Trusting the doctor...

[Mrschurchill]

Woke up on Monday morning basically unable to breathe due to the pain in my mid to upper back. Was taking my breath away!
Went to the doctor who had a prod about and because there was a spot that was tender to touch he said it's obviously muscular and gave me some co-codemol and told to me to come back in a week if it's not any better.
How can I pull a muscle when I am sleeping? It's not bad through the day when I'm taking the pain killers but when I'm sleeping it's absolute agony and I am awake every hour due to not being able to get comfortable!
I googled... and it's not nice what came up as rare causes!

Doesn't help that I've had a viral sore throat for nearly 2 weeks and having difficulty eating/swallowing.

Just feel in pain and really down! (And I am on my wee family holiday to Berwick!!) totally ruining it for everyone 😩

[ServerError]

It could be that you've injured a muscle in some way, and lying in bed particularly aggravates it.

But you've had a doctor say it's "obviously muscular". If a doctor says that, I'd be inclined to trust them. I would stop that Googling right away. Your doctor is in a far better place to say what it is than Google is.

Keep taking the painkillers and it will pass. Enjoy Berwick. Never been to that part of the world, but my parents were up there recently and said it's beautiful.

[Mrschurchill]

Berwick is beautiful. We are getting lovely weather also.

I know, yesterday I hiccuped and it was so painful and even my other half said 'definitely a muscle then!'

I'm just at a low anxious point again. It's been a while since I've been this low with it. Because I am in some pain, it's harder to get motivated!

[MyNameIsTerry]

You don't have to pull a muscle to have a problem like this, anyone with a bad back will tell you how position, especially sitting or sleeping, can make things worse for them. My dad has always had that when his sciatica flared up. I had it too and found adding memory foam has helped. My GF suffers with bad backs and her memory foam mattress has helped her loads.

With you being away, could it even be an uncomfortable mattress?

It could be that moving & stretching through the day is helping.

So, even if not a pulled muscle it can still be muscular in nature. It sounds like an ideal opportunity for a massage from the other half! :winks::yesyes:

[axolotl]

Got to stop that Googling. You have to ask yourself who's more likely to be right...someone who's done seven years gruelling medical training, and however many years working as a general practitioner, or someone with no medical background who's done a bit of Googling?

I'm not saying that to put you down, but we need to realise the expertise of our doctors, compared with our inability to understand the nuances of medical websites. If a doctor isn't worried then you shouldn't be. Hope you're feeling better and enjoy the holiday - not been that far up but Northumberland is beautiful.

[Mrschurchill]

Not needed to take any painkillers today - just feeling spaced out. I'm just so low and it's bringing me down so much. Need a shake! Dreading going to bed tonight, can't take another night of seeing in every hour

[ServerError]

If you dread going to bed, you'll make it harder to settle. The best thing you can do is to make the bed area as inviting as possible, and allow yourself to relax. Don't worry about struggling to sleep. If you do struggle, don't fight it. Fighting it will only make sleep even more elusive. Don't be afraid to get up for a bit if sleep doesn't come. But the crucial thing is not to make a big deal out of it. Hard to do, I know, but you need to give your mind a break because turning the very act of rest into a stressful affair is not going to help.

[Mrschurchill]

Yeah I know. I just haven't had a decent sleep in like 4 days so I think I'm due one lol.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Try positioning yourself and extra pillows to see if it helps.

When my mum had her pneumonia last year she had coughed so much her ribs hurt so she couldn't lie flat or even in bed with support. She had to sleep in a chair the first few nights.

Play around with position and see if it helps. Your body will eventually make you sleep but it's very unpleasant when you have insomnia, I've had that battle too and SE is right it's one made worse by worrying about it - the classic polar bear example.

[Mrschurchill]

Much better night sleep last night. We are staying in a caravan until tomorrow when I can have my own bed again!
Today I've had no back pain and been swimming this morning... now I'm all achy and feeling run down and tired. Bloody hell it just never stops x