Hi all, this may be a long shot, but I just thought I’d throw it out there, as there are so many people from different places that are on this forum. Hoping somebody may have some ideas. I’ll try to keep this brief.
My DH, suffers from what I can best describe as ‘positional chest pain.’ When he’s sitting or lying down at a 45 degree angle, he gets what he describes as squeezing, stabbing, chest pain and heart palpitations, along with soreness in his chest. It goes away once he sits up and leans forward. Mostly occurs when he’s sitting in his recliner and sometimes laying on his back in bed. It’s generally located left center on his chest, a bit left of his breastbone.
He’s early 50’s, in generally good health. Have had CT done, bloodwork, EKG, x-rays, chiropractic, Cardiologist, etc etc etc. Everything comes back normal. He’s suffered with this for 30 some years, one doctor told him, ‘Well your’re still here, so obviously it’s not fatal’.
He’s been dealing with cluster headaches for the last 3 weeks, which has brought this back to the forefront. If he lays down to sleep, he gets a headache. He can’t sleep in his recliner because it brings on the chest pain. So, it’s been a rough time for him. The doctors can’t figure it out. They run their tests, everything looks normal, so they send him on his way.
He’s scheduled for an MRI for the headaches once we get the ok from the insurance company, but he’s tried that once before and couldn’t lay down in the machine for more than 5 minutes because the pain in his chest gets so bad. They are going to try sedating him, but he knows he’ll come out of it with soreness in his chest for a few days afterward. He’s concerned that his heart may actually stop if he can’t sit up, which I don’t blame him for feeling that way, as he’s never just let the pain continue without sitting up. Not knowing what causes the pain could I guess, make that a possibility.
Just throwing this out there, hoping somebody may have experienced something similar that was able to get a diagnosis. I’m not the greatest internet searcher, and have done lots of searching, but can’t find anything that fits. Kinda feel like it’s fallen on us to figure it out for ourselves, since the doctors have no clue. Thanks in advance.
I assume Drs have tried him on nitro tables for his chest pain?
Under observation, since his chest pains can be repeated by how he sit/lays.
Nitro may cause a big drop in blood pressure, why the caution.
That would help maybe see if there is some arteries being squished as the reason for those chest pains.
I had costochondriasis, rib connecting tissue pain, for 15 years or so.
It was so bad, if the dr touched me on the exam table, I would practically fall off it, how he found what it was.
I doubt that would be what is causing his pain?
Just wondering, but if you had drs look at that for 30 years, if he is not having any other symptoms, may just have to wait until there is more to go by?
Hopefully they will find at least some to relieve his pains.
Bluey: He’s only had doctors looking at this for the last 10 years or so. Never have tried nitro, his dad has angina, and I suspect that could be a possibility. They’ve also never done an EKG with him in the 45 degree position, which I also think would be a good idea. It doesn’t hurt to touch the area, although he says it’s ‘sore’, but more inside his chest. I’m going to spend some time this weekend getting some ideas.
What’s a nitro table? And @Bluey how did your rib pain get fixed?@SLedbetter , does he have indigestion often?
Did you mean into nitroglycerine tablets?
Sorry, fat fingering and not proofreading enough got me.
Nitroglycerin tablets, used to expand arteries, which tends to relieve chest pain, if narrowing is what causes it.
Is standard treatment for that and also used for diagnostic purposes, which is what I meant here.
Drs here would also suggest he takes his blood pressure regularly and try to when he has chest pains, to see how it may change.
Changes then could be from the pain, or what is causing the pain.
EKG on a tilt table is definitely, along with heart ultrasound and stress tests should have been requested if nothing else to establish base figures for him as a patient, by a cardiologist?
Costochondritis comes and goes, mine went and has not been back for a while now and I am glad of that.
It tends to be idiopathic, they don’t know what causes it.
They have Fitbits and Iwatches today that do the same, read hearth rythm.
May want to consider one of those?
When I read the original post, my first thought was costochondroitis. I didn’t know Bluey had experience with it. I do, too, as a result of having rheumatoid arthritis.
When it’s happening, you feel like you are in so much pain your heart will stop. Yet it’s not actually a heart issue–it’s as Bluey described, the connective tissue between the ribs causing major pain. When it happens to me, I try to control my breathing (because my instinct is to hold my breath, but that doesn’t help at all). I used to do yoga back when I could move better, so I do the breathing I learned for yoga, and it usually helps some. Anti-inflammatories may help as well. Cortisone (such as prednisone) certainly does, but I don’t take it because I would become an ax murderer.
Rebecca
I had a bout of pericarditis. I don’t know that I would call it exactly “situational” as sometimes it would persist no matter how I laid/sat but it absolutely was worse laying flat. It was a surprisingly painful thing, and came on out of nowhere. Mine was caused by an infection and it went away and was considered largely no big deal (aside from the pain) but there can be other causes that are more chronic and serious. It can also be recurring, though let’s all knock on wood mine isn’t. The thing that struck me is the “sitting up and leaning forward” bit. That is the ONLY way I found ANY relief. That sounds strikingly similar. Anyway… something else to ask his doctor about…
last time I looked you can’t keep a record of them, they get sent to your dr.
After all of this time, I would ask for a referral to one of the big national hospitals, Mayo (I know several people that had a great experience at the Scottsdale location), Cleveland Clinic, etc. It’s time to find out what’s going on, and it could be something very few people have.
A friend has one and it sends the information to his wife and Drs and anyone he designates it be sent?
She checks on his heart regularly, without needing to talk to him.
She calls him to check on him when it records any arrhythmia.
This is something I considered, with the symptoms. But, would it still be around after such a long time? Also, he says he gets heart palpitations, which I’m also not sure fits. What would be a chronic cause of pericarditis?
Did you experience heart palpitations also? This was another big one on my list. My DH has RA in his family, I suspect he has it. He also can’t take steriods, Makes him a not very nice person to put it mildly.
It depends on the cause. Not if it’s caused by an infection. Yes if it’s caused by an autoimmune disease like lupus. I don’t know that I had true palpitations but when the pain got really intense it felt like I did. A history of RA (autoimmune disease) makes me think it’s at least worth bringing up.
Has a doctor checked his gallbladder? I had similar chest pain. I had no stones, just a bad gallbladder.
Nope, no palpitations. Hmmm, not a nice person on steroids–I would certainly classify myself as “raving lunatic.”
Rebecca
Probably a long shot but bad reflux cans cause various types of pain, especially when lying down.
My first thought was costochondroitis and secondly I would wonder about a form of Dysautonomia. Dysautonomia is a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. There are a lot of different types. I personally have Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.
