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- May 20, 2010
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I have a few postural issues (lordosis and kyphosis) that give me a lot of tension in my lower back, chest (sternum) and lower rib cage.
I have been doing a routine that stretches these tight areas and strengthens the looser muscles (rear delts, abs).
Yesterday shortly after training I had serious chest pain, especially on my left side. I was really nervous, since I am on tren and had taken stimulants earlier that day, I was thinking I might be having heart attack (I had just read Maldorf's entire heart attack thread earlier that day, the entire thing!). Then I started getting bad anxiety about what was happening, so it may have worsened since I was essentially having a panic attack after already feeling symptoms of a heart attack, which both have the same symptoms.
I chewed up a Xanax to calm me down and reduce some tension (since it is a CNS depressant, it loosens muscles like a muscle relaxer by acting on the nerves in the muscle). Since the pain was on my left side, I was very concerned.
It felt like I had serious pressure right dead center of my sternum, but pain on the left side just like a heart attack. I was seriously considering taking a trip to the emergency room, but I was not light headed at all, had no trouble breathing, and I checked my BP and HR... both readings were fine, they didn't indicate any issue.
After about 30 minutes my Xanax was in full effect and the pain had subsided on its own.
I did some research and came up with a condition called Costochondritis. It is basically inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the sternum. After reading that it had very similar symptoms to a heart attack, especially because of the pain being on the left side, I was 99% sure that is what was happening.
Because of my posture issues, my stretching and pushing movements in general, I have mild pain and tension around my sternum and ribs almost all of the time, especially lately since I am doing a routine to correct the imbalances that are causing it..... but I was still freaked out when it was happening.
I have also been doing prone rows on a high bench with no pad, which really stresses my sternum and cartilage of my rib cage when using heavy weight, since I am essentially pushing my whole rib cage into a hard surface by pulling heavy weight up towards my body.
Following the description of it from websites, it said which ribs are most painful in typical situations, and by pressing on those ribs myself, I confirmed that it was the exact same ones the website said are most affected by costochondritis.
This morning those exact ribs are very sore as if I got hit there with a hammer. It is a huge relief because it doesn't feel like my heart at all, I am now 100% it is the cartilage between my ribs and sternum.
Before anyone thinks I am an idiot for not going immediately to the ER.....
I have been told that going to the ER for any chest pain that isn't accompanied by breathing issues or feeling light headed pisses off the doctors and wastes their time, so I didn't want to go there with a false alarm. I am 30 years old and don't abuse AAS, been cycling on and off for ten years and have good family history with heart attacks. If I was having any issues beyond pressure of the heart and pain to the left side (such as breathing issues, tingling/numbness of left arm, or BP & HR out of range) I would not have hesitated to dial 911 or drive 15 minutes to the nearest ER myself.
Has anyone else had this before? I thought I would mention it because it is yet another strange thing that causes symptoms similar to a heart attack.
I have been doing a routine that stretches these tight areas and strengthens the looser muscles (rear delts, abs).
Yesterday shortly after training I had serious chest pain, especially on my left side. I was really nervous, since I am on tren and had taken stimulants earlier that day, I was thinking I might be having heart attack (I had just read Maldorf's entire heart attack thread earlier that day, the entire thing!). Then I started getting bad anxiety about what was happening, so it may have worsened since I was essentially having a panic attack after already feeling symptoms of a heart attack, which both have the same symptoms.
I chewed up a Xanax to calm me down and reduce some tension (since it is a CNS depressant, it loosens muscles like a muscle relaxer by acting on the nerves in the muscle). Since the pain was on my left side, I was very concerned.
It felt like I had serious pressure right dead center of my sternum, but pain on the left side just like a heart attack. I was seriously considering taking a trip to the emergency room, but I was not light headed at all, had no trouble breathing, and I checked my BP and HR... both readings were fine, they didn't indicate any issue.
After about 30 minutes my Xanax was in full effect and the pain had subsided on its own.
I did some research and came up with a condition called Costochondritis. It is basically inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the sternum. After reading that it had very similar symptoms to a heart attack, especially because of the pain being on the left side, I was 99% sure that is what was happening.
Because of my posture issues, my stretching and pushing movements in general, I have mild pain and tension around my sternum and ribs almost all of the time, especially lately since I am doing a routine to correct the imbalances that are causing it..... but I was still freaked out when it was happening.
I have also been doing prone rows on a high bench with no pad, which really stresses my sternum and cartilage of my rib cage when using heavy weight, since I am essentially pushing my whole rib cage into a hard surface by pulling heavy weight up towards my body.
Following the description of it from websites, it said which ribs are most painful in typical situations, and by pressing on those ribs myself, I confirmed that it was the exact same ones the website said are most affected by costochondritis.
This morning those exact ribs are very sore as if I got hit there with a hammer. It is a huge relief because it doesn't feel like my heart at all, I am now 100% it is the cartilage between my ribs and sternum.
Before anyone thinks I am an idiot for not going immediately to the ER.....
I have been told that going to the ER for any chest pain that isn't accompanied by breathing issues or feeling light headed pisses off the doctors and wastes their time, so I didn't want to go there with a false alarm. I am 30 years old and don't abuse AAS, been cycling on and off for ten years and have good family history with heart attacks. If I was having any issues beyond pressure of the heart and pain to the left side (such as breathing issues, tingling/numbness of left arm, or BP & HR out of range) I would not have hesitated to dial 911 or drive 15 minutes to the nearest ER myself.
Has anyone else had this before? I thought I would mention it because it is yet another strange thing that causes symptoms similar to a heart attack.
