Pain In Heart Only While Lying On Left Side or Back

I know this question was asked 8 years ago but hopefully I can help someone with this happening now. I recently had this same thing. I had what felt at first like a tightening heart of lung pain on the left side when lying in bed. In the beginning, it only happened in the mornings. Then, as the months passed, it go so much worse that it was happening the second I got into bed at night! I thought maybe it was my dogs who cuddle up close with me at night. I thought they were throwing my body off somehow. Then, I started to think bad things about heart disease and cancer.

Of course, it was none of that.

I did my research online and found no one really had a real answer. Most doctors ran the whole gamut of tests. Awesome for them. Not for YOUR wallet, though. I never saw anyone mention soft-tissue (aka muscle) issues.

Well, one night, my husband was giving me a massage and he said my shoulder blades were "locked", meaning they did not have the range of motion they typically do and it were as if they had been FUSED in place. This is NOT normal.

He worked hard and after a lot of pain on my side, he released the muscles that had caused my shoulder blades (scapula) to lock up.

I had always kind of wondered if it could have been something muscular in my back that was causing the pain in the front left side. Well...

When I awakened that next morning, ZERO PAIN and no pain since! It was a muscular issue that MASSAGE FIXED in one 45-minute session.

Perhaps those of you with this left side chest pain issue have the same thing going on? It's worth a shot to a massage therapist. Here, they charge about $60 to $70 for an hour. Describe the pains you're experiencing and s/he just may be very able to help you!

I was shocked when my husband said my shoulder blades were locked. I knew my back had muscular issues but not THAT bad! It seems doctors never know ANYTHING about muscular issues, imbalances, and so much more. They want to prescribe pills and do unnecessary surgeries (especially on shoulders!)

Just thought I'd share. I hope this helps someone as much as it helped me. FINALLY sleep is comfortable and enjoyable again!

GOOD LUCK!

Hi am 27 years old male, I Have left side chest paid last one week, slightly left arm pain also. but i dont i have any breathing problem i am not weak from this but i have slitly chest pain from left chest and arm. please give me suggestion.

Pericarditis is what I was diagnosed with.

I have the same problem, on my left side of my chest my heart hurts, a sharp pain. It's hard to breathe and my theighs get numb too, this only happens in the middle of the night and wakes me up. I'm 17 and I'm healthy for the most part. I'm 5'3" and 100 pounds. I do have sickle cell trait but I doubt it has anything to do with this.

Hi dlsmith10, I to have had this problem for a while, I really only notice it when i lay on my left side, the sharp stabbing pain shoots right through my heart then my mytro valve kicks in. I finally come to realize that I believe its from the stomach acid in the esophagus causing inflammation. What I have found to help with this for the time being is Raw aloe I drink this before bed and throughout the day and that seems to help with the inflammation. I will be getting a test done in a few weeks its a called a stool analysis with parasitology from great plains lab. This will tell the doctor how my digestion system is working and if i have a over growth of bacteria, yeast, enzymes you name it it will show it. Been down the path with PPI's and all that stuff and all I get is bad side effects, My knew doctor wants to find the problem not cover it up with medicine. I believe all gut issues are caused by over growth of yeast, or fungus or bacteria, but sadly not enough doctors are trained to look deeper. A good probiotics would be good to take. Also for getting an IGG test done to see if you have sensitivities to foods is another step, I never knew till i had this that i can't have gluten or dairy or sugar, this test showed I have high levels of candida.... I hope this helps, don't stop looking for answers you know your body better than anyone and if it don't feel right than you no their is something wrong. try and find a holistic doctor like a DO they seem to want to get to the bottom of it. good luck and God Bless. Kim

 You may have this to a lesser or more sever extant.  I had pneumonia a little over a month ago and one day after not sleeping for days and days I woke up after taking what was not a smart amount of various medications to help me sleep and help my symptoms. Well, I slept but I woke up with the feeling I had been shot through and through from under my left rib cage and out the back. I feared that I damaged my liver and was so embarrassed I didn't go see anyone and lived in agony and off of left over pain killers for a good week or so. I couldn't lay on my front or back without it making it worse, when I ate right after each swallow it hurt really bad, I felt bloated right under my rib cage, and was easily out of breath. At times it felt like I was having a heart attack. I finally went in after being out of pain meds and the doc was really concerned. They did blood work and that was all find, so no worries about liver or gallbladder so she was concerned I had a pulmonary embolism but I had no other symptoms related to that. Still, she wanted a catscan to be sure but I wasn't about to pay for that. So I went home and did TONS of research. I came to the conclusion I had developed GERD. So I went and bought some over the counter 150 strength generic zantac to find out if that was my ailment. Sure enough after two days of taking it twice a day my symptoms pretty much went away. I stopped taking it to make sure I wasn't just better and it was a coincidence and yep after a day it came back. I called my Doc and she agreed (my thought is why didn't she realize this!?!?) So I started back up on a prescrip of same med and have been on it for the past week and pretty much prob free. If I forget to take my night dose I know because I start coughing which is another symptom because the acid is irritating your throat. I go take it and in about 30 min stop coughing. I hope this reaches and helps everyone scared to death by these symptoms like I was. It is a pretty cheap test to see if this is your issue without paying for all the other tests. HOWEVER! If you have a change in your stool like some people have said tarry looking or bloody GO TO THE DOCTOR because that is not GERD, that would likely be a peptic ulcer or something else similar which can be an emergency.

I am a female. 53 years of age and I have experienced the same problem for about 2 years now....It use to be once in a while but now it's every time i lay on my back, either in bed or reclined on my sofa,,,My pain is in my back and shoots through my chest around my heart and it's so bad now that it wakes me up while I sleep or causing me to sit straight up while I'm reclined..I have had test, ekg, blood work , physicals and everything comes back ok...My worry is that my grandfather died from a massive heart attack, my father died from a massive heart attack when he was my age and my brother has had two open heart surgeries in the last 20 years and he is only one year older than me..

i am having a sharp pain in my chest and why i lay on my left or my right it hurts in more i just started it woke me up for a dead sleep and i had to puke i don't know what wrong with me!!!

I had the same problem for many many many years. I finally went to the doctor and had every test done on me only to find nothing wrong. The doctor said that everything was normal. I then tried to eliminate things from my diet the first thing I eliminated was Soft drinks, specifically coke. To my amazement i no longer have that problem anymore.  Stop drinking  soft drinks and your problem will go away. If you don't drink soft drinks then it's something in your diet that you consume everyday.

I am 12 going on 13 female and I have been experiencing the same thing for about 2 years now. I only sleep on my right side now, but it sometimes hurts on my right side. Should I talk to docter about this?

Same thing for me, so I researched and found the answer, which was confirmed by a heart ultrasound and cardiac CT scan:  radiation induced pericarditis

If anyone has had radiation treatments for breast cancer, Hodgkin's Lymphoma or anything in the vicinity of your heart, you need to start seeing a cardiologists for regular checkups ASAP.  My treatment was 20 years ago and long-term effects of radiation weren't well known (or at least well publicized).The pressure I felt on my heart when I lied on my back was due to a "crunchy heart sack."  Basically, your hearts resides inside a flexible, protective sack, but radiation to the sack turns it hard and rigid.  It's a serious condition for some people, but those people will likely know something is wrong inside of five years after treatment.  For people like me, it causes discomfort and does, somewhat, limit physical activity due to the heart not being able to expand / pump blood during rigorous activity.  I already knew that I had a physical activity "ceiling" and was quite worried about it, so discovering this diagnoses was actually a relief for me.

Nonetheless, radiation can cause many more problems for the heart and most don't rear their ugly, life-threatening heads until years after treatment.  If you have had radiation treatment to your chest, please educate yourself ASAP.  And if your are currently considering treatment, research your options.  I was quick to agree with my doctors to pretty much nuke my chest to eliminate the Hodgkin's, but much more could've been done (even in 1993) to limit the scope and strength of my treatments.Hodgkin's / radiation at age 21.  First heart attack at age 37; emergency stent placement.  Second heart stent placed at age 39.  Radiation-induced pericarditis diagnosis at age 40.  I'm now 41.This is serious, and you can't count on your family doctors and radiologists to inform you of the risks -- much less even know about them.  Unfortunately, the same can be said of some cardiologists as well, so trust no one and do your own research.

 

I have been experiencing these pains when laying in my left side or back for about 3 years. I began going through testing. I have had: bloods, endoscopy, ekgs(multiple), 24 hr Halter monitor, carotid ultrasound, stress test, echocardiogram, calcium scan, heart ultrasound,chest x-rays... all have come back ok... I am barely able to sleep at all. If any of you figure out whats wrong want to let me know?

I have same issue when i try to sleep on my left side then i feel pain on my heart. kindly any one can give suggestion or advise for this

Hey, I'm 17 and I have had this sharp needle lik pain in the left side of my chest, my blood and ekg's came up normal. When I lay down and attempt to get up, this pain comes about on the left side near my heart. It really hurts and I'm worried at a young age...what to do?

Chest pain when I sleep with my lower torso higher than my head.

I excersice every day and have a lot of energy. What is the problem?