tightness in chest

Belle · Post by **Belle** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 10:37 am

My joint pain started a couple of weeks ago and recently I started having tightness in my chest that travels up to my throat. I only seem to get it when I am lying down. I feel it when I wake up at night to go to the bathroom or first thing in the morning. I went to a rhemotologist a few weeks ago who did a lot of blood work and did not find signs of lupus or rhemetoid arthritis and said the joint pain is just from the colitis. I'm just worried b/c this type of pain feels very scary and I'm wondering if it could be causing long term damage. I plan on starting entecort soon. Can that help for the joint pain. I was trying to acheive remission without medication but the nutritionist I am working with for the SCD diet said she doesn't feel comfortable telling me not to take medication at this point since I have not seen enough progress these last few weeks. I will continue the diet and hopefully be on the medication short term. Should I call the rhemotologist again about the chest pain? I don't believe it is anxiety related b/c I only feel it when I wake up and my body is stiff. I would appreciate your help. Thanks!

hoosier1 · Post by **hoosier1** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 10:40 am

Belle,

I was recently diagnosed with silent reflux that occurs when I sleep. I have many of your symptoms. I wonder if this is what you are experiencing too? It even causes a sore throat that is somewhat chronic. The Zantac seems to be helping however.

Rich

desertrat · Post by **desertrat** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 10:44 am

Belle, for what it is worth, here is a discussion I started on why I felt so horrible in the morning. http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ht=#112823
Tex had a great reply as to why a lot of us feel so bad upon arising in the morning. Hope this helps.
Mandy

Post by **tex** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:02 pm

Belle,

I agree with Rich - that sounds as though it could be a heartburn/acid reflux problem.

The symptoms that you describe are outside the scope of the specialty of rheumatology.

Naturally your dietitian is not going to advise you to disregard a doctor's advice, but that doesn't change anything. Whether or not you choose to use any drug treatment is always your option, and yours alone - it's your body, so it's your decision.

In general, a cortocosteroid can help to suppress pain associated with inflammation. If the pain you are experiencing is due to gas, however, (for example), it probably wouldn't help.

Tex

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:31 pm

Hi Belle,

I can't comment on the chest tightness but I can comment on the joint pain. I can't remember your age but I'm age 50 and prior to MC had a random ache and pain here and there and was kind of on the athletic side. I had 4 month flare with no joint pain. Then I went thru a one month period of the only way to describe it was severe joint pain. I couldn't walk around the grocery store. I couldn't carry my groceries in. I could only walk short distances. The pain was so severe that I didn't even take a tylenol as I didn't think it would take the edge off. Three days in a row I went to the gym and plunged my arms into the "icey cold" pool for the athletes. The "icey cold" pool was ineffective against the severe joint pain. I went on Entocort and within 3 to 4 weeks the severe joint pain was gone. My girlfriend who is a dietitian explained, and this is in layman's terms that the guts take a tremendous amount of nutrients to heal and when the gut is in "healing mode" the limbs suffer thus the joint pain.

Feel free to ask any questions as you get going with Entocort. My last pill was about 4 weeks ago and I'm doing well but find diet is still key. I was on Entocort for 4-1/2 months and had a long, slow gentle taper off. I found the group pretty helpful as I went through the step down periods of the drug.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 3:56 pm

Hi Belle,

I also wanted to give you some encouragement. My 4 week period of intense joint pain was also when I got to "soft serve" after 4 months of D. So weird as it sounds you are moving on towards "healing". I managed to get to "softserve" without drugs. So, hope my former post wasn't discouraging. It sounds like you are making good progress on diet despite the pains. Brandy.

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:36 pm

I will throw in my 2-cents worth. I have had both joint pain and chest pain.

The joint pain always disappears once I go on Entocort and returns once I go off of it.

The chest pain came every 6 months or so once I was Dx'd with MC. I went to ER twice and they didn't have an explanation after doing all the tests. Once I began eating a low-histamine diet, the chest pain disappeared. I haven't had any chest pain for over two years.

The same is true for urinary tract infections, which I used to get 2-3 times a year. I haven't had a UTI in almost two years.

I believe that both the UTIs and the chest pains were due to mast cell issues.

Gloria

Post by **tex** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:56 pm

Gloria wrote:I believe that both the UTIs and the chest pains were due to mast cell issues.

Excellent observation. You may be onto something there - something that we're not likely to ever learn from conventional medical research.

Tex

Belle · Post by **Belle** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 7:19 pm

what is mast cell issues?

Post by **tex** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 7:53 pm