Upper Back Pain During Sleeping

[shurgo62]

Since my youth I have had the odd episode of a cramp-like feeling across my upper back/shoulders when lying down in bed. Eventually put in down to stomach acid. Over the last year had an ongoing upset stomach which the GP has down as acid issues which I take tablets for. Associated pains in lower abdomen he outs down to IBS. An endoscopy two years ago didn't pick up anything and a recent investigation inot my failing voice and confirmed accute laryngitis caused by ongoing silent acid reflux (which as the name suggest, I am not aware of).

The pain across my back is now getting worse, waking me up after several hours of sleep and happening on a nightly basis now. Often associated with tender glands in neck and under jaw. If I sit up it eventually goes,and it doesn't bother me during a normal day - just when I sleep.

GP give me a short trial of valium to see if that made a difference (thinking it my be stress/muscle tension related) but the tablets just made me feel sick. Concerned that the cause may be something sinister, yet GP has done lots of blood tests and reckons I'm okay.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, from anyone.

[shurgo62]

Many thanks for your detailed answer. Given that I have an ongoing stomach acid problem, I am hoping it is related to that and nothing more serious. My gp is now organising an abdominal CT scan to confirm/eliminate more serious possibilities.

Thanks again for your time.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
If you are involved in any job or work that uses your neck and strains it a lot like a computer job or fine machinery work etc, then the localized muscle cramps could be due to muscle strain. Good neck exercises to relieve muscle strain will help. It can also be due to a pinched cervical spinal nerve. Hence if neck exercises and warm heat pad does not help, then you need to consult a neurologist.
Other possibilities that should be looked into are heart problems, gall bladder issues, liver dysfunction, pancreatic problems and duodenal ulcer. Since you have reflux, it can also be hiatal hernia, Crohn’s, celiac, any food intolerance or IBS. Consult a gastroenterologist (a specialist who looks after the diseases of our digestive system) for further investigations (apart from endoscoy) to rule out these issues including liver, gallbladder and pancreatic function. It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage.  Take care!