Sharp shooting left arm pain... AND chest pain when I lay down

[Anxiety Jim]

Hi,

I thought I was past my heart worries after my GP told me that my cardiac risk was low after I had a 24 hour ECG. That was only a few weeks ago, but tonight I'm in a right panic.

For the past 1 or 2 hours I've been getting sharp shooting pains down my left arm. Sometimes the pain starts from between my inner elbow and palm, other times it starts at the elbow or sometimes from my bicep towards my shoulder.

It's a very sharp pain that shoots to the tips of my fingers (feels like it goes to under my nails)

Every time I try to lay down in bed I last less than a minute before getting chest pain and worse arm pain. At which point I sit bolt upright in bed panting.

I keep trying to tell myself if I was having a heart attack I wouldn't be able to write this on no more panic, and that it wouldn't have lasted for a few hours. But still I can't ignore it, so end up in a panic.

Does anyone think that this is something to be concerned about, would you lovely people be worried like I am?

If the pain was somewhere else like my leg or something, I'm sure I could ignore it and get some sleep, alas it's not.

Thanks.

[Freaked]

I get exactly this. The left arm pains come and go all day sometimes, but the chest spasms are normally way worse lying down. I get a shooting pain in the left side of my chest/back every time I exhale, and it feels very heavy. I don't know why the pain is so left-sided (though it is for most people), but my left shoulder is very sore to roll and my ribs on the left are very painful to press on. I also get acid chest pains when I lie down sometimes.

I'm a big overbreather and it's possible I'm tensing that side a lot. Docs also think I have a condition that leads to all sorts of upper body aches. So I can't offer any 100% explanations, but docs said my heart was okay too.

Can you find particular tender spots or movements that hurt?

[mummyanxious]

Sounds like a trapped nerve

[Speranza]

Yes it really does. Poor you! But NOT FATAL. x

[mummyanxious]

I've done something to my left arm by carrying some shopping and my hand keeps going numb. I know that's all it is. Sometimes we remember what we've done sometimes we do stuff we don't know about in our sleep.

[Anxiety Jim]

Thanks everyone, I think I DO have a trapped nerve in my left elbow, a few years ago at university I was in a lecture leaning on my elbows and I twisted and I had a sharp pain from my elbow to my fingers, and my hand was numb/tingly for a few weeks.

It's just when I'm panicking I tend to dismiss the more sensible causes... damn anxiety.

[Amiga]

Pain in my left arm was my very first anxiety symptom nearly 2 years ago.

[anxityman]

I have that same problem everything happens on my left side or spasms muscle twitching
face twitching burning in my hands pains in my chest i have been to the ER 8 times cuz i thought i was having a heart attack pain in stomach earaches cold hands and feet
back pain urine problems and IBS
sharp shooting pains in my head and a lvl 8 headache that no meds get rid of

[clank]

I get those all the time and definitely laying/sitting in a certain position can cause chest pain! I get it all the time in certain positions!

[Tabularasa]

I am struggling with this at present. I've had chest pain and arm pain for 5 hours today without a break and I ended up in tears. :(
Also, last week I realised that I can only sleep in one position without it causing horrible pain. Why is position so important? I keep thinking that if it was anxiety, why would it matter what side I sleep on?