Chest pain the night before my period begins

Diabetes Complications and other Conditions Other Conditions
#1

i don't know if this has anything to do with being prediabetic, or if being prediabetic is a complicating factor. i am 49. i don't take any medications but can reach a bg of 200+ that stays high for at least an hour if i eat cake, etc. i try to control things eating low carb and exercising.

the night before my last period started i had bad chest pain in my sternum area. i got up and i think i tested at like 105, not high. then i was looking for baby aspirin, but we were out. the pain went away after a couple minutes, but it was scary. right as i was waking up to it i heard a sound like air coming out of a balloon, and i am wondering if that was me wheezing- but i don't associate the sound with the feeling, so i am not sure.

someone suggested to me that it could be related to gall stones or a problem with my gallbladder.

i'm going to make an appointment with my ob/gyn first in case this has something to do with declining estrogen, but i wanted to check here as well to see if anyone has experienced something similar.

#2

Hi v/pred,

I haven't had anything like that, sounds awful, just palpitations. I would also see your gp and a cardiologist to make sure it has nothing to do with your heart. Did you eat anything unusual that day/night? I think a lot of fat will affect the gallbladder if that is the issue. Do you have symptoms when your bg goes high after eating cake?

#3

Does the sternum pain radiate to your back? Because if it does, I'd agree on gallbladder issues. I don't even have my gallbladder anymore though and I have pain like a gallbladder attack around that time of the month, usually during the late night/early morning hours (like 3-4am) and it makes me have trouble breathing because it hurts so much. I do not have any cardiac conditions so that's what it is as far as I know. It's likely the bile duct or even my pancreas (I kinda have fears that have been yet to be confirmed that I have autoimmune/chronic pancreatitis) I already have painful periods so that just adds to it.

I'd get it checked out by your primary care doctor actually, bring up all possible concerns such as a gynecological issue or a gallbladder one.

#4

at thanksgiving when my bg i test my bg after one slice of pumpkin pie 1.5 hours after eating it, it was 200 and i felt fine. i went for a long walk to bring it down.

i am going to make all the appointments today. hopefully the offices are open president's day.

#5

i had the beginnings of a cold sore (herpes simplex 1) on feb 6 and the pain at 2 am on feb 9, the during the day of feb 9 i got my period. the pain did not radiate to my back. it was right under the sternum and i felt a squeezing that repeated. i have three possibilities:

1. low estradiol that interferes with the balance between contraction and relaxation of the endothelium inside the blood vessel.

2. acute pericarditis brought on by the reactivation of the herpes simplex virus in my body.

3. thoracic endometriosis

4. gallbladder issue/GERD issue

i am probably very run down and that has affected my immune system. i have a vitamin d lamp approved by the fda that i have just started to use again, and i am cutting down on working overtime. the pain hasn't returned, but the first day of my next cycle is march 4, so i am motivated to get some answers before then. we also have a blood pressure monitor in the house and my blood pressure is fine. my last year's blood work was good too. i wrote in more detail about this whole thing at my blog at paleoexperiments.blogspot.com. i'll see what happens on march 4. if i have a repeat of the pain, but it also includes breathlessness/dizziness and /or sweating, i'm calling 911.

i just got an appointment for this morning so at least i will be able to get some bloodwork done and the doctor can palpitate my abdomen to check out my gallbladder. i feel fine though.
#6

Hi,
I've had 4 episodes since June of severe stabbing pain in my back, below my right shoulder blade that feels like it extends to under my right breast (but starts in the back). It goes away after about 5 minutes. After the last episode a few weeks ago I went to the doctor that evening. My EKG was abnormal and my blood pressure high. So afterward I was sent for a stress test and echo and they were both normal; although the EKG is still slightly abnormal. My blood pressure has since been it's usual low normal. I'm following up with a cardiologist today, because a few months ago my sister had angina that presented differently, along with an abnormal EKG and normal stress test. She wound up going into the ER and they did a heart cath, found blockage and put in a stent. She is only 58 and had mildly elevated cholesterol. There has never been heart disease in my family except for her recent event. My advice is to make sure it isn't heart related.

#7

bjm, could you please ask your sister what her lipid numbers and A1c are? by lipid numbers i mean HDL, LDL, total cholesterol and triglycerides. if they did total particle number, that too. i just got back from my family doctor and my EKG and blood pressure are normal. my stress test a couple of years ago was normal. the thing is, a coronary vasospasm causing pain can happen without arteriosclerosis. in this situation death is unlikely. however, i don't know if i have blockages or not. like i said, if the next attack is accompanied by more severe symptoms, i will go to the ER. if i continue to have vasospasms, if that's what it is, i am concerned that i might be injuring the epothelial lining of my coronary arteries, even if i don't have signigicant heart disease currently. so i will continue to stay on top of this. thanks to all who replied, and bjm, if you could get those numbers from your sister, i would appreciate it. also keep us posted about your situation if you could.

PS the doctor doesn't think it was a gallbladder issue since my pain was only about 5 minutes and i had no nausea or vomiting. she also pressed against both sides of my sternum and i had no pain. she was checking for inflammation of the pleural cavity i think, but if i had inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart (pericarditis) i would assume the pressure she put on my sternum would also cause pain.

stress and cold weather can also bring on vasospasms in the middle of the night. it’s strange to me how what goes on in the daytime in our bodies can come back to haunt us in the middle of the night. anyone with more info on that?

#8

sensorium, do you feel like coughing when you have those attacks? i used to have such painful periods in my 20s that i would almost pass out from the pain. my uterus would contract so forcefully and the pain would be so intense that i would start to feel nauseous and have diarrhea. i would have to find a quiet, dark room and turn on a fan. then i would time the contractions and they would steadily get further apart. i would see dark spots in front of my eyes as well right before an attack. i have given birth to two children, one with no pain meds, and these attacks hurt worse than childbirth.

i found that taking ibuprofen once 3 days before my period took care of the problem. i think it was only once, but this was over 20 years ago.

#9

I would NOT assume chest pain has anything to do with getting your period. Go into the ER or primary care and let them figure it out. I've had muscular pain in that area that was nothing, but I've gone into the urgent care with chest pain and difficulty breathing at 30 years old and believe me, they won't leave you hanging- they will get you in pretty quick to see someone. 'Diabetic with chest pain' makes them nervous. Women have strange cardiac symptoms sometimes and its better safe than sorry with stuff like this.

#10

what kind of tests did they give you and what did you find out? at what point will they give you an angiogram?

#11

I sent a friend request so I can answer your questions.

#12

well, at least you don't feel awful, not that you want to be at 200... I feel horrible usually at 200 and feel like I'm going to have a stroke or something, especially if it's a rapid rise, but everyone is so different. I hope you get this figured out with your appointment. And I agree always get chest pain checked out or any severe pain like that. I did have an incident in September with pain breathing, I forgot about that, it seems like it was related to my neck/back injuries now and it took much longer to resolve than usual and didn't respond as well to pain killers, for now it's much better, fingers crossed!

#13

thanks!

#14

Well, the Doc looked at me and laughed and said, 'an old man, like me, doesn't even bat an eye at a heart rate that high.' I don't remember what it was, at that point - maybe 180. Some guys I know did a 12 lead and it was high enough that they had the medic read the strip and the medic said I was not having a heart attack, which was somewhat reassuring. I was getting high heart rate and shortness of breath, alongside dizziness and confusion. So, I was worried it was a heart attack, but it wasn't. I was having little partial seizures and that's just the aura I get before I have one. I kinda panic. They made me go in for a full ECG and EEG. Heart was fine, brain was a little broken, though. Its just always safer to go in. Give them the chance to do their jobs and rule out heart problems, first.

#15

GERD would be high on my differential diagnosis list.