Chest pain

[Freddie01]

Hi I woke on Wednesday morning with some neck and shoulder pain plus a chest pain. I thought perhaps I had slept funny, the pain in my chest continued Thursday later in the evening I had pain down my right arm. Friday morning I got an appointment to see my doctor, she checked me over and decided to sent me to hospital in am ambulance also done an ecg at the surgery which she said looked fine. At hospital had a further 2 ecg chest X-ray and bloods taken, thankfully everything came back clear and was allowed home. I did explain I have GCA and my adrenal glands not functioning plus my steroids level etc this was noted without any reference. I am still in quite a lot of pain so after rambling my question is should I increase my Steriods for a few days to see if that helps with the pain?

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi,

Glad nothing was found untoward. You could try paracetamol first, and if that helps then it’s probably not your PMR. If that doesn’t work then increasing the Pred for a few days might resolve the situation.

Sometimes it’s difficult to ascertain what pain is what when you get to lower doses, so I would always try a painkiller first unless you’re 100% sure it’s PMR related - you don’t really want to consider Pred as a painkiller per se.

[Freddie01 in reply to DorsetLady]

Hi DorsetLady I tried paracetamol and nothing changed. I also took 2 tramadol which I have for arthritis in my knee and that didn’t help either. Since having GCA I have not experienced pain in my chest and arm before .

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Freddie01]

In that case then it might be wise to increase the Pred, and as PMRpro says take the same dose every day. The alternating doses may help to stimulate the adrenal glands, but for GCA same dose every day is best. And the difference between 4mg and 2mg might not sound much, but it is 50%, and I would guess your body doesn’t like it!

You could try 10mg for a few days to give it a good blast and then if that works, come back down to 6mg or 5mg quite quickly. I’m guessing because you’re doing 4mg one day, 2mg the next you’ve only got 2mg tablets.

Obviously if the increase doesn’t help then you need to seek medical re GCA rather than what you’ve already had tested. Plus if possible try and obtain 1mg tablets, you then have more scope to reduce slower and more consistently. .

[Freddie01 in reply to DorsetLady]

I have a supply of 5mg and 1mg I am travelling to Ireland tomorrow so will bring everything with me just in case, hopefully he pain will ease soon

[PMRpro Ambassador]

What dose are you on at present?

[Freddie01 in reply to PMRpro]

4mg one day and 2mg the next. I take tramadol at night for arthritis in my knee and thought that may help also tried paracetamol.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Freddie01]

You say you told them your adrenal glands aren't functioning - have you had tests to find that out?

And to be honest - 3mg every day would probably be better than 4 and 2 alternating, that is a relatively big change from day to day.

[Freddie01 in reply to PMRpro]

Yes I had the test done early October saw the Endrocology consultant last Monday and agreed the tapering dose. I am travelling to Ireland tomorrow for a few days so to be in the safe side I will bring 5mg and 1mg supplies with me , will try the 3mg daily for the next couple of weeks if the pain lessens . Thanks again for your advice much appreciated

[SheffieldJane]

What a horrible fright Freddie! At least you know that your heart is o.k. It's odd how they just go down one path in the emergency room, in your case heart. They don't really explore what else it might be. I know I've been there. You didn't do any lifting or cleaning that could have strained your tender muscles did you. Sometimes I can trace my odd pains back to something simple like wearing different shoes, or tearing up cardboard boxes ( On-line Christmas shopping). Like the others say, see if regular painkillers ease it and if not maybe a little Pred boost.

My chest and jaw pain was related to an Oesophageal Spasm, I'd never heard of that but it was fierce and a one off.

Get back to the GP if it carries on. Even a sneeze can pull muscles.

[Freddie01 in reply to SheffieldJane]

Hi SheffieldJane

That was my thought did I sleep funny or pull a muscle which is causing pain, agree all tests at the hospital related to my heart and whilst it was good to be told my heart is fine I still have the pain hence me thinking is it part of my GCA condition ?

[Freddie01 in reply to Freddie01]

Roll on the day when this is a distant memory 😊😊