Lately I've been having these sharp pains going up and down my left side from approx. where my heart is to the bottom of the rib cage. My mother thinks that I'm just having muscle spasms, but sometimes these pains hurt so bad I can barely breath and the pulse every time my heart beats... they also restrict my breathing to a very minimum amount of air coming in to my body. But I know of heart problems that I have. Am I just having really bad muscle spasms or should I ask my heart doctor if something's wrong?

Let me start with the basics...

How old are you?

I think you should ask your doctor. You just can't be too careful when it comes to these things. Hopefully, it is nothing serious, but I think it's time for a doctor's visit. Better safe than sorry, especially if you already have heart problems.