heart to heart

[letslaugh63]

whatever is attacking my body is now in my breast muscles as well as other muscles and joints,getting a bit worried as i know heart is a muscle and how would i know if this was starting to attack it.is this a normal/common symptom for lupus.x

[Purpletop]

You will see from past posts here that many of us suffer with chest pain for various reasons. You need to distinguish between a chest wall muscle pain due to inflammation, or a cardiac problem. The former is more likely to manifest itself as a dull, burning, deep pain that responds to anti-inflammatories to some extent. The latter would be accompanied by breathlessness, sweating, general feeling of malaise, jaw, neck, back, arm pain, headache and likely to come over quickly, which is why sufferers are advised to go to A&E quickly. One can also have sharp pains in the chest area due to pericarditis (inflammation of the heart membrane) or pleurisy (inflammation of the lung membrane).

But there is no point speculating when it comes to chest pain, try and call NHS direct for guidance or go to A&E if no improvement since you wrote the post. Better not to take any chances.

[daisyd]

Hi sorry to tell you that its not easy to diagnose yourself, my heart attack was not the

symptoms you would expect. When i I had a heart attack at 53 and it started like indigestion and cramp in my left arm

I was resting at the time so it didn't come on with exercise. It is not un known for people to only have these symptoms.

When I got to hospital it was discovered later by blood test that I had non stemi heart attack shown by 2 blood tests 12 hours apart.

It was a serious one.

Eventually it was discovered it was caused by a blood clot and later I was diagnosed with Hughes syndrome

Difficult isn't it sorry

Karen

I agree that A&E is a good place to go, most ambulance send out a paramedic in my area so it might not mean a trip to hospital.

[Hidden]

hello laughitup

i too get very confused where my pain comes from as i too in the past have had bad breast pain in one breast and nothing to do with my period where breast pain is quite normal.

I got very concerned once that it was my heart because it was the left side with sore pain under my armpit, at that time all thoughts was running through my head like could it be glands,heart or just doing too much but in the end i went to hospital just to put my mind at rest. thankfully a blood test,ecg, and one xray later i was told it was all normal but to be on the safe side they referred me to a breast clinic for a mamogram because my breast was still very sore and 2 weeks later was told thats was fine too, however even though that was all good news it still didn t tell me what it was so the worry still stays.

lately my chest aches have returned but im due to see my rheumy in two weeks so i will tell him and report back i also get glands that flare up a lot at the moment they are flaring causing aches all over my body but the docs don t seem to worry about that, but that doesnt stop me worrying ever. its a horrible,confusing decease that sometimes takes over your thoughts everyday.

my A E department were so nice and caring when i went as i kept apologising for wasting there time but they were fine about it all.

[letslaugh63]

ty for replies i should've been a bit clearer i know it's my breast muscle as went back to doctors and asked for examination(1st time doctor never examined).she was very thorough.the muscles and joints are aching in both arms and neck and shoulders and have been since october.breast pain/ ache started monday.i'm concerned because heart is a muscle and will it be next and how would i know

[Redtape]

At my worst, 22 years ago, I ached all over and was extremely weak. I got used to joint pain but the muscle weakness and aching made it impossible to do very much. After a blood test I was told that I had antibodies to muscle tissue. I hadn't heard of this before. Of course my first worry was my heart as I also had chest pain. I was told that the chest pain was pericarditis. I didn't have a specific breast pain. Thankfully, three months of complete rest and Plaquenil made a big difference.

I still worry whether the antibodies caused permanent damage, particularly to my heart, so I don't do any strenuous exercise. I recently had an ECG before an operation and was told I was fine - mind you, I was lying on a bed when I had the ECG not running on a treadmill! Perhaps we worry too much. I never thought I'd last thing long and I must say that my lupus problems are now minor compared with those days.

[letslaugh63 in reply to Redtape]

ty redtape i know i was worried just because so many other things going on don't think i would've noticed heart been affected'my body is adjusting to all sorts like everyone's body does.i guess if/when i'm told what the problem is i will cope even better.i will face anything but it helps when it got a name x