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Severe back pain only when lying down

Posted , 100 users are following.

rebecca204
rebecca204

Hi,

I am enquiring about a problem i have been experiencing with my back over the last couple of weeks.

Whenever i lay on my back in bed i get severe pain in the lower right side of my back and i have to take shallow breathes because it hurts too much to take full breathes. Depending on how i lie in bed depends on whereabouts its hurts and how painful it is. For example, if i lay on flat on my back or my left side, my lower left side of my back is extremely painful, if i lay on my right side the pain is not as bad but also moves in the right side of my abdomen and if i lay on my front the pain eases a small amount.

I dont get pain during the day when moving around and my general breathing is not affected, sometimes i do feel a 'twinge' if i yawn or take a deep breathe. I also go to the gym 3 times a week and its doesnt hurt during the workout. It literally only hurts when i lie in bed. It also doesnt hurt to the touch.

I know its not a pulled muscle from the gym as that would hurt constantly, but i feel my doctor would try and fob it off as that.

My current job is office based so i do spend many hours sat down during the day, but i exercise regularly throughout the week.

I have used anti-inflammetries and deep heat sprays and creams, which seem to ease it when i first go to bed but by half way through the night, i move in bed and its as painful as before.

What could be causing this pain?

9 likes, 136 replies

136 Replies

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  • marksback
    marksback

    Posted

    Hello,

    I have a similar pain. It has been several years. When I lie down the pain is severe in my mid back between my spine and oblique muscle. When I get up from a flat position the pain can be so severe I have dropped to my knees. I have learned just the right way to stand up after lying down to avoid the pain. Once I am upright the pain will go away (just a few minutes) and I will be perfectly fine the entire day.

    I have had both Xrays and MRIs with a diagnosis of Arthritis in my 9th and 10th vertebrae. I went through physical therapy and was told I will need to learn to live with the pain.

    I have started to feel pain in my leg when sitting for a long period of time. This is very concerning to me.

    I am not ready to give up. I am considering Acupuncture. Has anyone found an answer to this pain.

    • liz35900
      liz35900 marksback

      Posted

      Yes I have exactly the same symptoms, terrible pain trying to get out of bed in the morning, I used to have to crawl upstairs on all fours. Couldnt sit on an ordinary chair. Suffered about 6 years of this, x-ray showed arthritis. About 6 months ago I discovered  my bed was the problem, had tried all sorts, memory foam, air, very firm, soft. etc.  After a couple of sleeps on a clapped out old sagging sofa, found much improvement, cut a long story short I have now bought a fully adjustable bed, wish I had done so earlier. i can now sleep all night, get out of it easily and even touch my toes in the morning and getting better. it has the knee break so my legs are bent and raised, i have the head part raised so I am lying in a U shape, its like floating on a cloud, I have a pocket spring mattress on it. I really cant lie on a flat bed any more. I was due to try acupuncture but have cancelled it, I dont even do the excercises that I used to have to do any more. You could just try lying on one of these beds in a store, see how it feels.  We spend a third of our lives in bed, no wonder it damages our backs when placed under strain on a flat surface.
    • Patfl
      Patfl liz35900

      Posted

      I have been experiencing this symptoms for 1 week now and I found if I sleep seatting up I don't have any pain but if I lay flat the pain gets so intense I can't even breath.

    • carole57474
      carole57474 Patfl

      Posted

      My pain is in my left upper ribs and back.  I'm okay when sitting, walking but lying down is painful especially if  I try to turn over.  I think I pulled something exercising or it may have been when I was cutting the hedges.  I just ant it to go away.  Naproxen has been known to upset my stomach. 

  • Stobban
    Stobban

    Posted

    Hi,

    All the above discussions seem to agree that the pain is severe and comes on with pressure on certain parts of the body and too, anti-inflammatories do give some relief. I would hazard a guess and say it seems like changes in the skeletal frame. More to do incorporating the spine which, as you all know, is a devil of a culprit in a lot of painful medical cases.

    In the end, if overly concerned, consult a doctor in that field,

    Hope relief is near bye for you all.....................................Ron.

  • gary04565
    gary04565 rebecca204

    Posted

    I am getting this pain aswell. It started on Easter Sunday and was really bad lying down and sitting up - man overhung between the two was agony. Then it calmed down and I thought it was going away. It was still painful but not as bad. Now it's Thursday and in the day it's completely fine but tues night and Wednesday nights sleep I have woken up in agony. I slept fine the first two nights with it but now as it's almost gone in the day it's terrible when I wake in the morning. I've woke in pain every 3/4hrs the past 2 nights. Now Im

    starting to dread going to bed. The doc fobbed me off with muscular pain or pulling some muscle that sits by the rib cage and when we breathe it moves... My arguement. Why only through the night when I'm lying down? I also use the gym 3/4 days a weekend it doesn't feel like muscular pain. Don't know what to do sad 

  • robinbks
    robinbks rebecca204

    Posted

    Hi, Me too. My pain is mostly in my ribcage or under it, im not sure. It feels pretty good all day as I move around and I can bend in any direction, touch my toes etc, but when I go to sleep I have to sleep on my left side. If I accidentally roll over onto my back I wake up in severe pain. It hurts from my upper right back around to the front and their is a stabbing pain in my right side. It begins to hurt when I take a breath and I end up sitting up and trying to breathe through it. Eventually it calms down but I have not had one decent nights sleep in three weeks. I've had an abdominal ultrasound, an x-ray of my ribs and spine, function tests on my liver, pancreas and gall bladder, and still nothing. I know the doctor doesn't believe me.  She pressed in all kinds of places and made me move this way and that. All painless. But this happens every night and it's severe. I'm lucky to get 4 hrs sleep. She first gave me tylenol 3 with codeine and then didn't renew it and now has me taking tramadol 50 mg. The tylenol was better. Neither of them get me through the night unless I never move from my left side. 
    • amy30084
      amy30084 robinbks

      Posted

      I have been having the same exact pain and mine only goes away after i have been up and moving around about an hour after i get up in the morning. It only happens at night it almost paralyzes me. I cant move until i mentally get ready for it other wise im just stuck in whatever position im in. Ive had x rays, hydascans, blood work, im scared to go to chiropractor cause i dont even want my back to be touched(afraid of what i will feel that night after). it sounds like mri is next. I wish something could be diagnosed so i dont have to live like this anymore. Every night im scared to go to sleep, literally scared cause i know what is going to happen after a couple of hours. Weird thing is i can take an hour nap during the day and be fine but anymore than that and its pain all over again. hate it sad

       

    • davidjohn
      davidjohn amy30084

      Posted

      This sounds the exact same symptoms I have had. Talk about scared to go to sleep. I started with acupuncture yesterday ending with a massage. Holy Hell the massage hurt. The small Asian lady was literally on top of my back and I had to ask her to stop. Like others I have had renal ultrasounds, blood tests and even a bone scan to rule out cancer. All clear. It seems no one has an answer. The only thing is that a similar thing happened after a ski trip to Canada 2 years ago after where I fell on my bum going very slowly and hit some ice (probably the only ice in the whole of Big White) and it jarred by lower back. It did take months to get better and I found the only help was plenty of brisk walking and light jogging. THis time is a bit more difficult as I have a stress fracture in my left knee that hasnt healed properly. Walking is Ok but running it a no go. I will see how the acupuncture and massage goes I guess. I just hate going to bed even when exhausted.!!!!!
    • kathryn52994
      kathryn52994 robinbks

      Posted

      I have a diagnosis of an autoimmune nasty called Behcets, which causes random inflamation, and at times its attacked both nerves and muscles, causing spasm, which is excruciating and wakes me in the night - Ive done everything for pain relief from gabapentin,  tramadol, codeine, buprenorphrine ibuprofen, you name it, even cherry brandy from aldi's!  what I find has helped is a memory foam mattress topper, a hot water bottle and or an electric blanket, amytriptylline in small dose at bedtime to knock nerve pain out, and a good old tens machine (like expectant mums use). Ok Im still stiff as a board in the mornings, but hydrotherpay, acupuncture, and now a gym ball and exercises from my physio are slowly helping to mobilise my very damaged rheumatoid and osteo arthritic back.  good luck
    • teri_1856
      teri_1856 robinbks

      Posted

      I discovered this site by googling pain in my upper back only when I lay down on my back. I looked at several comments and yours related the most to mine except my pain is on my left side. Did you ever figure out what was causing your pain?
    • jai1812
      jai1812 robinbks

      Posted

      Hi Robin, My wife has the exact problem as your. Have you found any medication or therapy yet, if you have, please share details. 
    • emily77581
      emily77581 amy30084

      Posted

      I have been having the exact same thing happen since July. Wondering if you had that MRI or have found anything out about the pain you've been dealing with.

    • drew00389
      drew00389 davidjohn

      Posted

      I get this back sensitivity pain wirth pressure to my back, but not when lying on my sides. Is that correct?
    • sharon36804
      sharon36804 amy30084

      Posted

      Hi Amy, i know this is from 4 years ago but i have being suffering for the past 6 years , your symptoms caught me, with paralysed up on waking and through the night and easing as you move around as the day goes on only to repeat every night, i went through dr's fobbing me off and looking at me like i had 2 heads, i finally got diagnosed with Fibromyalgia 3 years ago ! But i had other symptoms too wrist pain , knee pain on /off shoulder pain sometimes difficulty with speach and memory , I didt have an MRI though and something is telling me now i should as i feel it could be more than Fybro , for me in the morning's it may seem weird but if i get up by alarm clocks i can get straight up with no spasms or paralysed but the ache is still there , but if there is no alarm im done for😣! It could also be something to do with my sleep patterns , i would love a lie-on with out the pain but i can only dream of that 😴i had to give up college after a year and a half with the pain as i was studying to be a hair stylist and make up artist , it was getting unbearable to stand for short times and colouring or drying hair , but i have 3 boys and a wonderful partner that supports me , i am not a person that gives up at the first hurdle but the pain has got me after this 6th year , i will be going back for more tests to see if anything has changed and get an MRI in a couple of day , sorry if i gone on a bit , this is my first time on a forum online , as i said your symptoms seemed very much like mine , thanks for your time,

      Sharon

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