Fibromyalgia Support Group
You're not alone in your pain. Fibromyalgia is a condition that can be difficult to diagnose and manage. If you're trying to cope with pain throughout your body, sleep problems, general fatigue, or other common fibromyalgia symptoms, you're in the right place. The community is here for you to talk about therapies and share your challenges.
I've been getting these pains on both sides of my chest ( different times ), but in exactly the same spots every time. Of course, chest pain freaks me out. I always recover from them... they stop eventually. But it's every day for.... years(?) now.
When the left side hurts it scares me more since it seems to be right on top of my heart. But every doctor I've seen ( I have several specialists ) listens to my heart and lungs and says everything is ok in those departments and it "must be muscular/skeletal pain. So I kind of believe them now since I'm still here. But it's on my mind and I wonder if anyone else has this kind of "syndrome".
These pains are getting more and more frequent and seem to be stronger pains all the time.
So I'm wondering if anyone else has daily chest pains, same locations every time and what you've been told or what you do. I am taking Baclofen which helps a little. Especially when it puts me to sleep. Things don't usually hurt when we're asleep right? But the fright factor is always present.
Thanks
When the left side hurts it scares me more since it seems to be right on top of my heart. But every doctor I've seen ( I have several specialists ) listens to my heart and lungs and says everything is ok in those departments and it "must be muscular/skeletal pain. So I kind of believe them now since I'm still here. But it's on my mind and I wonder if anyone else has this kind of "syndrome".
These pains are getting more and more frequent and seem to be stronger pains all the time.
So I'm wondering if anyone else has daily chest pains, same locations every time and what you've been told or what you do. I am taking Baclofen which helps a little. Especially when it puts me to sleep. Things don't usually hurt when we're asleep right? But the fright factor is always present.
Thanks
Oh yes we can hurt while we sleep...I certainly do.
On the chest pain deal.....there is a coexisting condition for some of us called Costochondritis that may be what the docs are talking about, although it's more in the arthritis subcategory. I have it and it's akin to my ribs feeling bruised and intense achiness especially with weather changes (like arthritis flares).
It really depends upon what kind of pain you are having. Is it stabbing, dull to moderate achy like I described above, or continuous pain in the middle of your chest radiating from your shoulder to your back at same time? The last describes the heart. You can check out common symptoms for women and heart disease here:
https://www.goredforwomen.org/about-heart-disease/symptoms_of_heart_disease_in_women/symptoms-of-a-heart-attack/
I happen to be a double bonus winner having costochondritis and heart disease, in particular a rare condition called small vessel disease. There is only one other person I have found that has both fibro and svhd.
If Baclofen helps and I believe it's an anti inflammatory, then maybe it's costo but I wouldn't let anyone silence you and poopoo a full workup on you including stress test from a cardiologist. At least get an ekg to see if there is ischemia or limited blood flow. That's how I found out I had a problem. A male cardiologist and two ER visits apparently weren't enough to convince them I had heart disease. Fortunatley, I have a good internal medicine doc that overrode him and sent me to a female cardiologist who did a full workup including catheterization to finally find my rare condition.
It's always good to get a baseline EKG so that if you have problems later in life, you have something to refer to. Women are dismissed FAR TOO OFTEN with chest pains because symptoms are milder. Good luck to you and let us know what happens. Hugs, JP
I get "chest wall muscle spasms" and it feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest. It is a part of my fibro. I also have CRPS for nerve pain under my right lower rib cage after a bout of pneumonia that went undiagnosed long enough to cause complications. An x-ray of my chest revealed a paralyzed right hemidiaphragm. It was so painful for a few years but now it has settled down enough most days and only flares up now and again.
Gentle Hugs
I've had all the usual heart tests... echos, stress tests, ekg's etc. With all my illnesses it's very confusing and very hard to pin any one thing down. I don't have the "elephant" heaviness. I'm just really concerned about this every day, many times a day stuff. Oh. I also have Graves Disease. But my thyroid has been "killed".
When I feel the pain(s) in my chest I use my fingers "to walk" across my chest - rib cage to try & locate the origin of the pain. Usually it is pain in a muscle, or group of muscles, that are part of my chest - rib muscles. Sometimes the pain/ache is caused by asthma, upper respiratory allergies during allergy seasons, or pain/ache caused by active activity I had during the day. So I am careful not to pick up heavy items, especially not from the floor & upward.
Feeling "stabbing" - type pain in my rib muscles can happen if I have coughing with allergies, colds, flu, viruses.
What has helped to relieve the pain/aches in my chest is use hot wet wash cloth on the area, or to use a heating pad on the area. Usually the heat helps fade the pain, aches away.
Flares in my chest, flares I feel in my lungs, is caused by asthma, upper respiratory allergies. I wear a pollen mask over my face if I have to go out during the pollen seasons.
Hope this helps you. We all learn what helps us the best, how to get our relief, to have a good night's sleep.