Hi Everyone. I’ll be as concise as possible, as there’s a lot to write!
Profile:
37 year old male
bmi just under 25
not physically fit but in otherwise good health
Bloods:
Full blood count: normal
hemogloben: normal
Liver, serum etc checks: normal
Borderline high cholesterol but ‘satisfactory’ results
Currently awaiting ECG (warned of possible months waiting list)
About 10 days I started to get some intermittent (back of the) neck pain. I’ve had similar before. What was different about this was how intermittent it was. Usually of course, neck pain is constant and easily triggered by certain movements. This just showed up several times a day, ached for a short while, and then went. I also experienced a dull achey pain in my pectorals (in the breast part rather than the sides). The best way I can describe it, is as if I’d over worked out at the gym (I didn’t, I haven’t worked out for a very long time!).
3 days later, I had my first ‘episode’, which was pretty scary. I was just standing still at the time (I’d just gotten up off the sofa, read on for context…), no physical activity etc. It started off with the neck pain, then quickly transitioned into upper back ache and around the shoulder blades, then to my chest. It was a fairly concentrated pressure/dull ache feeling just to the right of my lower sternum. I immediately had to take my belt off as I felt it effecting my breathing. It became intense. I went to lie down and it made it worse instantly, the pain become much more intense and I had to get up almost immediately. The episode lasted about 10-15 minutes. Initially I thought I might have been having a heart attack but I wasn’t sweating, wasn’t feeling sick and despite being scared, was reasonably calm. I didn’t have a temperature. There was no pain down my left side or in either arm. My heart wasn’t racing. So it didn’t really fit a typical heart attack.
About 4 hours later, the same thing happened again whilst getting up from the sofa, only this time, the pain was much more focused on my chest and was a different type of pain - It felt like someone was pressing down on my entire chest. Like a heavy weight was on it. It spread to the whole of my upper chest. It lasted around 10 minutes.
Since then, I’ve had an intermittent dull ache in my pectorals. It isn’t constant, but more frequent than before. The pain also seems to travel up from my lower sternum up to my esophagus, although I haven’t had a cough or sore throat at any point. At times, the uncomfortable pain feels like I have a chest infection, but without the cough/phlegm/sore throat.
Then last night, I had my 3rd episode. Similar to the 2nd. I tried to lie down and once again it instantly made it worse. The pain around my shoulder blades was intense. and into the bottom of the sternum (central). The difference with this episode that my teeth were chattering and i felt cold (it wasn’t though, it was 12c outside and reasonably warm in the house).
Tonight, I believe I’ve found the main trigger. Each episode and most non episode(s), which is just where the neck, upper back and pectoral pain flare up a bit, all happen when I’ve been sitting/lying back on my sofa for a while. There’s no pain at the time, but as soon as I get up, that’s when an episode can start almost immediately. We have a recliner, so I can’t be sure if it’s how my back is arched, or it’s to do with having my legs/feet up in more of a lying/semi lying position. I have an office based job, when I’m sitting straight in my office chair all day there’s not as much of a problem. It seems to be specific to how I’m sitting on my sofa. When I have an episode, I’ve realised sitting on the top step of the stairs seems to calm things down quite quickly.
I feel like I’ve completed the internet in my search for what this could be and I’m in agreement with my GP, who said ‘it doesn’t fit anything’. She doesn’t think it’s Angina. Very few conditions have neck, upper back and chest pain together as I’ve described, and those that do always describe sharp pains and pains down the arm. I have neither. This is very dull and achey, with a weight like feeling on my chest during episodes. I ‘may’ have had some heart flutters, I can’t be sure. My GP did all the normal checks, stethoscope etc, BP, all normal.
Thanks for much to anyone that’s read all that, I appreciate I’ve wrote a lot. Does anyone have any ideas what this could be? The closest thing I’ve found is pericarditis, although that usually has a sharp pain apparently. It does say that some people get the same dull pain that I’ve experienced.
Other than that, could it be something completely different like a skeletal/spine issue?
Any advice on where to look or what to consider would be much appreciated. At the moment, I’m just worried something bad might happen whilst I’m waiting potentially months for an ECG.
Thanks again to anyone that’s had the patience to read all of this. I wish you all good health.
Ben.