something else is going on. Any suggestions.

YES! I've had that several times. The last time, it felt like nerve pain in my face and neck that kept me wide awake for hours. The pain traveled around. In my face and neck it felt like nerve pain. I didn't sleep til 5 am.

The symptoms are the same as a heart attack in women. It's very intense pain that travels, exactly as you said. Even into my back. In my case, it IS heartburn. I get it rarely because I take Protonix daily, for acid reflux.

It's alarming because the symptoms are the same as women having a heart attack. So, I get anxious when it happens. I don't think it's related to PD.

If your heart is fine and blood enzymes are good, I wonder if it IS parkinson's related. I was diagnosed in April 2003. My first really painful bout with dystonia I believe was about a year after that, and occured where my left neck and shoulder connect, traveled up to my ear area & included the entire left side of my head. It was like a huge painful cramp, making my entire head curl to that side. And it started happening several times a week (before meds). Once I went on carbidopa levodopa they stopped occuring so often. However, I have had several over the past few months, so the frequency is increasing again. It's pretty terrible. I also get sharp pains under my left breast which cause me to catch my breath-which is something new. However, my heart is fine.
Do you still have your gallbladder? Now that is something that causes pain in places you wouldn't think.

Yes, I do have my gallbladder. But the pain around my shoulder blade in the back was on the left side. I'm to see a cardiologist on Tues, so we will see what he says. Thanks for your responses.

This isn't just a lady thing. I was hospitalized back in February due to chest pains and pains radiating in my back, down my arm, and in my jaw. After numerous tests, a 2-day stay, and a stress test, nothing was found. My old heart is normal.

I had a follow up with my Primary Care doctor and my neurologist shortly afterwards. The conclusions by both that this could be Parkinson's related being muscular rather than in the heart. As far as I'm concerned, the pain was bad enough to scare me into going to the ER. I was told by everyone that this was the best thing I could have done.

I have noticed too that the pain happens when I am stressed and very fatigued, and seems to subside after I've been taking the Sinemet.

John