A Health Question

I'm on the run today, but wanted to ask if anyone else has had similar problems. I've had a lot of pain in my right breast for a couple of weeks now. One day last week I was in a store and thought it was a heart attack. I could barely breathe. But hubby (well-trained in paramedic-level first aid) took all my vitals and continues to take them, and it's clear that it's not a heart problem. But the pain is increasing, keeping me awake at nights. Last night it was so painful everytime I moved, that at one point I couldn't even get out of bed to use the bathroom, until I figured out a way to move by using my arm as a sort of sling. If I had to put a description on the pain, it feels like a sprained ankle. which makes me think it's more muscular than anything serious. It might even be simple gravity! (But I do have a mammogram booked for early January just to be sure).

I vaguely remember my Mom having similar problems years ago, so much so that she had to wear a bra to bed at night. So maybe it's a genetic thing.

But I just thought I'd check and see if other menopausal women have experienced this sort of thing. I hate to go to the doctor (can't get in before the cruise anyway) if it's just a muscle thing - and she won't do anything until the mammogram anyway.

Eagle, there are so many things that it could be. It sounds inflammatory. Can you feel your chest wall beneath your breast? As you said this could be muscular. Does it hurt when you move your arm in various positions? Just trying to see if its the breast itself or muscular. I was plagued with costochondritis in the 80's and 90's particularly. It did indeed feel like a heart attack. I would find I could inflate my chest with a breath just so far before a very painful"catch." Also it would ease slightly if I sat forward. That is chest wall pain. I only got relief from prednisone, unfortunately. Just throwing all these thoughts out to you.

Thanks Ladyjane. I can't make it hurt, in that I can't move one way or another and make it hurt. I can make a movement and feel nothing, then make the same movement a few moments later and the pain explodes like a firecracker. I sat in the hairdresser's chair for over an hour this morning, no pain. When I went to stand up, the pain took my breath away. It's difficult to determine if it's the chest or the breast - it's definitely manifesting itself through the breast, but echoing through the chest and radiating into the back.

But my BP, heartrate, colour, energy level, everything else is perfect - I can race up two flights of stairs with no difficulty, not even shortage of breath. Which makes it look more muscular. My hairdresser had a similar thing once, lasted for over a week, and found out it was gas! So I'll try some rolaids and see if that helps. Hubby offered to make me a sling (a "boulder holder") - that might help too!

I guess I was just wondering if there are common phsyiological changes during menopause that would include muscular aches in the breast.

Eagle have you picked up anything really heavy lately? Or moved in a sudden unusual way? It could come from a clamped nerve in the back shoulder area. I had that, and it felt like a heart attack. I got a shot from the doctor to relax muscles...what a relief that was. I couldn't get rid of it by myself. Hope you feel better soon.

Anne, could you feel the cysts? I don't feel anything unusual. No lumps, everything seems normal in that regard. But I did call the breast screening program this morning, and they're going to try to get me in this week or next, just to check it out. But it feels more like a sprain...is there such a thing as a sprained breast?

I know that there are those who will advise you to see your physician immediately.....

....but I say, give it time. I look at other forums for 'midlife' women and they do seem to be a hypochndriac bunch. Every itch, pain, ache, bump, and swelling, sends them off to the doctor for a battery of tests. I think this is a media driven case of over-paranoia.

At this time of changing life our bodies become sometimes unfamailiar--after all these years of living in them. We panic. We translate into whatever the disease of the moment is. Whatever vitamin deficiency, weight problem, BMI index, eating/smoking/drinking/ study has come out in the last few years and figure we are the poster girls for the latest disease and its' symptoms, paying for earlier transgressions committed years ago.

I would tell you to relax. Do you generaly feel well? Are you generally in good spirits and good humor and good health? Is this a symptom that bothers you constantly day in and day out, causing you to change your daily habits because of discomfort? If not, wait some time to see if it passes.

Women going through midlife hormonal imbalance suffer a world of woes, most of them non-life threatening. But the changes are so marked from our previous existance, we see every skipped heartbeat as an aneurism on our doorstep. Health paranoia in older women is common as dirt.

Accept the anxieties and aches and pains as part of the getting older bargain. Your body may become an unknown being. You will settle into the differences with time.

If you feel a tumor the size of a pumpkin growing in your abdomen, definitely get thee to a physician. If you think your knee is blown, it probably is.

But don't get too excited about the little irritating stuff. It all goes with aging.

I think older women should mellow out and not panic at signs of body changing as an oncoming disease. Parts just wear out and change.

Mrs_Madness, This is pretty much exactly what my doctor would tell me. She's the same age as I am, and we're going through much the same sort of thing at the same time.

I'm not overly concerned - I do feel healthier than ever before in my life, good energy levels, relatively good spirits, etc. The only thing it is affecting is my sleep - the pain has been keeping me awake for the past two nights. But maybe my hubby's sling idea will help tonight!

I just brought it here to get reassurance that it is a normal part of getting older, as you said, the body changing - literally overnight - into something I don't even recognize anymore.

I appreciate your humour...helps to know others have made it through intact, albeit perhaps somewhat rearranged here and there...

Just a side explanation, the reason the screening program is being extra cautious is that my Mom's family is full of breast cancer. That has made me, my doctor and the program not unduly paranoid, but cautiously vigilant - I've been flagged by the system, and they want to investigate any change even if its minor.

But I'm confident it's nothing more than a sprained muscle. It was worth checking out here, just to get confirmation that it's a normal part of aging. This is my first major twinge.

Eagle this may sound too symplistic but that happened to me a few times too many, and still will if I have too much gasey stuff. It feels just like it must be a heart attack, I can barely move, breathing hurts and when it happens it lasts a long time, hours even. Gas can mimic a heart attack until is passes. Now, before eating or drinking anything that can cause gas, I take a tiny over the counter pill called BEANO, all natural and it really works...I hope thats all it is for you too...

Anne, I'm so glad they were harmless! What about the tumor - even if it was harmless, does that mean you have to get rechecked often?

Anne, I was going to wait to post this, but I did go for a mammogram this morning. I'm supposed to call them whenever a change occurs, even if seemingly minor. So I called yesterday, told them there were no lumps, only muscular pain, and they insisted on checking it out. Well, the pain is in the left breast, but they found "something unusual" (their words) in the right one. If the MMG shows anything, they'll call be back on Monday. I'm SURE it's just fibroids and refuse to worry about it any further unless I have to.

Quote (ms madness): "the getting older bargain" - WHAT?
LOL - Did I fail to read this in the fine print?

EH, it does sound very much like a pulled muscle. I have the urge to agree with Hannelore. Can you find the meridians traveling through the point of your pain and have your hubby do some accupressure on the appropriate points, if you can't reach them?
It could be a referred pain (never heard of it in a chest muscle, but I haven't heard everything, for sure). Can you better describe the pain... is it sharp, dull, shocking, pulsing, etc.? Can you better describe it's location?

Good for you Eagle. I wouldn't worry either. I really don't think the pain in the chest and "something unusual" are related. I am loaded with unusual somethings and now have to go every six months for an ultrasound.