This morning I woke up and as I was getting up I accidently held my breath (which is something I am prone to do), and when I did this I suddenly felt pain in the area around my heart. I've felt pain in that area before, although it is usually very sharp (I imagine reminiscent of being stabbed) and prevents me from breathing much. This is more stinging than sharp and doesn't follow a particular line. It can also extend down to the lower part of the left rib-cage and a bit at the same level as the heart in the right rib-cage, however they are not near so bad or consistant as the pain around the area of my heart. The main triggers I can find that intensify it are holding my breath, bending over, or pulling my shoulders in. It's been consistantly like this for the past hour or so since I got up. Is it just growing pains, or is it just something minor and ride it out, or should I take the time to give the doctor a ring and book an appointment?
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
What did you have for dinner last night?
Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :
Um... I think we missed that meal. I think I found a bit of ham and assorted chocolates, as well as some pop throughout the evening.
Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
Do you really know where your heart is? Where is it?
Does taking a deep breath do anything?
Does pushing in on your sternum or on the sides of the sternum do anything?
Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :
As I understand it, the heart is on the left side behnind the nipple area. I just checked and taking a deep breath intensifies it. Pushing on the sternum does not appear to do anything.
Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :
It appears to actually be gone now, save for slightly when I cough.
Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :
I lied. >_< I just went to take the dog out and between putting the harness on him and bending down to give him a treat and whatnot, it came back, at the least for whilst I was outside.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Don't rule out Barrett's esophagus. That's one possible thing it might be. Chest pain when bending over is a symptom of that.
Posted by graywolfe (Member # 3852) on :
Reminds me of something that started afflicting me back in May/June/July of '04. Went away for a while, pops up sporadically and scares the hell out of me. There was one night it was so bad I couldn't sleep for hours. The way you describe how you have to take shallow, short breaths to keep from getting hit with the sharp pains is exactly how I handled it.
That spring/summer was an extremely stressful time for me and I often wondered if it was related to stress. Could have been food intake (I hope) as I do love spicy food. Let me know what you hear Reiko as it sounds exactly like a problem I had, and that comes back sporadically from time to time.
Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :
This is different than the sharp pains, although I've definitely had that before. Wow do I hate it when that happens because it hurts way too much to breathe properly. I went to the doctor about it once and he said it had something to do with layers of the lungs growing at different rates.
Fortunately, whatever I had yesterday seems to be absent today.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Could be a pleuritic pain. But what's causing it? I don't know.
Glad you're feeling better!
Posted by MandyM (Member # 8375) on :
I have a similar pain but it is lower, at the top of my abdomen in the center of my body, and I get it when I bend over too. The best I can tell, it is a hiatal hernia and it seems to flare up more often when I eat something I shouldn't or during a certain time of the month. I have to raise my hands over my head and stretch while taking deep breaths when it happens. Hurts like the dickens!