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Undiagnosed thoracic back & chest pain 8 months

Posted , 4 users are following.

jennm
jennm

Hi I'm 32 (woman) and I have had upper/mid back and chest pain for 8 months now. I am currently on modified release tramadol which helps reduce the pain. I have had an X-ray, MRI, tried physio, seen my gp about 8 times, seen two specialists and now been advised they don't know what is causing the pain and referred me to the pain clinic.

The pain is worse in the night and in the morning but it can go on all day. It wakes me up around 3am with a severe crushing sensation from my back to my chest and there is no comfortable position to relieve it. The pain worsens if I try to look down and sometimes sideways. Although the tramadol helps with some of the pain, I still wake up a lot of mornings with pain and aches from my upper back down and into my hips and is painful to move or even just lay in bed. For at least a few hours in the morning I feel very stiff and as though my whole torso is turning to stone. I know it sounds a bit weird and from the puzzled looks I've had from Drs I'm starting to lose hope a bit, but I thought I'd try posting this to see if anyone understands my symptoms. 

Thanks

 

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • tina2U
    tina2U jennm

    Posted

    I have had something similar in past few weeks. Pain in mid back. Hurts more after sleeping. Aching pain and I cant turn to look back or I get more pain. All I can say is I felt a pop sound in that spot a couple weeks ago. I could swear its my bed though. The bed has nast dips in in and goes up where my feet are. regardless it feels scarey never had this type of pain and I have old serious injuries that make more sense to me. This one doesnt.
  • jo91095
    jo91095 jennm

    Posted

    Hi, I'm a 49 yr old female with arthrogryposis.  I had a hip replacement in 09 and lately have been suffering terribly from severe pain in lower back and spine. I've had my mri and am awaiting nerve conduction tests before I go on to surgery. However, like yourselves, I am also getting this other pain like you.  When I wake up in the morning I get this dreadful pain which seems to be "inside" my torso, chest area. It's almost as if somebody has slapped me with a paddle on my chest area but the pain is inside - sounds crazy I know. 

    Also like you it goes from back to front and is extremely painful. I just have to wait it out until the meds take effect.  I haven't mentioned this to my docs, but now there are others out there like me, I might. Thank you for giving me your info.  Ps. I always seem to have a "nagging" feeling at my middle top back, almost like a toothache. 

  • ickihun
    ickihun jennm

    Posted

    Any ideas what the cause was then guys?

    I'm having chest pain pre tramadol and when tramadol is wearing off I'm in a lot more chest/ribcage/back to front aching. I feel I've wrestled with a rhinoceros!

    Seeing a cardiologist to investigate heart disease pains. Due to have a n invasive coronary angiogram next month. We'll see if tramadol side effect making chest pain worse or in fact worse heart disease than my calcium score of 19 predicts.

    Any updates from anyone would be great! smile

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