sternum pain and shortness of breath

naomi · Silver Member Joined: 21 Oct 2000 Posts: 232

Hello. I'm 46 year old male and one thing started to worry me a lot. I have a long family history of high blood pressure and cardiac diseases and that’s why I'm avoiding usage of salt or to drink a lot of fluids. So far, I was controlling it good.
But, just recently in the middle of the night I experienced strange and scary shortness of breath. I woke up, drunk a glass of water and I was good. In the morning I also felt this strong pain behind my sternum. Are these symptoms worrying to you? What should I do? I'm feeling good right now with no present symptoms!

bognar · Newbie Joined: 07 Jun 2005 Posts: 18

Well, I don’t know what to tell you- visiting a doctor is always good thing to do. There are many possible causes of chest pain and most common is angina, pain caused by tightened blood vessels on the heart. Mild heart attack could also produce the same symptoms you felt that night.
There are also some non-cardiac causes such as fractures, contusions of the chest wall and possible muscle strains.
This is much more likely to involve muscles attached to the rib cage then many others.
You should definitely pay a visit to your doctor. He will determine the right cause and prescribe you appropriate medications!

sternum pain and shortness of breath

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