Left chest pain/cramp at night for 4+ years - late 20’s

[ChemRower]

Hello, I have been suffering from cramp like chest pain when lying on my left side or front. It occurs at night, most frequently around 3/4 am onwards but can happen lying on the sofa. On/off for the last 4 years at least but have vague memories of this as a ~10 yr old.

Further details: Pain is a tighness / compression behind left breast and feels pretty central within my rib cage. Occuring when lying on my left and I get significant relief when rolling onto right. I do get a ‘residual’ tightness for a few hours after getting up on bad days.

General info: Female, late 20’s, very active, otherwise healthy, hypothyroid.

I often get numb/tingly hands when lying down and holding my phone which made me wonder if it was blood pressure related and to post here - worth a shot.

Avenues investigated: pain killers, anti inflammatories, acid reflux, physio, recently amitriptyline but doesn’t seem to touch it.

I would welcome any advice or suggestions.

[Hidden]

Dear ChemRower

Hello and a warm welcome to the forum and your first post, I hope that you find this place both informative and supportive as I and many others have.

Sorry that i am not medically trained and nor are many on here but i find your description of your “illness” fascinating and wonder just how far the medical profession has gone with you, because your description is very precise.

You say you are active and judging by your handle I presume that you are a rower { but I hope not on chemicals } the reason i ask is that I have a large blocked area webbing across my left chest just under the skin that was damage caused in my weight lifting days.

When I haven’t got a layer of fat over it { now } it looks like raised blueish veins, I have be assured that this is quite a common injury and has nothing to do with my heart problems.

So the reason I have said all this is that in certain positions I can trap nerves that give exactly the same symptoms as you post about.

You need to contact your Gp more and get some tests done, blood vessel and nerve damage are not easy to diagnose but not impossible.

Take care and please keep us informed.

[ChemRower in reply to Hidden]

Dear Blue1958

Thank you for your warm welcome and detailed reply.

I have been down several avenues over the last 4 or so years but nothing conclusive. With my GP we checked bloods, acid reflux medication / diet, chest X-ray. I had a referral to gastro, the consultant agreed this was probably unlikely. Over the last 8 months or so I have seen sport & exercise medicine consultant for a chest MRI (normal) and have since been prescribed pain management and physio, but not yet had much improvement.

Yes, I am indeed a rower (on and off). Don’t worry no chemicals involved - an unfortunate choice of words (or career)! Chest and rib injuries are common so could be a possibility. I have had a few significant breaks from training and my symptoms don’t seem to better or worsen depending on what exercise I am doing (or lack of).

That is interesting about the injury you describe. How did you discover the blocked webbing? Was it a particular action that cause it or use over time? Have you found any relief for your symptoms? I have no similar visible veins on my chest, but you would be one of the first people I have heard from with a similar experience.

Thanks again for your insights.

[Hidden in reply to ChemRower]

Dear ChemRower.

Well you have certainly had a load of tests to try and find out what is going on, but still no answer, I really feel for you because as time gos on it begins to take over your world.

I would not judge you id you were a chem rower {LOL} the reason i asked is because some substances { coke, testosterone, etc } can play havoc with both the blood vessels and nerves.

In the day I used weights in the gym and wasn’t really a body builder as such but the by product of weight lifting is a toned body. So much so that i was asked if I took testosterone for this purpose.

The web appeared almost overnight { if you look at body builders during competition} you can see a lot have it.

This really annoyed me as the could see in my notes that I had testicular cancer and was on a mild dose to balance out the damage that chemo had done.

Instant closed case for me, they blamed the chemo and the use of testosterone { which still today I am unsure of } the vein blockage was dismissed,

It made me check other guys out in the gym and there was a couple of others with it who dismissed it as nothing { some were injecting }

I think that you are right to try and find out what is going on with your body, I even thought that my nerves were nearer the surface to anyone else as it was almost a party trick that if I sat in a certain way i could bring on a completely dead leg, same with my arms/ neck etc

Unfortunately my journey to find out what was going on ended after the heart attack { unknown } triple bypass and the CRT-D fitted.

Keep going at it, you will win and you will get those answers.

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

Has anybody considered non obstructive coronary artery disease NOCAD?

I live with vasospastic angina, whilst I was offically diagnosed 10 years ago, I had symptoms from my late 20 all put down to muscular problems.

I was seen by a Rheumatologist and Physiotherapist.

A classic symptom of vasospastic angina is chest pain at rest, especially between 12 midnight and 6am in the morning.

Also being able to exercise.

Vasospastic angina is often overlooked and under diagnosed.

There is a lack of knowledge about the condition by GPs and Cardiologist.

The BHF has this information about vasospastic and microvascular angina both types of angina without obstructed coronary arteries ANOCA.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo....

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

[ChemRower in reply to Milkfairy]

Milkfairy,

Thank you so much for your response.

Having read these pages this is a really intriguing suggestion - thank you for bringing it to my attention. It has not been something ever considered, mentioned or investigated in my case so far. Like you it, it seems I have mostly ended up with the 'muscular / nerve damage - live with it' response.

How were you diagnosed or find out about this? Did you go through your GP? It sounds like sensible avenue for me to try and explore.

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to ChemRower]

I had pain between my left shoulder blade and spine for about 20 years.I was told it was muscular. I took a hot water bottle to bed with me and lived on Ibuprofen.

Then about 10 years ago I was admitted to hospital with a suspected heart attack.

I was thought to have ubstable angina. I was prescribed IV GTN which stopped my chest pain. Then a junior doctor came and just turned my IV GTN infusion off, telling me I couldn't have angina as my coronary arteries were clear.

He quickly changed his mind when he saw me gave an enormous episode of chest pain.

I was incorrectly diagnosed with microvascular angina.

I then spent a few years trying to get a correct diagnosis.

I sought out a specialist who provided proper testing, an angiogram with acetylcholine.

During the angiogram I experienced spontaneous and acetylcholine induced coronary vasospasms. My diagnosis of vasospastic angina was confirmed.

I suggest you keep a log of your symptoms. See if there is a pattern. Go back to your GP , show them the BHF information and ask to be referred to a Cardiologist who understands microvascular and vasospastic angina.

These causes of angina tend to affect women more than men.

Unfortunately there is still a lack of awareness amongst GPs and Cardiologists about the conditions.

Expect to be told you are too young, too fit etc

This is a link to a research team at St Thomas's Hospital in London who are researching coronary microvascular disease.

isrctn.com/ISRCTN94728379