Health/Body Question
Health question for you!
Since I was maybe 8 or 9, I've gotten a painful sensation periodically (sometimes 2-3x/week, sometimes ~3x/year.) It's a combination of a mid-back cramp and a stomach cramp JUST beneath my sternum. It grows in intensity for maybe three minutes, crests, and then dissipates fairly quickly. I have to stop what I'm doing most of the time and really breathe through it, OR lay flat on my back on the FLOOR--not a bed--with arms and legs outstretched to stretch that cramping muscle out. So it's basically a cramp in my diaphragm. I can't figure out what makes it more frequent or not, but I have been getting them 2-3x/week since I moved. I've WebMD'ed it, I've Googled it, I can't figure out a) WHAT it is, b) if anyone else on the planet has experienced this, or c) how to reduce its frequency.
Naturopaths, doctors, other know-it-alls: what is my problem? Even better, what is my solution?
25/MN and WA. Queer, veg, single, AP mama to DD2.5.
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sounds like a panic attack. Are you a fainter? I am! When I get too stressed or scared (more commonly in a medical situation, but it has happened at other times) I get a vasovagal attack and I pass out. Basically, the muscles around the vagus nerve (which runs from the head to the abdomen, and which controls a lot of autonomic responses like hearbeat and breathing) constrict so much that the nerve kinda, you know, falls asleep. I get this "whoosh" sound, starting at the back of my head and coming around to the front, along with darkening of vision, right before I pass out.
Well, all on my own, I figured out that if I was on the verge of passing out and I did some yoga breathing and mindfully relaxed the muscles that were constricting the nerve, I would NOT pass out. I also recognized that if the area around my sternum spends too much time clenched and hardened, I am MORE likely to pass out (even though I am clenching up because I am stressed and unconsciously trying to protect myself--)
I have found, over the years, that being under a lot of pressure (recent move, much?) or unrelenting stress can make me more susceptible to vasovagal episodes. The good news is that it's not fatal (although you could get hurt from falling down when you pass out). The bad news is that it's hereditary (my kids both have this problem). I think that just mindfully trying to relieve stress (hot salt bath, massage, yoga) is the best bet for not getting into a vasovagal problem to begin with, but that's me.
Anyway, here's an article--see if it fits--but it's worth talking to a doctor about, IMHO. http://heartdisease.about.com/lw/Health-Medicine/Childrens-Health/Vasova...
"Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius"--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
This is mysterious? When someone presents with this kind of pain conventional medicine would divide it into three main areas, cardiac, gastric or muscularskeletal. The range of time that this has happened over makes it highly unlikely to be anything cardiac or gastric that needs further investigation. Signs to look out for associated with this pain in this area include breathlesness, weight loss, heart burn, puking blood;any of these things need immediate investigation. It sounds like it could literally be what you describe; cramp in the diaphragm. Cramp is caused by temporarily reduced blood suppply and the diaphragm is a common place for this to happen, this is the definition of a stitch. You could just be especially vulnerable to this. Is it ever exercise induced or associated with certain positions?
Take care
meds
While your age onset and the length of the attacks doesn't match with my experience the intensity of the pain and the location sound right.
that's what I thought of immediately too. Mostly because I had a girlfriend that had a gall bladder that she had to have removed. But I don't really know, am not anywhere NEAR a medical doctor. I hope you figure it out soon, Creatress!!!
Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough. -- Emily Dickinson
You want to do what you think is right and what matters to you, and if other people don't like it, as my father would have said, they can go fuck themselves. -- Amy Bloom
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You know, I've only fainted once in my life. And if I ignore this sensation, it will go away on its own, but it takes longer than if I breathe deeply and/or lie down. It may well be stress-induced, or something like that, otherwise I don't know why it would happen so much more here. Or maybe it's some mineral in the water, or maybe there's something in the air here....bah. So wierd. I'm not a hypochondriac, but if I were, it would be great fodder for being convinced of my impending death.