Is it true that sleeping on your stomach is bad for your heart?

Any idea what might be causing this *other* than a heart problem?

• Back-tracking a bit, about 3 weeks before Christmas, my sister and I were out hiking through an orchard at the local tree farm to get our Christmas tree when I suddenly got this sharp pain from below my left shoulder blade straight to a spot just to the left of my sternum a little below my collar bone. It only lasted a moment, and I felt fine afterwards. So I didn't think too much of it, until a week and a half later when I was still feeling run-down/generally ill. Went to the doctor at that point and told her about what had happened. She checked me over and had me wear a Holter monitor for a day. Test results came back completely normal. Ok, fine. After that, it took a couple days for me to get going again, but then I pretty much felt normal for about 2-3 weeks. Skip to New Year's Eve. My sister, her fiance, my best friend, and I got together to celebrate. I drank rather more than I should have, on a mostly-empty stomach. Next day, I was feeling a bit sick to my stomach and a little headachy and generally blah, but I figured it was because of how much I'd had to drink, so I didn't think anything of it. A few days later, I wasn't feeling any better. My appetite was essentially gone, and I'd started getting these fluttering/twitching feelings in my chest, nasty heart burn, shaking chills, dizzy spells, and this odd, uncomfortable numb/tingling sensation in my face/head, hands, and up my arms. So back to the doctor. She checked me over (again), ordered some blood work (liver and kidney function and such), and an abdominal ultrasound. She also started me on Prilosec. Again, the test results came back completely normal. We're not finding anything physically wrong with me. Another week and a half pass, and I'm still not feeling right. The fluttering, numb/tingly sensation, dizzy spells, and shivers are somewhere between getting worse and just not getting better. And I'm starting to get this tightness in my throat/upper chest off and on. Heartburn has improved, but isn't completely gone. I've also not really slept properly since New Year's, so I'm exhausted. Back to the doctor. Again, nothing physically wrong- lungs are clear, heart sounds normal, stomach/intestines all sound as they should. She ordered another blood test (one she thought we'd done the first visit after New Year's, but we hadn't) to check my thyriod. That one came back...either slightly high or slightly low, whichever means that my thyroid is a little bit over-active. She didn't think that it was enough to be causing my symptoms, and said she wanted me to get it checked again in 3 months time. She also started me on .25mg of xananx once a day to help with anxiety. For the first couple days, the xanax seemed to help a fair bit, and for the better part of a week, I seemed to be doing better. Still tired most of the time, and still getting occasional tightness in my throat, and a general sick feeling, but not as bad. Then this past Saturday night, I spent the night sleeping on my sister's couch (she wanted me to go with her to some food co-op that's about the same distance as my house from her apartment, but in the opposite direction). Since Sunday, I've been feeling sicker again-stomach's a bit off, barely any appetite, and I've still been getting tightness in my chest, and the heartburn's been back- not as constant as it was before I started the Prilosec, but a bit worse. Then yesterday while I was at work, about an hour or so after lunch, out of nowhere I started getting this burning/aching pain across the back side of my left shoulder. For the first few minutes, my throat/chest started feeling tight again, but that passed quickly. My shoulder was hurting for a good 20-30 minutes at least. This was after waking up sick to my stomach and spending most of the morning with heartburn from hell. Today, woke up feeling sick again, and I had another spell with my shoulder earlier this afternoon like yesterday (but not quite as bad, and not as long). My own research online has pointed to an anxiety disorder, a form of depression, and a heart problem. I'm only in my mid-20s, but I'm rather over-weight and I've got a pretty bad family history of hear disease on both sides. And I'm a worrier by nature. So needless to day, I've been a rather worried about all this. I'm wondering if anyone else has any insite on what might be going on/has had a similar experience. (And before anyone starts telling me to go see the doctor again, I've already got an appointment for later this afternoon.) Thanks!

• Answer:

  There is a condition called costochronditis. There is no cure, but costochondritis usually goes away on its own and is short-lived, although in some cases it may last for several months or longer. To ease your pain until it fades, if you have it, your doctor may recommend: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) and naproxen (Aleve) Antidepressants, specifically a category of medicines called tricyclic antidepressants, if pain is making it difficult to sleep at night Muscle relaxants, which can also help ease pain http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/costochondritis/DS00626