does anyones chest/sternum pop?

[jordan123]

whenever i lost a lot of weight after taking adderall on a daily basis i sneezed and it felt like my sternum cracked. you can literally hear it pop. sometimes it sounds like rice krispies, other times it sounds like velcro. my chest will lock up really tight when i take adderall i usually live in icy hot bc its that uncomfortable. when it locks up i will bend backward and it pops as loud as can be. i have told my doctor about this relentlessly and first he said it was my bones cracking...like my knuckles. the next time i went in and told him it was affecting my every day life he gave me heart burn meds. sound at all familiar?

[meadd823]

No . . . . How much weight did you loose and why?

[QueensU_girl]

Do you have Pes Excavatum or something?

[Grey Kameleon]

I don't know if it's the same thing or not, but...this morning, I was walking up 'cardiac hill' (a very steep hill on the middle of my campus), and as usual, something in the middle of my chest kind of 'popped'. It wasn't uncomfortable, or audible, but it does that some times. It just feels like bones are shifting. It's weird, but it would probably not be so alarming if I weren't so chest-phobic.

[twirlywhirly]

My hubbies does this all the time but it is not painful for him.

The bone at the front of the chest is made of a few pieces joined together by
Cartilage. I guess it could be this "popping" or maybe where the collar bone or the ribs join on to it. Maybe see a physio or osteopath if it is causing you discomfort just to get it checked out.

[thisisacomputer]

My chest pops, I can actually apply slight pressure to my sterum and it will pop sometimes, on both sides of my chest. Sometimes a rib joint will kind of ache in the front of my chest, I can pop it, and the ache goes away. Don't be phobic about it, it is simply a costochondritis type symptom, costo being the inflammation of rib and sternum fascia, caused by persistent tension of the upper thoracic muscles.

Believe me, I thought I was having some kind of cardiac issues or worse and I had a ton of doctor visits to make sure I wasn't missing something. I thought the Adderall was making me OCD, because I became some kind of annoying hypochondriac there for awhile! Taking Focalin now, I like it much better than Adderall, it feels less intense.

But the chest pop is similar to the sensation of popping your knuckles, you sort of have to limber up the joints and ligaments, and popping relieves the stationary effect. It probably has much to do with the tension we subject our musculoskeletal systems to due to the long term or continued use of amphetamine based ADD medications.

[Sargon]

Mine does. It's called costochondritis. In my case, I believe it was caused by years of bench pressing. It usually doesn't hurt, but Adderall does seem to affect it.

[jordan123]

the pain used to occur on the entire left side of my upper chest and in my ribs. it would almost be tender to the touch. it would feel as if my left arm was going numb. my dad died of a heart attach at 45 so of course this scared the hell out of me. i had every test done and was only diagnosed with the costochondritis. since i started taking the adderall on a daily basis the pain has become more centralized and its sometimes unbearable. a lot of people dont understand that its real and it makes me look crazy bc i am constantly rubbing my sternum. i have tried icy hot, ibuprofen, muscle relaxers, some kind of heat rub, ice, etc. at night i sleep with a frozen ice bag on my chest bc it seriously hurts that bad.
recently i decided to try and stop popping it...it will be so jammed in the mornings i struggle trying to release the tension. but i am finding if i can hold off that the pain isnt as severe through out the day. the area of the pain almost feels strange like there is something swollen around my bones. i just dont know what to do anymore...am i going to be like this for the rest of my life. it never goes away.

[mijahe]

Originally Posted by jordan123

whenever i lost a lot of weight after taking adderall on a daily basis i sneezed and it felt like my sternum cracked. you can literally hear it pop.

Costochondritis.

Trust me - nothing to do with ADD or meds, (or maybe meds indirectly affect it by changing muscle relaxation). My wife has had this issue for a while now, and it is quite disconcerting when it does pop. It's due to the ribs dislocating from the sternum. She went to physio for a while and couldn't lift anything heavy and it soon got better. But the trouble is; once something 'goes', (like dislocation), it has a tendency to 'go' again much easier.

I'd go and see your quack about it.

[Sargon]

I actually think Adderall does aggravate it. When I'm on Adderall, in addition to the sternum noise, I get pain between my sternum and left nipple. But I think it's muscular and not heart-related. HOWEVER, I never had the problem on Vyvanse. You should consider switching.

[r2d2]

just my 2cents worth...when I was self medicating with 'street' methamphetamine my joints would crack/pop all the time - especially my sternum (which I found very bizarre!) I just put it down to my muscles tensing for so long as well as running my body down in essential minerals, i.e. magnesium!

I find it interesting that people on rx amphetamines are experiencing the same!

[deadjed]

How many people with the sternum popping problem had weightlifting in school etc, bench press. I know that bouncing the bar off of your chest can injure your sternum,I did that to myself back in the day.

[Terran]

I'm 18 years old. I also have this chest popping in the sternum, except it's usually on my right side. Mine started a couple years ago and I've always worked out on and off (trying to make it a consistent habit). When I first had it, it would happen when I would crack my back by sitting up straight in a chair with my hands on my knees and I'd bend backwards. Recently it started getting to the point where it cracks several times a day. I'll feel a slight tightness on the right side of my sternum and I'll just bend my right arms backwards a couple times and it usually cracks. Sometimes I do it several times in an hour. It usually doesn't hurt but sometimes there is slight pain, which is temporarily relieved by popping it. I suppose it could have to do with weight lifting since thats how it happened with everyone else. I didn't know it was something to worry about but it if is, then until you see a doctor, just consider doing lighter chest excercises.

[BlackorWhite]

I'm a bit older, but used to weight lift in my teens and early twenties and I never experienced this until taking dextroamphetamine. If this popping is similar to popping your knuckles (sure feels like it) then I think Mijahe and thisisacomputer are correct by saying popping your chest perpetuates popping your chest. It seems kind of odd that a cns stimulant can cause effects to your bones/cartiledge??

[ginniebean]

The sternum rib joints are shallow, it could be popping in and out of joint but that's generally uncomfortable.