Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group heart or back pain??

I love to ride the bicycle. At least I loved to

I went outside for a ride now, to get my son from kindergarden. I was a bit late, so I pumped up a bit and got really out of breath and with my heart pounding fast.

But when I got off the bike and walked to get him, it was like if my arms had stiffened to the steering position and wouldn't go down again, I had to force the shoulders a bit. And then I got "stabbed" in the upper back by a really bad, deep pain, all the way to my chest. I thought I was having a heart attack and get sick right there in front of all the children!

Now I wonder. Sometimes I've been having those "backstabbing" pains in the night, always in the same place, in my spine, right between the shoulders. Is it the AS trying to inflame another vertebrae?
I am afraid of the heart too. But then it would hurt in the chest also, wouldn't it? What are the symptoms of the complication with the heart one can get with AS?

Sorry if this is a silly post, but I got a bit afraid...



hugs,
Claudia

I remember years ago when I first started getting those back stabbing pains, I didn't think first of heart attack (I was in my mid 30s) I thought for sure I had lung cancer from smoking!!!! I would get them in the middle of the night, this was before my AS DX, was DXed with RA at the time - - and I got so scared I went to my GP and begged for a chest x-ray, which he ordered - - nada, zip, nothing. This symptom periodically came into my life, but has been quiet for the past couple of years, but still get the "front" pain (sternum) and fleetingly wonder if I am having a heart attack but then it's been happening for so many years that if it were a heart problem I would surely know about it by now, have regular EKGs, cholesterol checks, etc., etc..

That being said, heart problems are nothing to fool around with, so best get your heart checked out if you have any question in your mind whatsoever about this, or if it's a truly new symptom.

Cheryl

Dogs love it when you leave your clothes on the floor

Claudia,

When I lay down long enough I get a sharp pain in the middle of my back, pretty much between the shoulder blades, maybe down a little.

For the last 4 years I have only been able to lay down for 2 hours at a time. Then I have to get up and sleep sitting up in a recliner. It scares me how good I can sleep in a recliner now!

The dr. told me that because my spine is curving forward, when I lay down, even on my side, it straightens my spine out more than when I'm sitting or standing and that is what causes the pain.

Hope you can find more relief from it than I have been able to.

Valentine

Hello Cheryl,
thank you for your reply

I have thought a bit about it, and after another "stabbing" yesterday evening, I am pretty sure it's my back. I believe it has to do with some shoulder movement I make (or can't make!).

But I am surely going to tell the doc about it on my next appointment, like you wrote, better safe than sorry...

Claudia

Hello Valentine!
I'm sorry to hear about your sleeping problems, but it's good that you can find some comfort in your recliner.

I don't know if my spine is cruving forward or not. I am waiting for an appointment with a rheumy, and guess he will examine me thoroughly.

But the pain you are describing is pretty much what I'm experiencing, and after giving it some thought yesterday, I believe it's the spine too.

Thank you for your reply!

Claudia

Hi Jade,

I remember the first time I experienced waking up with what I thought was heartburn. I got up and had a glass of milk as I did when I was pregnant. Apart from heartburn when I was pregnant I never really got it. I went back to sleep and woke a couple of hours later...uncomfortable in my chest. I thought a good walk would do the trick. The more I walked the worse I felt. I ended up with a tight, sqeezing discomfort in my chest I had never experienced beforeand breathless. I was convinced I was having a heart attack....or angina...or pleurecy. I went to the doctors that same morning, and in the meantime, put my right arm in an obscure position and it subsided. The doctor told me it wasn't my heart, but was coming from my back and ribs. I was so scared and didn't really believe that it could create that type of pain...so I began to panic every time I felt anything like it again. I kept getting a racing heart on a very regular basis and they ran all types of tests..XRays, ECG's, bloods...I even wore a 24 hour monitor that showed I had a pretty good heart rate etc. They ended up diagnosing me with panic disorder.

Even still I get these wierd chest, racing heart moments, not as often, but a few times a week mostly on waking in the morning, and usually within a few minutes of being out of bed, they go away. Some days are worse than others, and some mornings i'm fine. Whether it is panic disorder or not, I don't know, but I would suspect that if you have muscle tension, rib inflamation and a spine thats inflaming around tonnes of nerve endings, your bound to be breathless and under all that muscle pressure, I suppose more likely to notice your heart beat. I still have very breathless days 3 and a half years later, and like you, I guess I'm still here, so....probably another blessing of AS....

Stay calm is my best advice. The more stressed you get..the worse it seems to get..


Cheers and happy thoughts


Irene

There is always someone worse off than me!

Ah, the "good old" anxiety monster...unfortunately I know the beast too well.
In my early twenties it seroiusly bothered me in every form it could. Panic attacks, general anxiety, phobias - the lot
After some very distressing years I have now managed to keep it under control and can function normally, without any limitations whatsoever.

But I remember very well the feeling of the heart exploding and the bottomless pit of tar spreading throughout the chest. And the real physical pain, the sweating, the trembling...not good...
So, from my own experience I can be fairly sure that the pain in my back is not from anxiety. At least I seem to have to fight one beast at the time....

But you know, from reading american message boards, I have the feeling that your doctors are better to first check if there is anything wrong with your body, and then if nothing is found, to pursue the possible psychological factors.
Here in Norway it seems to be the opposite. If one does not bleed or have an obvious trauma, it's "nothing and it's all in your head and please don't come back". I have the feeling we almost have to fight to get some lab works done, and have to go to the doctor several times to "convince" them that we may be in need of some real attention.
There are also too few doctors in this country, so it's almost impossible to get an appointment fast (under two weeks) or to get enough time with them.

Of course all the doctors are not like this and I'm maybe talking too much from my personal point of view. (I'm trying to be objective, LOL)
But the difference seems quite obvious.
Maybe it's because our medical system is not based on insurances and is free.
No competition makes less service? Or maybe the doctors don't take unnecessary expensive tests because they don't earn money from it? I don't know....

...Oops! Didn't mean to bore you with all this talking, I really got carried away

But thank you for your reply!
Claudia

PS Mornings are always the worst time for anxieties. I think it has to do with hormones combined with expectancies of the starting day.
Morning pain/stifness/anxiety coctails...!!

Hi..

I can relate..

Irene.. that's exactly what they said about me too.. panic attacks.. The first episode that started me on the whole ordeal of searching out what was really wrong with me began with this "out of the blue" chest pain.. I was out shopping and it just kept getting more and more intense.. I thought I was having a heart attack.. Shortness of breath, tingling hands, nausea... I thought to myself.. Can't anyone see I'm having a problem here??? I thought I was going to fall out in the floor.. I asked a clerk where I could sit down.. waited a few moments, then drove myself to the ER... Of course they admitted me, gave me nitro (which helped) and scheduled me for echocardiogram followed by a catherrization.. All came back normal.. Cardiologist said my heart was in excellent conditon... must be panic attacks. At followup appt, my GP told me that since I had been complaining of fatique and night sweats and these other problems.. she thought I was clinically depressed so she prescribed Zoloft. (She never considered the incidences of neck pain, knee pain and back pain I had also described over the past two years as being connected and part of the whole picture).. When she said she thought I was just depressed... that REALLY depressed me..

What changed her mind and finally convinced her was the next time I had this weird chest pain... I went to her office, she did EKG which show low voltage (Ive read this is a symptom of AS) and she sent me back to cardiologist..I went through the second catherization (normal results again).. but.. this still didn't explain why I was still having chest pains and had a high sed rate.. so she sent me to a rheumatologist...YEA!!!... finally I got a correct diagnois that explained all the symptoms I had been experiencing for the past two years..

On a side note... I am still debating whether or not to write the cardiologist a letter stating what a jerk he was... he wanted to see me after the second catherization as a followup. He had me get on the threadmill and after no more than two minutes, he stopped me due to my blood pressure and pulse shooting off the scale.. He had me sit down and said the following... Mrs. Mattox.. I only have two things to say to you.. 1) You are grossly overweight and 2) You are grossly out-of-shape. If you want to be a couch potato, that's your choice.. . I tried to tell him that I was in pain and could not walk.. That I was in the process of finding out if I had a autoimmune disease and HE CUT ME OFF... He said.. WELL... if you want to chase autoimmune disease...go ahead.. but you are in a downward spiral and it's up to you to change.. It's going to take exercise and diet... Now let's see you back in a few weeks.. HA!

My GP was furious at the treatment I received from him.. She apologized for him.. After seeing my Xrays and finally getting a correct DX... I want to go back and smack him between the eyes..

Thank the Lord I have a good doctor who understands and is helping me now.. I have found that you have to be your own advocate and keep seeking answers when you know there is something wrong.. Doctors are not gods.. and you must take some responsibilty in getting good health care.. If you know you are not getting the right answer.. go find another doctor..

Blessings to you all.

Love, Peace and Joy
Denise

Hi Jade

The pains you describe are identical to the ones I had about 14 months ago. I was out the back of the house chipping a golf ball, when next thing "Bang". The most horendous pain from my spine to the sternum which actually immobilised my arms, I just couldn't move them or the pain would return.

I contemplated a visit to the Doctor but what stopped me was that I had suffered a similar pain about 20 years ago and I attended the Doc and ended up in hospital and treated for a Collapsed Lung. That was not a very nice experience, lying there and watching a Doctor make a incision in your chest and then ramming a tube through the hole into the chest cavity. Makes me cringe thinking about it.

To get back to the story, the pain settled over the next couple of days but I still had a lot of discomfort when moving my arms, this lasted for about six weeks and then at last back to some sort of normality.

About three months later, it was a nice autumn day and I decided, I'll try the golf again, so out into the garden threw down a ball, took up the stance, chipped the ball and Bang (Broke a window) just joking, the pain was back, the upper body basically immobilised again.

So needless to say golf is out the window.

However it is absolutely brilliant to discover that the probibilities are that it was the AS and not a collapsed lung that caused the pain so thanks Jade for posting your poser.

I love this site

Ken