Shortness of breath and shoulder blade pain and massive fear of lung cancer

[j2]

I am a long time sufferer of HA. For the last several months I have been having near constant but varying levels of pain along my left shoulder blade. I have also been having shortness of breath. I still exercise by running and other cardio and have not had any major problems with doing that. I keep getting this feeling though that I can't get enough air. The pain in my shoulder blade isn't made worse with a deep breath but does hurt when I move my chin towards my chest. From my years of googling I know that shortness of breath and shoulder blade pain can be a symptom of lung cancer. I don't google any more but the damage is done. I am completely freaking out, I feel like I am going to jump out of my skin. My wife is done with hearing about my fears. I can't control them and I would really like to hear what you guys think. For what it is worth, I am 40, male, non-smoker but I grew up in a house with 2 heavy smokers and not on meds. This is more than I can take right now. I keep looking at my 4 kids and thinking they are not going to have a daddy. Thanks to anyone that reads this.

J2

[macc noodle]

I am sure that you do not have lung cancer - it is quite rare in a non smoker of age 40.

I get shortness of breath and shoulder pain when I am anxious and whilst I am not suggesting that you should ignore your symptoms, I think you may well find that it is another manifestation of your anxieties.

Strange that you should align these symptoms to lung cancer from something you once read - since I put mine down to ovarian cancer and then went and asked my doctor what she thought !!!! Needless to say she had a really good laugh at me :D

It sounds muscular as well if it is affected by moving your chin towards your chest.

Go get a check up and put your mind at rest.

[j2]

Thanks for the reply. Still having the same pain today and noticed that the lung on that side feels congested when I put my hands on my chest and take a deep breath. This has been going on for months and I feel like I am going to have to go to the dr and he is going to tell me I am dying. I wish I could just turn off my mind.

[JMR]

Hi J2...
Not sure if you read my reply to your thread re: blue, cold fingers...? I typed quite a long reply & it includes some details of my experiences of similiar symptoms to the ones you described in that post & of the symptoms you mention in this post. I have been suffering intermittently since May 2011 with tightness/soreness around my shoulder blades & ribs, with a real struggle at times to take a deep enough breath to satisfy, which results in me feeling really debilitated and a sense of air hunger & panic. It is not there constantly, but when it occurs it can last for several days & it is more sore on my right side at the bottom of my ribs...feels as though I have a rod pushed through from my front to back (that sounds crazy but is the only way I can describe it) with the soreness of a pulled muscle? I have had the same concerns as you with regard to the cause of symptoms...lung cancer: although I've never smoked, I have been subjected to passive smoking in my in-laws home, they are both heavy smokers & although I've tried to limit my visits & exposure to the smoke, my Mum-in-law is now dying with pancreatic cancer (still trying to smoke when she can!!) & of course I need to visit much more often. Therefore I worry about the harm from the smoke to my husband & myself. Then of course, the pancreatic cancer issue has crossed my own mind, worrying about the pain in my upper back/shoulder blade etc...but I think that I am absorbing the stress of my mother-in-law's illness, (my friend also lost her hubby to the same disease 5yrs ago) and 'internalising' symptoms. I have been having some chiropractic treatment which I feel has helped me a lot & getting out & about for some walks in the fresh air. My GP's don't seem too concerned about my symptoms so I take some reassurance from that, until the breathing issue returns and I feel so down about it! Like You, I also take comfort from the fact that I have stamina to exercise regularly on treadmill and brisk walking, and would surely not be able to continue if we had the diseases we fear? Let me know how you are getting on. :)

[j2]

Thanks for the post and I wish I knew how to ease your pain from all the stress in your life. My dad slowly died over a couple of years and I know how hard that is. I went for a short but high intensity run last night and I didn't have any shortness of breath or chest pain. I am still feeling that congestion in my left lung and the pain around my left shoulder blade. I finally told my wife about this latest round of fears and she did her best to hear me out. I rarely talk to her about this so when I do she knows I am really freaking out. She wants me to go to the Dr but I am resisting for now since I know (or think) that he is simply going to either dismiss my concerns or send me for tests. I will end up waiting several days for results and the wait will put me over the edge. I am feeling a bit more focused today so I am going to wait and see if the pain goes away or abates a bit and try to get to the treadmill again today. Anyway, I hope we all feel better.

[JMR]

Hallo Again..
Wow! You sound so like me...I resist going to the drs until I get so wound up and worried about a whole load of symptoms, then I fear waiting for results over any blood tests I may need to have! Last time I went to see Dr (2wks ago) he didn't feel that I needed to have any blood tests at all, and that reassured me a lot. He also listened to my lungs/chest, heard all my concerns & then told me that if I could manage to walk briskly for half hour & use the treadmill regularly then I didn't really need to worry about breathing & associated issues. I felt reassured for days, but my doubts are starting to creep in again especially with the circulation in my hands (Raynauds?) & the tightness around my ribs again. I try not to mention too much to my poor husband lately as of course he has a lot to deal with right now with the fact that his Mum is dying. But I am terrible when I start freaking out & I then start mentioning every little symptom & linking it all to some really bad disease. I think that I can attribute quite a lot of my HA to losing my Dad to cancer when I was 18, after he had been ill for around 4 yrs.
I do find this NMP site great for it's help & support between other sufferers & I am finding that walking, exercising & keeping busy is helping me to stay 'distracted' from anxiety. I'm NOT googling!! Strength & support :)

[cstarlee]

Hi I'm active and I do smoke but not very much and I too get the same tightness in my chest and lower ribs. Sometimes I get Sharp pains in my sternum I don't know what it could be I only thought it was a panic attack since I usually have pain in my chest but I wasn't having a panic attack what does this mean please help

---------- Post added at 15:46 ---------- Previous post was at 15:44 ----------

I'm only scared now cause I lost my grandma to lung cancer and I'm trying to stop smoking but I'm scared i might be to late

[RLR]

Okay, I've read your posting and complaint. Summarily, I see nothing among your symptoms that would suggest the presence of lung cancer. The description of pain along the left scapulae, or "shoulder blade," is actually far more consistent with rhomboid spasm, which is one of the most common musculoskeletal complaints presenting to orthopedists and is the consequence of muscle tension associated with significant stress and anxiety. The sensation of shortness of breath is actually the consequence of both shallow breathing habits and muscular tension of the diaphragmatic muscles which are responsible for achieving inspiration, together with mild disturbances of autonomic processes responsible for the natural pace and rhythm of respiration, heart rate etc. Many persons suffering such symptoms also attempt to instrument voluntary control over their respiration by constantly trying to achieve an inspirational breath, which is the over-extension of the lungs which produces a calming affect similar to yawning in some regards. Shallow breathing also produces mild disturbances in blood gas equilibrium and causes too much CO2 to be retained, often producing a panting or grunting effect as increased respiration is engaged to blow off excessive CO2 necessary to restore the balance. It's important to realize that actual dyspnea, or shortness of breath, produces rather dramatic pallor to the skin, cyanosis in serious cases and is accompanied by physical weakness and fatigue of a nature requiring prompt intervention. I can assure you that once you've actually observed an individual in true respiratory distress, you'll immediately draw the distinction between their symptoms and your own.

Also realize that pain is among the very last constitutional symptoms of such a disease and the range of symptoms which arise prior to pain onset would have compelled you to seek medical evaluation far prior to such a point. Risk factors such as exposure to second-hand smoke are in of themselves too far distant from bearing the kind of impact you appear to portend.

One of the most contributory factors to the exacerbation of heath anxiety is the compelling need to try and self-evalute one's symptoms in the absence of the requisite medical background and clinical experience, the result of which is most often the escalation of fear by choosing possible causes which merely constitute the most remote and climactic variables rather than the most probable causes based strictly upon actual clinical protocol. The approach used by such persons also produces the subsequent desire to have the symptoms actually evaluated by a licensed medical doctor because of the belief that they are somehow accurate in their personal assessment. This is the sort of illogic which commands individuals suffering from health anxiety and it's a difficult manifestation to navigate with any sense of clarity.

You must also realize that the brain responds to fear of the type you are perceiving and causes both physiological and cognitive changes necessary to enforce protection from imminent harm and threat to survival. This innate process literally compels an individual so afflicted to seek out whatever means necessary in identifying the threat and measuring its capacity for actual harm. In the absence of accurate ability to do so, these persons come to rely upon what feels like their natural instincts in approach to a solution, when in fact it is more of a biological response designed to seek safety from harm. Seldom is this process recognized by those experiencing it and yet its influence is highly influential but nevertheless inaccurate for obvious reasons.

You are in no actual danger and you do not have lung cancer. For purposes of reassurance, however, you need to merely take control of your irrational fears and make an appointment to have your symptoms professionally evaluated and treated so that it will restore a proper perspective concerning your health and fears of tragic illness or disease. Rhomboid spasm is most often successfully treated by limited physical therapy with excellent results. Your impression concerning your lungs is likely nothing more than secondary to vasomotor rhinitis, which is also an extremely common presentation among persons with significant anxiety and or stress and often produces post-nasal drainage and other allergy type symptoms that left untreated results in upper respiratory congestion, pharyngitis and other associated sequelae which demonstrates chronicity and waning periods of resolution and relapse. Again, however, I see nothing of your description and concerns that would cause me to even remotely consider the presence an oncological process within your lungs.

Take a breath and relax. You're going to be just fine. Make an appointment with your doctor and you'll find that your fears have been far overdrawn by contrast to the actual cause for your worrisome symptoms.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

[JMR]

Thank You RLR...Sorry to 'hijack' J2's thread, but I take Much reassurance from your detailed explanatory post. I really hope that You do too J2. When reading and re-reading RLR's words, it does all seem to fall into place...the rhomboid spasm & the subsequent impact on the diaphragm is very interesting.

[swgrl09]

If it helps at all, and I know I can't help like RLR did, but I have rhomboid spasm and it feels exactly like you are describing. You aren't alone. I get massages and have them focus on my shoulder blades a lot.

[j2]

Wow, I wish RLR was still actively practicing medicine and he was my physician. He has responded couple of times to my posts and he always makes me feel so much better. I wonder if "bedside manner" was taught differently when he went to school :). Either way, this makes me feel so much better. Good luck to all who come across this post and I hope it helps them feel better.

[Pixelwoo]

I'm very glad I found this reply, thank you. I currently have right hand shoulder blade pain and the remnants of an 8 week old cough with shortness of breath, congestion, a burning feeling in lungs on inhalation, occasionally had a 'snap crackle pop' in my throat sounds, dizziness, fatigue and and palpitations after getting and recovering from Covid on 30th December. The doctor thought perhaps a chest and/or sinus infection which I took antibiotics for, and now I have Beconase for the continuing post nasal drip. The cough was lingering and now I'm left with occasional bouts of coughing, some wheezing and constant shoulder pain. I do wonder if it's GERD as I'm coeliac and have had this before but not this bad. They did an ECG which showed rapid heart rate but no arrythmia.