Fibromyalgia

I have been having chest pain for quite some time now.  For the past 2 weeks it comes & goes.  It is worse sometimes (it varies from day to day) when I eat, when I exercise, when I get too stressed, when I get hot & when I lie down.  It is like a sharp nagging pain in the middle of my rib cage sometimes lasting more than a few minutes.   I have always also had problems with shortness of breath & dizziness.  I am also tired all the time.  Its weird because it is like it is deep below my sternum.  No tenderness to the touch or anything like that.  What worries me however is about 5 days ago I went to sleep.  Of course, I was having my normal chest pain when I lie down &  then I finally went to sleep.  All of a sudden in the middle of the night I started getting I guess what you would call palpitations (my heart was beating so fast to the point it literally felt like my heart was going to explode & come out of my chest----this was the first time I had had this & the worst feeling I had ever had in my life).  I also got extremely short of breath & I guess what you would call hot flushes & dizziness as if I was just going to pass out.  I did not do anything though.  I just laid there in shock & waited (it took it a while) & tried to breathe in & out slowly until it had passed.

I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia by 2 Rhuematologists.  However, I also just found out one month ago that I have Antiphospholipid Syndrome.  I am still having more testing.  I also feel like (even though the doctor tested me for SSA & SSB & ANA antibodies & they were negative) that I have Sjogrens Syndrome (I have it in my family).

Could this chest problem be caused by Fibromyalgia?  Should I see a Cardiologist for this?

[LLWB]

Yes, a lot of people with fibro experience this. You are right, it is very unplesant and scary! The last time I experienced it a couple of weeks ago, I jerked awake, thinking something was coming at me...it was my ceiling fanblades rotating. My heart rate was around 150 almost too fast to count, and very paniky feeling. I almost called 911, but waited, and finally drifted back to sleep. I have had fibro for many years, and symptoms like this seem to come and go in cycles. If you keep experiencing them, tell your primary dr, and see if he recommends a cardio checkup. Better safe than not. Just because you have fibro, doesn't mean other things can't go wrong. Good luck, and try to relax thru it, stress makes it worse

[heart2heart]

Are you sure what you described isn't a "night terror"?  I had that a month ago, I woke up screaming in the middle of the night, I felt like something was closing in on me, like I was buried alive...I woke up with my heart racing and screaming. Scared the dickens out of my husband!  lol   These are night terrors. They may be due to stress, of course if you have fibro, you're under a lot of constant stress!

Pamee, just to ease your mind, why don't you have a heart check up? I did - it really eased my mind knowing I don't have heart disease. To start they can give you a 24 hr Holter test- you wear a little device that measures your heart beat and if you feel any irregularily you push a button and its recorded. Its totally painless. Thats the good news, most heart tests are painless- so I would ask your dr. Good luck. !