please help sever middle back pain that radiates around to sternum

Question

i am so scared. i am 7 weeks pregnant with triplets. i have this recurring back pain that is so severe and is ruining my life. it use to only happen once every 3 months and now i am getting attacks, for the last 4 months, every week... sometimes twice a week. it is a dull back pain/pressure that starts in my upper/middle back that starts and about 30 minutes later it radiates around to my chest/sternum and my ribs. it last for 6-10 hours. the only thing that gets rid of the pain is Norco (very strong vicodin) and i need about 3 and even then the pain is there but tolerable. something is really wrong. i went to have 7 MRI's done and they did MRI's and CSF flows of my thorasic spine, cervical and brain. the found a tiny syrinx in my spinal cord at the t7-t8 level but all the top neurosurgeons in beverly hills do not think its the cause of my pain. i saw the best of the best and they all just sent me to accupuncture and physical therapy and said it's probably muscular. however, i've done all this and it is not helping. in fact i'm getting a lot worse. all my exrays and bones are perfect. i can't take the pain killers because of my pregnancy so i am feeling suicidal. i don't know what to do but i can't live in this constant pain with no answers. does anyone have any advice for me? should i go to the mayo clinic? any ideas on what causes my symptoms? can it be my gallbladder or other problems and if so what kind of doctor should i go see?

This discussion is related to severe back and sternum pain.

crambone · Answer

ever think its not muscular skeletal at all,and more like digestive?
could be gallbladder or pancreas.

BrodiesMom · Answer

I just expierenced the same exact episode 2 nights ago. Mine started in the mid-back, radiated around my rib cage, then went to my sternum. My pain was so intense that I had to go to the emergency room (which I have only ever had to do 1 other time in my life for anything pain related problems). They had to give me two doses of Morphine and some other pain medication just so I would be able to lay down long enough to do the MRI. Did you expierence any nausea with your symptoms? I would vomit about every hour. When I was discharged from the hospital, they diagnosed me with "Median Arcruate Ligament Syndrome," although I'm not totally convinced that that is what it is after doing some reading about it on the internet. Everything I have read said that the biggest symptoms are abdominal pain and not eating. I had no abdominal pain (only nausea) and, although that it started at 10:00pm for me, I didn't feel like I wasn't hungry. The pain was so intense that I didn't really even think about eating. I saw that you had posted your message in September of 2008 and I was just wondering if you had found anything out since then. Was it pregnancy related? Have you had anymore episodes? I am very interested in hearing what you have found out.