Chest and back pain when breathing deeply
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Anonymous
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Yesterday I started feeling pain in my chest when I started running. It soon spread to my abdomen. By the end of the day my entire back hurt when breathing. I did some googling and thought it was probably costochondritis. I took an ibuprofen before bed and felt better when I woke up. The discomfort is better today but I still feel it. I am pretty much fine when breathing normally but if I take a deeper than normal breath it feels like when you are congested.
I should mention that I am very low risk for a heart attack. I am 39, very fit, low BMI, good cholesterol levels, and my BP is generally about 100/80. My most recent round of googling is making me think it might not be costochondritis because the tightness is more in my lower back than chest. I have been under a lot of stress lately. I don't feel sick otherwise. I know I should probably go to a doctor but I hate going with such vague symptoms. They run blood tests and tell you they don't see anything abnormal and make you feel like a hypochondriac. My other excuse is that I don't want to take (waste) the time. |
Anonymous
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Call your doctor TODAY. It probably isn'y anything serious but chest pain on exertion is a red flag for heart disease and you don't want to take any chances.
They will not make you feel like a hypochondriac if you go in with these symptoms. Fit people have heart attacks. Young people have heart attacks. And heart disease isn't always caused by bad cholesterol and blood pressure. Seriously, please have this checked out. |
Anonymous
| Thanks PP. I am sure I'm not having a heart attack (it has been 24 hours so wouldn't I be dead by now?) If it were a heart problem would it get better with ibuprofen. I don't mean to argue and appreciate your concern. I am just totally tapped out and adding a doctor's visit to my schedule stresses me out more. |
Anonymous
| Pp gave you sound advice, OP. Heart attack symptoms in women tend not to be the kind that have you dialing 911. I'm not saying it is a heart attack, but it certainly could be. And, yes, the symptoms can come and go over days. |
Anonymous
| Could be something with your lungs. I would definitely go to the doctor. Even if it's nothing, better safe than sorry. |
Anonymous
| Could be a partially collapsed lung. Go to the ER now! |
Anonymous
OMG you are being an idiot. I'm sorry, I shouldn't insult you like that. My DH had chest pain for five days and ended up with emergency angioplasty. And yes, you could feel better with ibuprofen. You have raging symptoms of something serious -- possibly heart-related, possibly lung-related, and you are resisting pretty obvious advice. Why did you post anyway? You wanted us to tell you you're alright? We're not telling you that, we're telling you to take this very, very seriously. You tell a doctor you have chest pain on exertion and he will tell you to go to the ER ASAP. You need to go. And if you have kids you are behaving incredibly irresponsibly. |
Anonymous
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I agree with the PPs who say you need to get checked out promptly. It could be a heart or a lung problem, all of which have the potential to be very, very bad.
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Anonymous
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You could have chest pain for days with a heart attack, which is a blood clot inhibiting blood flow to your heart muscle. You could damage your heart by waiting.
You need to make time to see a doctor. You're being ridiculous, op. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Actually, what I was looking for was "Yeah, I had those exact symptoms and it was X." I spoke with a doctor friend (former ER doc) yesterday and he said it sounded like costochondritis and that my plan was sound. He said there is no reason to think that it is a major problem. |
Anonymous
There is absolutely no way a doctor can tell you what this is from a conversation. My husband, the one with the emergency bypass, also thought he has costochondritis. And his doctor whom he spoke with thought the same thing. He actually passed an EKG -- we learned it isn't effective for 10% of people. By the time he made it to a cardiologist -- who, by the way, thought it was insane that his doctor didn't take it more seriously. The cardiologist said ANY TIME YOU HAVE CHEST PAIN WITH EXERTION YOU TAKE IT VERY VERY SERIOUSLY == DSH almost died. Not a single person has come on here to say "I had these symptoms and it was X". You have convinced yourself that it is nothing. I hope you are right. I think you are being reckless. |
Anonymous
| I meant emergency angioplasty, not bypass. |
Anonymous
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don't mean to stress out op but lung cancer in the young is often detected by some small, minor pain in the lung, back, shoulder.
Get it checked out. ER docs are not the same as GP. He might be able to tell you are not going to die immediately but its worth looking into... Good luck, I"m sure it's nothing. |
Anonymous
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OP - I had costochondritis a couple of years ago. I had very similar symptoms. Even after talking with me, doing a complete physical, and telling me he thought it was costochondritis, the doctor did an EKG right in his office. Like you, I have very low risk of heart attack. I was 45 at the time. I am 115 pounds. Normal cholesterol. And a marathoner. My doctor took chest pain very seriously despite my history. Also, pleurisy has very similar symptoms and can become serious.
Go to the doctor. |
Anonymous
| Not a single poster has supported OP's opposition to getting this checked out. Not one. A rarity for DCUM. |