Hi,
I am enquiring about a problem i have been experiencing with my back over the last couple of weeks.
Whenever i lay on my back in bed i get severe pain in the lower right side of my back and i have to take shallow breathes because it hurts too much to take full breathes. Depending on how i lie in bed depends on whereabouts its hurts and how painful it is. For example, if i lay on flat on my back or my left side, my lower left side of my back is extremely painful, if i lay on my right side the pain is not as bad but also moves in the right side of my abdomen and if i lay on my front the pain eases a small amount.
I dont get pain during the day when moving around and my general breathing is not affected, sometimes i do feel a 'twinge' if i yawn or take a deep breathe. I also go to the gym 3 times a week and its doesnt hurt during the workout. It literally only hurts when i lie in bed. It also doesnt hurt to the touch.
I know its not a pulled muscle from the gym as that would hurt constantly, but i feel my doctor would try and fob it off as that.
My current job is office based so i do spend many hours sat down during the day, but i exercise regularly throughout the week.
I have used anti-inflammetries and deep heat sprays and creams, which seem to ease it when i first go to bed but by half way through the night, i move in bed and its as painful as before.
What could be causing this pain?
Hi ,
I have exactly the same problem, when I sleep i have severe back pain but no symptoms at all during the day. Its steadily been getting worse over the last 12 months, I have tried massage, relaxation, new mattress, sleeping positions, stretching exercises , Nothing seems to work.
I take 4 ibuprofen before i go to bed, this seems to get me through most of the night, My GP has not heard of this symptom & suggested it was asthma but I have been tested & its clear.
Do you still have the problem , have you any answers to what the cause is.?
thanks.
Hi Steve.
Can I ask what sort of pain you are experiencing in the night? is it nerve pain that feels a bit like an electric
current running through your lower back? or is it more like a muscular pain?
Also, do you get pain and weakness in your legs?
Sam
Hi Sam
Its difficult to say, its just severe pain. I always thought it was muscular, sometimes it feels like having a bruise , when touching the area its very tender. The pain also moves around, just lately I have been getting it in my chest & shoulder, then after a few days its all back into my back.
The ibruprofen are helping, although I take 4 just before going to bed so I think it is knocking me out.
Yes, I am having some issues with my legs more of a weakness, but as I walk the dog in the morning this seems to disappear after that
I do have a stiff neck some mornings but again after an hour or so , nothing.
After that you wouldn't know there was any issue because during the day there's nothing.
I m getting to the stage where I dread going to bed.
Regards
Steve
Hi Guys,
Ill be honest, i never went to the doctors about the pain - it went away after a while and has not come back since. So i feel i may have been slightly dramatic & just pulled something at the gym (although the pain definately did not feel like pulled muscle pain). But i stopped using a piece of equipment that worked your side muscles and twists my back and the pain went away, so i think it was maybe that causing it.
Steve, i would defo go and see your doctor again. If he/she's anything like mine, you will have to massively nag them to get tests and possible diagnosis. What your experiencing sounds horrendous and definately not right.
Hope you get better soon 
Bex
Hi Rebecca
I totally agree, if lower back pain has been a problem for more than 6 weeks, your GP should by rights refer you to see a specialist who will then decide if an MRI is required.
What most people don't know and what the NHS don't actively promote is that all NHS patients have the right to insist on a referral on the first visit to the GP and you can even specify which hospital you want to to and even which particular consultant you would like to see.
Sam
I used to feel that way. But after I figured out that the problem was my bed. Have you thought changing your mattress?
We had a new mattress , its really comfortable.. Trouble is I spend 6 months a year in hotels, working away.
I have had an Xray & have a cervical rib which may be part of the problem.
I have an MRI scan booked for next week , my consultant will have a better understanding after, hopefully.
Hi I'm having the same problem,started about 8 months ago.within ten minutes of lying down the pain in my lower right back starts.its like an intense throbbing pain with spasms,had X-rays.and scan nothing shows up,am taking gabapentin and tramadol,and still don't get much sleep if I'm lucky a couple of hours a night.im also very anemic don't know if this is related are not,have no pain during the day, started with no warning no pulled muscles are anything. Not my mattress as I bought new memory foam one 3 months ago hoping things would improve but they haven't . Anybody any suggestions ?
Hello,
I have a similar pain. It has been several years. When I lie down the pain is severe in my mid back between my spine and oblique muscle. When I get up from a flat position the pain can be so severe I have dropped to my knees. I have learned just the right way to stand up after lying down to avoid the pain. Once I am upright the pain will go away (just a few minutes) and I will be perfectly fine the entire day.
I have had both Xrays and MRIs with a diagnosis of Arthritis in my 9th and 10th vertebrae. I went through physical therapy and was told I will need to learn to live with the pain.
I have started to feel pain in my leg when sitting for a long period of time. This is very concerning to me.
I am not ready to give up. I am considering Acupuncture. Has anyone found an answer to this pain.
Hi,
All the above discussions seem to agree that the pain is severe and comes on with pressure on certain parts of the body and too, anti-inflammatories do give some relief. I would hazard a guess and say it seems like changes in the skeletal frame. More to do incorporating the spine which, as you all know, is a devil of a culprit in a lot of painful medical cases.
In the end, if overly concerned, consult a doctor in that field,
Hope relief is near bye for you all.....................................Ron.
I am getting this pain aswell. It started on Easter Sunday and was really bad lying down and sitting up - man overhung between the two was agony. Then it calmed down and I thought it was going away. It was still painful but not as bad. Now it's Thursday and in the day it's completely fine but tues night and Wednesday nights sleep I have woken up in agony. I slept fine the first two nights with it but now as it's almost gone in the day it's terrible when I wake in the morning. I've woke in pain every 3/4hrs the past 2 nights. Now Im
starting to dread going to bed. The doc fobbed me off with muscular pain or pulling some muscle that sits by the rib cage and when we breathe it moves... My arguement. Why only through the night when I'm lying down? I also use the gym 3/4 days a weekend it doesn't feel like muscular pain. Don't know what to do 
Hi, Me too. My pain is mostly in my ribcage or under it, im not sure. It feels pretty good all day as I move around and I can bend in any direction, touch my toes etc, but when I go to sleep I have to sleep on my left side. If I accidentally roll over onto my back I wake up in severe pain. It hurts from my upper right back around to the front and their is a stabbing pain in my right side. It begins to hurt when I take a breath and I end up sitting up and trying to breathe through it. Eventually it calms down but I have not had one decent nights sleep in three weeks. I've had an abdominal ultrasound, an x-ray of my ribs and spine, function tests on my liver, pancreas and gall bladder, and still nothing. I know the doctor doesn't believe me. She pressed in all kinds of places and made me move this way and that. All painless. But this happens every night and it's severe. I'm lucky to get 4 hrs sleep. She first gave me tylenol 3 with codeine and then didn't renew it and now has me taking tramadol 50 mg. The tylenol was better. Neither of them get me through the night unless I never move from my left side.
I have been having the same exact pain and mine only goes away after i have been up and moving around about an hour after i get up in the morning. It only happens at night it almost paralyzes me. I cant move until i mentally get ready for it other wise im just stuck in whatever position im in. Ive had x rays, hydascans, blood work, im scared to go to chiropractor cause i dont even want my back to be touched(afraid of what i will feel that night after). it sounds like mri is next. I wish something could be diagnosed so i dont have to live like this anymore. Every night im scared to go to sleep, literally scared cause i know what is going to happen after a couple of hours. Weird thing is i can take an hour nap during the day and be fine but anymore than that and its pain all over again. hate it
This sounds the exact same symptoms I have had. Talk about scared to go to sleep. I started with acupuncture yesterday ending with a massage. Holy Hell the massage hurt. The small Asian lady was literally on top of my back and I had to ask her to stop. Like others I have had renal ultrasounds, blood tests and even a bone scan to rule out cancer. All clear. It seems no one has an answer. The only thing is that a similar thing happened after a ski trip to Canada 2 years ago after where I fell on my bum going very slowly and hit some ice (probably the only ice in the whole of Big White) and it jarred by lower back. It did take months to get better and I found the only help was plenty of brisk walking and light jogging. THis time is a bit more difficult as I have a stress fracture in my left knee that hasnt healed properly. Walking is Ok but running it a no go. I will see how the acupuncture and massage goes I guess. I just hate going to bed even when exhausted.!!!!!
Hi, just gooled my symptons and this forum popped up, did anyone get a diagnosis or found anythin gthat helps?
ive suffered with servere back pain when sleeping since i was around 15, (im 27 now) its gradually got worse the older ive got, i wake up with pain in my lower back but has started moving around my hips and into my stomach to the point where i cant move/sit up, once stood up it goes and im fine for the rest of the day, the only time ive never had it was while i was pregnant which i find odd, ive found placing a pillow under your lower back helps alot, still get twinges and a mild ache, i havent been to doctors with it because its really hard to discribe, its a not like 'normal pain' it hurts a hell of a lot but also feels likes 'strangular/tightening' i feel he wont know what im on about! as reading most your posts they seems really no point either,
tia
hi everyone, has anyone tried a chiropractor? i experienced the same problems as everyone else has. I had several sessions with chiropractor & my pain started disappearing. I also invested in a new mattress but I still have to prop up on pillows under my back & knees. I think I just cant lie flat when sleeping at night.
Hi all,
I had severe back pain for years and it was horrible. But mine was from sitting and standing. Lying down was the only thing which helped take the pain away!
I haven't had any back pain for around 10 years now and I put it down to 3 things:
1) Moving more - getting up every half hour or so and stretching and walking more
2) Doing more physical activity like swimming
3) The biggest thing which helped was a method called Egoscue. See if you have a local practitioner nearby.
Good luck and don't give up!
T
hi rebecca i 2 have had this complaint for 5 years now had mri scan i do have a bulging disc and ware between 4and 5 discs the orthapeidic dept referred me back to doctors as they said my spinal problems were not the cause of the pain i am getting now so my doctor sent me for a abdominal ultra scan and discovered a small lesion on my kidney which my doctor says should not cause me any pain in the areas mentioned however i have been looking on the internet and found a condition called costochondritis this seems to fit my syptoms but have not been back to the doctors yet may be you can have a look at this and see if it fits your discription of pain only when i lay down regards alby
I have a diagnosis of an autoimmune nasty called Behcets, which causes random inflamation, and at times its attacked both nerves and muscles, causing spasm, which is excruciating and wakes me in the night - Ive done everything for pain relief from gabapentin, tramadol, codeine, buprenorphrine ibuprofen, you name it, even cherry brandy from aldi's! what I find has helped is a memory foam mattress topper, a hot water bottle and or an electric blanket, amytriptylline in small dose at bedtime to knock nerve pain out, and a good old tens machine (like expectant mums use). Ok Im still stiff as a board in the mornings, but hydrotherpay, acupuncture, and now a gym ball and exercises from my physio are slowly helping to mobilise my very damaged rheumatoid and osteo arthritic back. good luck