help please chest and shoulder back pain

I TOO WAS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS WHICH STARTED WHEN I WAS 19, (IM NOW 26) THE FIRST TIME I THOUGHT I WAS HAVING A HEART ATTACK REALLY SEVERE PAINS AROUND AND BELOW THE CHEST AREA WHICH SENT SHOOTING PAINS UP MY BACK AND SHOULDERS AND EVEN IN MY THROAT. I REALLY CANT EXPLAIN HOW PAINFUL THIS WAS. I WENT TO A & E AND THEY KEPT ME IN AND GAVE ME MORPHINE WHICH STILL DIDNT HELP TOO MUCH. THEY TOLD ME IT WAS MUCLE SPASMS, THE SECOND TIME IN A & E THEY TOLD ME PLURACY, THE THIRD TIME THEY TOLD ME COSTACONDRITUS (NOT SURE IF SPELLED CORRECTLY). THE LAST TIME I HAD IT (2 DAYS AGO) I WOKE UP ABOUT 2AM CRYING IN PAIN AND PUNCHING MY BEDROOM FLOOR CURLED UP IN A BALL, WENT TO A&E THEY KEPT ME IN AND TOLD ME IT WAS GASTRO OESOPHAGEAL REFLUX DISEASE AND GAVE ME OMEPRAZOLE. AFTER READING THE SYMPTOMS IT SEEMED THAT THEY WERE FINALLY RIGHT BUT IM WAITING NOW TO HAVE A ENDOSCOPY.

Hi, I suggest you see a Doctor straight away to rule out unlikely serious conditions before taking any advice off me or any of the many sufferers of GERD on here, however, that said, you may be (and it sounds very much like) oesophagal spasm which does create seemingly very serious chest pains, especially over the left shoulder (in my case) and under and through the chest, feeling much like a heart attack! I'm 47 now and started suffering from my condition some 5 years ago, and I'm on 40mg Omeprazol now after numerous CT scans, endoscopy, blood tests, cancer tests, x-rays, and visits to two consultants. I sometimes get a break from my symptons, but these breaks come out of the blue, and seemingly whenever they like!

Try a dose of Gaviscon liquid, it may calm things down after a time. (I ended up in a coronary ward once and they sorted me with this!)

Good luck, hope to hear back from you feeling better!

Cheers!

Hi there, I've had reflux for 4 years now. It started after the birth of my second child and effects my life every day. But I have got the pain down to a more manageable level and here's how.

Loose weight. Very Important even if your only a little overweight.

Dont wear tight clothes across your stomach and chest(bras).

Eat boiled rice and pureed food ( I eat baby food some of its yummy, some of its yukky) when having attacks. Avoid fat and fatty meat like the plague. Fat will cause attacks and pain - even a small amount of butter on bread.

Dont drink with meals have a glass in between. No fizzy or sugary drinks, weak tea and water only.

Dont eat after 5p.m. Eat meat at breakfast and lunch times only, and small portions.

After a meal try to swallow, to push the acid and food down. Suck a sweet, but only one after a meal. Cut down on sugar.

Take a probiotic. Avoid dairy products. No cheese. BOO!

If you usually sleep on one side start sleeping on the other. Force yourself to do this it is very important to stop the same area being burnt by the acid.

Go to bed with a dry empty stomach, no food 3 hrs before no water 2 hours, but take a large dose of gaviscon when retiring.

Dont take tablets with water before going to bed, do it earlier.

Dont lie down for 3 hours after food, try to sit up right. Good posture is very important. Raise the level of the head of your bed six inches. put blocks underneath. this will help gravity keep the acid down.

Place a hot water bottle, as hot as possible on your back when having an attack, sit as still as possible, try to watch telly and force yourself to relax. Movement will increase muscle spasm.

Take pain killers. Dont suffer. I take 45 mg of codeine and 1000mg of paracetamol when having an attack. This is alot. BUT reflux is a serious condition, and very painful.

Women with the condition will often find it worse in the weak before their period. Be espacially careful during that week.

Keep a food diary, very detailed, include everything you put in your stomach, look our for things that trigger attacks. Including stress, which increases stomach acid.

Finally and most importantly see a Doctor and get refered to a hospital. There are several life threatening conditions that need to be ruled out.

Found your post very interesting - I too find my symptoms are worse in the week before my period - thought I was imagining it! Or had strange PMT! What medication, if any, are you taking? Your experiences seem very similar to mine. I have posted before and am currently waiting for an endoscopy. The specialist nurse at the hospital seemed very surprised that I was still getting mild symptoms on 40mg of Protium. Also she seemed surprised that I was only 41. My GP thinks I might have a hiatus hernia (I had twins 8 years ago) but the nurse was more interested in a bout of gastroenteritis I had 18 months ago! This is why I find this site very reassuring - there are people who are having the same symptoms as me who have had similar experiences. Sorry to waffle on and thanks for the food suggestions.:rainbow:

:?: After twisting myself shopping, of all things, I began to suffer discomfort in my chest/breastbone area, and a feeling of being full, or that food was stuck in a lump at the bottom of my oesophagus. I had a tender spot/area at the end of my lower left rib where it meets the sternum.

I was prescribed Omeprazloe, had an endoscopy, ultra sound, and scan, all with negative results, and told i had Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and gastric ruflux problem, and offered usual medication.

This continued for two years with no improvement whatsoever.

I too tried soft, mashed and liquidised food, no change. A complete change of diet, with no improvement, and little or no more help from the medical proffession.

I suffered a vicious attack of bloating and the pain increased. It increased the pain and radiated into my upper arms, and burned like hell.

I could not walk further than fifteen feet beforethe pain started.

The GPs offered me more Omeprazole, no change.

I decided to try one last effort to get to the bottom of it, and booked an appointment with a Physiotherapist, I was not convinced it was not muscular.

Giving the symptoms I was immediatly diagnosed as having a muscle badly stuck under my left shoulder blade, which was attached/related to the costochondrotial (hope I spell it right) joint that attached my ribs to the sternum. The twisting had caused the shoulder muscle to 'stick' and was pulling the rib/sternum cartilage every time I increased my breathing rate, even by just walking. Twenty minutes of hard manipulation on the back muscle freed this, released the pressure on the rib/sternum cartilage, and removed the problem. I was given instructions on how to stretch myself if it returned.

Two years of the other stuff, numerous prescriptions, and hospital visits, and procedures was fixed in twenty minutes for a small sum of money.

It may not be for you, but give it a thought, you have nothing to lose.

Hi

UIf ony of you smoke and your getting pains in your shoulder (either shoulder) Have any of you considered it might be COPD ?

But this usally is caused only by smoking :?

X Danniee

I have been suffering spradic attacks of severe chest pain that lasts around three to five days. On the first day the pain starts in the middle of my chest and is not a burning pain so much as a severe throbbing/stabbing sharp pain. It radiates across the left side of my chest and into my left shoulder. Sleeping is impossible but the more active I am the more severe the throbbing pain. After a day or two of the severe chest pain the pain seems to radiate up my throat as I end up with severe earache. After having every cardiac and lung test in the world and ruled out other problems I was finally diagnosed as having a hiatus hernia and given omeprazole to control my reflux which seemed to help. Doctors still seem to be slightly baffled by why the pain is so bad and are not convinced the earache is linked but it happens everytime I have an episode so to me the correlation is clear.

I am well within normal weight range and have a very good diet so really at a loss as to why I suffered such an extreme and debilitating condition when for many people GERD is simply 'heartburn'