Symptoms

Right from the beginning, when I first started getting sick, one of the symptoms I had was chest pain. It felt like a tightening around my rib cage, like something squeezing. I still have neuropathy in my hands and feet and I still have the chest pain, especially when I move a certain way. Has anyone else experienced chest pain with GBS? Every time I bring it up to doctors, they look at me like I have three heads. A couple of them told me that chest pain is not a symptom of GBS, and yet both of the other people I met who have GBS experienced chest pain. If it is common with GBS, why arent doctors aware of it? Is it common? Or is it just me and these two other patients who had it?

I have chest “cramps”.

I with do no about chest pain: I just stared with weakness half of my body, the was in 1973. I suppose it comes in different ways, some people said after flu shoots or been out the country.

YES! This was my first symptom too which is why my dr initally dx me with a panic attack. Mine was associated with eating and after a full cardiac and GI work up, the doctors conceded that that pain was neurological. When I had a relapse (flare up) 6 weeks after initial admission, I had the same chest pain. First symptom to come, last of the acute symptoms to go. I still have tingling in hands and feet and excessive fatigue but I’m terrified of those chest pains coming back.

I wonder why it is that doctors seem to know wo little about GBS? When I complained about the chest pains they looked at me like I had three heads. One of them even told me that chest pains are not a symptom of GBS. But if thats true, then why do some people with GBS have chest pains? If the chest pains are NOT a symptom of GBS then why did they suddenly manifest themselves at exactly the same time that the other symptoms of GBS began? I think that doctors only know about the symptoms they read in their text books. Why dont the textbooks tell the truth about GBS? Who wrote those text books and what are the "facts" in them based on? Does anyone know? How do I educate doctors on my condition when they wont listen?

Hi,

I also had chest pain along with breathing problems and swallowing problems. The intercostal muscles are often affected in GBS. and this definitely cause extreme chest pain. I also had some esophageal spasm as well that caused pain. Also back pain can refer forward and cause lots of pain that seems like it is in the front. There is an excellent book, Guillain-Barre Syndrome: From Diagnosis to Recover by Dr. Gareth Parry. It was very helpful.

I understand the 3 heads thing you experienced. My GBS was not diagnosed when it was at its worse. I was sent home 3 time with 3 different diagnosis by the emergency department of my local hospital. The last time I arrivedby ambulance when my face became paralyzed, my blood pressure was also fluctuating and I was losing the ability to walk. They told me I had Bell's Palsy. When I said to emergency room doctor that my arms and legs and back are numb and it feels like someone has injected acid under my skin. He told me it wasn't related My partner and I went through a terrifying time as I all I could do was lie in bed struggling to breathe . I never received any treatment. By the time it was diagnosed I had already had it for, 3 months and the worst of my symptoms were gone.

It is only now that I realize how close I came to dying.


QweensGambit said:

I wonder why it is that doctors seem to know wo little about GBS? When I complained about the chest pains they looked at me like I had three heads. One of them even told me that chest pains are not a symptom of GBS. But if thats true, then why do some people with GBS have chest pains? If the chest pains are NOT a symptom of GBS then why did they suddenly manifest themselves at exactly the same time that the other symptoms of GBS began? I think that doctors only know about the symptoms they read in their text books. Why dont the textbooks tell the truth about GBS? Who wrote those text books and what are the "facts" in them based on? Does anyone know? How do I educate doctors on my condition when they wont listen?



Clarebear said:

Hi,

I also had chest pain along with breathing problems and swallowing problems. The intercostal muscles are often affected in GBS. and this definitely cause extreme chest pain. I also had some esophageal spasm as well that caused pain. Also back pain can refer forward and cause lots of pain that seems like it is in the front. There is an excellent book, Guillain-Barre Syndrome: From Diagnosis to Recover by Dr. Gareth Parry. It was very helpful.

I understand the 3 heads thing you experienced. My GBS was not diagnosed when it was at its worse. I was sent home 3 time with 3 different diagnosis by the emergency department of my local hospital. The last time I arrivedby ambulance when my face became paralyzed, my blood pressure was also fluctuating and I was losing the ability to walk. They told me I had Bell's Palsy. When I said to emergency room doctor that my arms and legs and back are numb and it feels like someone has injected acid under my skin. He told me it wasn't related My partner and I went through a terrifying time as I all I could do was lie in bed struggling to breathe . I never received any treatment. By the time it was diagnosed I had already had it for, 3 months and the worst of my symptoms were gone.

It is only now that I realize how close I came to dying.


QweensGambit said:

I wonder why it is that doctors seem to know wo little about GBS? When I complained about the chest pains they looked at me like I had three heads. One of them even told me that chest pains are not a symptom of GBS. But if thats true, then why do some people with GBS have chest pains? If the chest pains are NOT a symptom of GBS then why did they suddenly manifest themselves at exactly the same time that the other symptoms of GBS began? I think that doctors only know about the symptoms they read in their text books. Why dont the textbooks tell the truth about GBS? Who wrote those text books and what are the "facts" in them based on? Does anyone know? How do I educate doctors on my condition when they wont listen?