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Left side pain when lying horizontally
Hello all,
Long story short, on the advice of my pulmonologist I went to the ER last Friday for a chest CT due to pain (heaviness/pressure) inside my left ribs. After 36 hours and very numerous tests, including two CTs, ECG, treadmill stress test with echocardiogram, xray, blood tests, etc., there was no diagnosis.
This pain or pressure only presents itself when I’m lying flat, either on my back or my stomach. After 15-20 minutes, it feels like an elephant is sitting on my left side ribs! Something (gravity?) changes when I move from vertical to horizontal that triggers this acute heaviness. The CTs apparently did not show any fluid in the lungs that might be the culprit. There has been no trauma to the area.
What are we missing? Have any of you experienced a similar problem?
Thanks in advance for your insights!
Tom
74 years old
Combined PF and Emphysema
Diagnosed in 2020, symptoms for a few years prior
FVC – 75%
DLCO – 40% -
6 Replies
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Hi Thomas, have you been screened for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)? Did doctors do an EKG when you went into the ER? Sounds more like a heart problem than a lung problem to me. I’m not a doctor so take it with a grain of salt, but that’s my guess.
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Hi Christie,
Yes, I had all the heart tests including ECG (EKG), Echo, treadmill, and CT. All checked out fine.
Tom
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Huh, well I am no help then, sorry. I hope you get some answers soon. It can be scary to not know what’s going on.
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Hi Thomas I have that still after they put in 3 heart stent did they do test to see if you have any blockages
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Hi Thomas
I have had an excellent GP over a period of more than 30 years. On a number of occasions I have suffered from pains in my ribcage, even at the front side which came and went depending on my position. I was concerned about something serious causing it but they were resolved by a tweak to a vertebrae. Turns out a pinched nerve was causing pain at a non-obvious location.
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Thank you all for your responses. I’ll do some more digging!
Tom
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