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Respiratory Disorders (Expert Forum)
Ribcage pain/ diaphragm pain with deep breathing upon waking
Answered by
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Ribcage pain/ diaphragm pain with deep breathing upon waking
by annie36, Jul 27, 2005 12:00AM
had this pain for years.Every morning when waking it is very painful to deep breathe,ribcage hurts to touch from breastbone all the way around to last ribs in my back. pain is directly under my ribcage as well, as if to be my diaphragm with noticable pain upper left side near breast bone area. I feel as if i cannot get a full complete breath.I also have a bloated stomache with these symtoms.It feels as if my lung capacity is diminished somewhat in the mornings until I do some deepbreathing ,i'll deep breathe for a while until the pain seems to subside, the bloating usually goes down later in the day, diaphragm pain subsides to a dull ache in the upper left side, but my ribs still hurt to touch.Would a broken rib(leftside back area) 15 years ago(1990) cause these problems? I also had a traditonal c-section (1988 )I noticed these problems about a year after these occured.My doctor says I'm fine, I've had a bone scan, chest xrays, kidney ultrsound, we can't seem to find an answer.If i'm fine why am I in pain everyday of mylife? I have anxiety around bedtime, because I know i'll wakeup to the pain...I don't want anymore antidepressants or sleeping meds...can you give some information? I appreciate your help!
Doctor's Answer
by National Jewish, Aug 07, 2005 12:00AM
, Aug 07, 2005 12:00AM
A pain that worsens with breathing, but is always in the same area of the chest, can be due to either a problem in the:
· muscles, including the ribs, the cartilage, or the nerves that go to the muscles; or
· pleura, that is the lining of the inner chest wall and the lungs.
If your chest is sore when touched at the area where you feel the pain, it is almost certainly muscular. If your chest is not sore when touched at the area where you feel the pain, it is probably coming from irritation of the pleura or a nerve that runs along the lower edge of the ribs, called the intercostal nerves (intercostal neuritis). The chest x-ray will be fine with any of these problems. I suggest you ask your doctor for a referral to an anesthesiologist who specializes in the treatment and control of chronic pain. It may be possible to reduce your pain with some type of nerve block.
· muscles, including the ribs, the cartilage, or the nerves that go to the muscles; or
· pleura, that is the lining of the inner chest wall and the lungs.
If your chest is sore when touched at the area where you feel the pain, it is almost certainly muscular. If your chest is not sore when touched at the area where you feel the pain, it is probably coming from irritation of the pleura or a nerve that runs along the lower edge of the ribs, called the intercostal nerves (intercostal neuritis). The chest x-ray will be fine with any of these problems. I suggest you ask your doctor for a referral to an anesthesiologist who specializes in the treatment and control of chronic pain. It may be possible to reduce your pain with some type of nerve block.
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I have had these exact pains in the morning for 18 months now. I was a smoker also have a cough and a little sputum. I sometimes get the pain after excersize. I think my lungs have enlarged (hyperinflation) and they my diaphragm pushes down on my lower ribs! I can see my stomach being forced out when I breathe deeply!
I have pain on the left and try to sleep on my right, it seems to help. I have had all the lung tests incl bronchoscopy, CT and PFT. They couldnt find anything. One Pulmo said it could be spleen problems, I have lost some weight and its not as bad.
Iwould be interested to hear how you get on with this elusive problem.
Bye for now,
E.
I will be watching this thread to see how it is answered. I wish you and eros both good luck.
jg
is this dangeruos ?
and how dangerous can it be ?
This is my first time posting on a site, but I am just baffeled. About 2 weeks ago, and out of nowhere, I started having upper back/rib pain during sleep. If I want to turn over in the night it is horribly painful. It keeps getting worse night after night. Now in the night, I have spasms on the right side of my ribcage in front. Generally after I am awake for a few hours, and I take an anti-inflammatory, I begin to feel better. It is excruciating in the morning. I can't bend, lean, or sit up straight. I have seen a medical doctor, and today a chiropractor...both baffled. I feel a little tired, and my chest hurts a tiny bit when I breath...Any Suggestions??
Thanks in advance for any help...
my symptoms:
when I wake up, my pain is maximum when I pull my shoulders down (and slightly back). another interesting thing - if i take a deep breath and hold my breath and move shoulders down - much less pain! chest pain diminishes exponentially fast after I wake up and get going. seems like the 'epicenter' is just barely to the left of dead center of chest/sterenum, also - in the back mostly i feel it on the inside-top part of my left shoulder blade I think - but deeep inside - not surface. when i wake up - EVERY morning - if I move my left shoulder gently back and forth - it makes aweful cracking noises - but not from the shoulder joint - from the same deep inside poistion of the entire shoulder. but then goes away during the day. I also have some form of sciatica in right hip. comes and goes. can manage it well by yoga and general conciousness now. also occsaional neck stiffness in the back right side. lately - I also get pain in my mid back muscles on both sides!
I do NOT have diaphragm pain though unlike original post.
went to a doc few months ago - she made me feel like I was lying. terrible feeling. wtf! then went to my primary doc 2 wks ago - she was as baffled. xray (not bone, but below the ribs xray) was fine. my lungs she said sound incredible. put me on neproxin - its the end of 2nd week now - no major change, just maybe a little less intense.
a friend mentioned something about - i forget the name - some form of arthritis of the ribs/chest?... my doc said that's usually an infection and wouldnt last months.
chiro - no change. changed mattress - nothing. got the swedish neck pillow - did not change chest pain but I must say it has done wonders to my neck stiffness and pain!!
here's some more data points, maybe something will jibe somewhere to someone...
- fairly balanced diet, drink max 2 coffees and 1 soda (if at all) a day, maybe 3-4 alc drinks a week (weekend casual beers and a drink here and there during the week)
- desk job
- have extremely flexible body otherwise.
- play electric guitar (7 lbs weight)
- age 40, decent ht,wt balance.
- I do yoga daily and swim and light weights 3 times a wk
- no history of acid reflux, heart issues
- i did develop some form of asthma called cough ashtma over last 2 yrs. when i get a cold - goes quickly to my lungs and gets congested real bad. so now I take (like my daughter) pulmicort puffs every night during winter months starting about now.
About one year ago I took a flanking pain in my lower left side radiating to my back. While having this pain I found it difficult to get complete breaths, sometimes becoming breathless if I over exerted myself.
Upon many tests for pancreatitis nothing showed up.Then a chest xray ruled out any complications there. But still the shortness of breath worried me. I might add that I had no problem jumping on a bike and cycling up hills for long distances with only heavy breathing which one would expect.
The doctor eventually said it was inflamation (inflammation) muscular or cartilage .But I cannot help myself with worry that it may be something else. The breathing improves but at time gets worse when I try to take deep breaths but not all the time this happens. Idont have a cough but sometimes i have to clear my throat to force up clear phlegm
I myself was worried it might be emphazema as i use to smoke but give them up.Any one else shed light on this or im I just to accept that it is what my doctor says.
21 years old david from texas.
My father is a Dr. and after about six months of this,I told him about it and I had an x-ray. The only reason I waited is because I was convinced and still am really that it's muscular. I figured it would just run it's course. The x-ray was normal. I do also sometimes have some dull pain on my right side when I sleep on my right side that's just in my waist area. None of this pain is particularly debilitating and I rarely feel it during the day whether I'm standing, walking, or sitting. This is another reason for not looking into it more thoroughly. I feel much better knowing you all have basically the same symptoms and all tests have been negative (because at this point I have started to imagine all types of serious disorders.)
But what the heck is this? I have a check-up scheduled for Dec. 6th so I'll probably go through a bunch of tests for this as well just to rule other things out.
This started for me this past Monday. If symptoms persist into mid next week i will post details of situation. I must say that some of the posts indicating that problem
has been running for six months or more than a year are frightening to me. This is no fun.
Like many of you when I awaken with pain and unable to breathe deeply I get up and walk around and things seem to stabilize. I then can go back to sleep for a couple of hours before awakening again with pain. One night it was so bad I had to get what sleep I could seated in a chair with a large pillow propped aginst the wall.
For the most past I feel fine during the day.
Here is my idea. I am surprised that the intense pain and breathing difficulty will usually subside with 30 minutes of standing and or sitting.
What if we were to sleep in a more vertical position, I dont mean sitting upright in bed.
I've tried that with propped pillows, does'nt seem to work. But what if you were to literally set up a sleeping platform (plywood with a cushion on it) at an approx. 120 to 145 degree angle. I know that may sound nuts but I don't think I could live with this for as long as some of you have. Don't really know anything about them but has anyone tried a Craftmatic adjustable bed?
Good luck to all and God Bless.
1. Sleep about 4-5 hours (no particular position)
2. Wake up with pains in ribcage/back area
3. Try to turn over, and sharp pain in ribcage
4. Take whatever medication is available (haha)
5. Lay down for about 30 min, and try NOT to lay on your back
6. Feels like sharp pains from the lower back up to your shoulder blade
7. Fall back to sleep
8. Wake up in the morning, and stand, get in the shower, and sure enough, pain is gone...until that night sleep comes again.
As another person wrote, I'm glad to hear that it's nothing "serious", but I guess it would be nice to know if there is a name for this.
I'm 37, non-smoker, social drinker, don't exercise often, but consider myself fairly healthy. What is causing this? For you that have been to the doctors, they say it's nothing "serious", but did they tell you what may be causing it?
I am a 46 year old female with alot of the same symptoms as other posters. My left side pain has come and gone over the course of about 2 years. But since January of 2005, I have had it constantly. I have been diagnosed with diverticulitis, acid reflux, hiatal hernia in recent years. I had my gall bladder out 5 years ago laparoscopically. I had a gallstone the size of a walnut with the shell on. Since January, I have had "gallbladder" like attacks that last for about 2 hours. The pain I experience is in the area surrounding my belly button including to the left of it and it goes up under my ribcage and around my back and under my arm and over my shoulder. At times it feels like someone has a stick wedged between my ribs in the side and back. I feel nauseous most of the time. The area around my heart aches as well. When I do the simplest things I feel as if I ran a marathon. I have extreme fatigue especially in the early afternoon and can barely keep my eyes open. I've been to several doctors including 2 gastro's,2 gen, pract, a cardiac specialist where he did a angiogram 2 years ago and said there were no blockages, an endocrinologists who says I also have Graves' disease (hyperthyroidism). My pulse is always fast (around 110) I am not type 2 diabetic but my insulin level is 3 times the level it should be. I've had 2 endoscopes, 1 colonoscopy,several ct scans, an MRCP and the only thing they can come up with is I have GERD,and divertiulosis. But the pain isn't in my stomach. It is in my leftside!!!Mid to upper leftside.Diverticulitis is said to be found in the "lower left quadrant"The pain is so intense at times. On a scale of 1-10 I'd definitely give it 9+. I've been given Lortab and Levsin. Neither one helps the pain but Lortab gives me a dull headache. I don't want to mask the pain. I want to find out what the dang problem is so I can get it FIXED! The last gastro doc I went to gave me a prescription for ANTI-DEPRESSANTS! I tore up the prescription when I got home I was sooooooo ANGRY! I haven't been back to a doctor since and that was last JUNE. My insurance coverage is gone because my husband lost his job last year and hasn't found work+insurance yet. All the medical estabishment is, is a BIG FAT **** SHOOT!. If you look up something on the internet and bring it to them to ask questions they get all pissed off. I have found a couple of things on the internet. My cousin is 44 and has major heart problems. She had her first heartattack at 27. she's had 2 bypass surgeries. She's also been diabetic since the age of 6. Anyway when I describe my pain to her she said it sounded like pericarditis. I have high insulin levels as well and can't lose weight. I need to lose 45 pounds and I exercise EVERY day. I think my pancreas is involved because the pain is in that general location, plus my insulin levels are too high. My first doctor thought I had pancreatitis when I first went in for medical treatment 2 years ago. There is a condition called "insulinoma" where your pancreas produces too much insulin. The symptoms are, weight gain, abdominal pain etc. Look it up. But it is hard to diagnose. I am so frustrated at the medical profession right now I could spit. Right now I have no way of finding out if my suspicions are correct because of the issue of not having insurance. I don't want to put my family in a financial disaster. We're close enough all ready. Another doctor I went to thought my body was still making gall stones even though I don't have a gall bladder anymore. He said that you can have biliary sludge come through and try to pass and it can produce the same symptoms as a gall bladder attack. I also found out on the internet that 30% of people who have had their gallbladder out laparoscopically can have their bile ducts damaged by the surgery itself. If this is the case with me I sure as heck don't want to go through the rest of my life living with such pain. I'm sorry to ramble on but when I saw this sight I felt so relieved because I knew I wasn't alone in my pain and that it wasn't in my head. Thanks for reading.