Costochondritis for years?
Posted , 51 users are following.
For years I've dealt with on and off left breast pain (or so I thought) but it's never bothered me enough to be worried, recently it's got bad enough where my anxiety levels were through the roof and I convinced myself I had a serious condition. I began frantic obsessive googling which I do not reccomend haha, but I came across this condition, after reading that it's a condition with the ribs I did a self exam and realised it's not actually my boob that hurts but the ribs behind it. I booked straight in at the doctors, I told her my symptoms as I wanted to see if she came up with any other suggestions of what it could be before I gave my no expert opinion ha. Instantly she mentioned costochondritis and examined my chest, she pressed around my ribs and sure enough the pain was there and she instantly diagnosed me. I've been dealing with this pain for so long I was wondering if anyone else has had this for years? On all the websites I look at it says it should go in a matter of weeks and rarely lasts longer than 6 months, I remember getting most of my pain around beginning 2014 ish. If so anyone has had this condition long term do you have any advice on how to ease the pain? I also get shoulder blade, shoulder and arm pain too thank you!
1 like, 59 replies
sally_10036 jade18705
Posted
I've tried a lot of things (see other messages) and I'm at the point now where I am no longer in pain unless I over exert. Well I started taking collagen and now I can even exercise! I think its what my body was so deficient in. Might be worth a try!
there is a light at the end but you have to keep researching what is your body missing..
janet94391 sally_10036
Posted
Hi Sally, where do you get the collagen from , I will try anything , had a bad day yesterday better today hopefully on the mend again , I was going to try a back pod from Amazon they have good reviews I will ask the Dr before I order it .
r95485 jade18705
Posted
I know this is an old post but I've been suffering since 2014. I've seen many doctors and have had many labs done. My new doctor said I know this is a crappy diagnosis but I suffer from this too. I only had relief while I was pregnant and for 6 months after the birth then it came back. It hasn't stopped bugging me since then. It has caused me anxiety where I've never struggled before hand from anxiety. I have not tried any meds for anxiety. I now have a pulse oximeter, a single lead ekg (fingertip) and blood pressure machine at home. It gives me a sense of relief so I'm not wanting to run to the ER everytime I get the pain.
Wish there was a test for this so we knew for sure that it was costochondritis and for some sort of treatment.
janet94391 jade18705
Posted
Hi there , I've had this for just over a year in that year I've had it 3 times , the last time was January 2020 it was so painful , I'm on naproxen 250mg x3 when it gets bad and omebrazole 10mg to protect the stomach , paracetamol and imbrufren done nothing for the pain only 30mg co codamol but it knocked me out I was like a zombie , I try only take 250mg x1 when it's bad and sit with a hot water bottle , its dibilatating and stressful so I know how you feel , I have palpatations and get stressed , I'm now getting better and getting off the naproxen but I'm sure at some point it will come back . I go for a walk every day and have an exercise bike which I use twice a day which helps as I dare not get on my cycle as you have to bend over to the handle bars one day perhaps but not at the moment .
janet94391 jade18705
Posted
Ive had this on and off for about 10years at first it would last for about 2 weeks than disappear and I took no notice , mum died in late 2018 so we had to empty the house out in January 2019 and we moved her recliner chair and that's when it really got bad it hurt like hell thought I was going to die never had pain like it . I also have pain but its under the right breast it comes and goes , no sympathy from the Dr I've had all the tests just told it will go but it keeps coming back . I have pain in the shoulder at times . I try not to lift , stretch or bend to much and I don't put washing out hubs does that and the hoovering as that hurts too , if I peel potatoes I put the saucepan on the cooker than put the potatoes in one by one than get a small bottle of water and top the pan up without having to lift it as it would start it off again .
caroline32985 jade18705
Edited
I'm now 29 and I've had Costochondritis for well over 5 years now after I got E-coli, then straight after a 3 week long chest infection! (I've heard it can be brought on by infections, repetitive vomiting or coughing).
Straight after I started getting bad chest pains which I ignored for a couple of months, x-ray was fine, but then 6 months later I felt like I couldn't breath deeply enough and it is very uncomfortable and I can't get to sleep sometimes due to it. I have spent well over 5000 pounds trying to get rid of it with a chiropractor, physio, osteopath & acupuncturist , but I have never managed to get rid of both issues. I have found some things that take it away that really help though!
I've never got to the bottom of why I got costo but I would say maybe the infection set off the inflammation or perhaps it was too much repetitive movements at work with my right side. It is during the Coronavirus at the moment so I haven't worked for about 2.5 months and it hasn't made it any better! Those things I mentioned definitely work though, when I'm not too exhausted to keep the up!!! I saw someone mention in this feed about Collagen, sounds interesting - spent so much already what's a little collagen added to the Costo invoice 😉
Sam1287 jade18705
Edited
I was diagnosed 8 years ago with costochondritis and have had scans, x-rays, seen 11 specialists, physical therapy, and a cortisol injection in the sternum. Nothing ever helped. Except for 6 months ago, I was reading an article from Oxford England discussing the excessive consumption of liquids.
Consuming an Excessive Amount of Liquids throughout the day increases the volume of blood throughout the body and could result in severe Chest Pain. A high blood volume will place a considerable amount of pressure on the heart and blood vessels. Anyway, after just 2 weeks of cutting back on my water intake my chest pain went away and has not returned. It has been 6 months!
It all started for me after becoming extremely dehydrated from a severe case of food poisoning 8 years ago, after that I began consuming a lot of water and liquids everyday to compensate for my fear of dehydration.
olivia91318 jade18705
Posted
i've had persistent mild chest pain for the past 8 months its in the middle of my chest and sometimes radiates from left to right. I have been to the doctor several times and they do not seem worried about it. however, i am extremely anxious and worried that it may be chest bone cancer. is this likely?
tukur98874 jade18705
Posted
Hey
Pls a reply will be appreciated 🙏. I experience all the symptoms everyone is talking of and my GPS says it costochondritis. But I want to ask whether anyone feels like the middle of their chest is glued and wont open up. mine feels so tight. I dont exactly know how to explain it but it gets worse some days and gets better. I have severe health anxiety and I was reading something on Google that a disease called Ms could cause this but I don't have any symptoms of that disease. my anxiety is over the peak because the chest pain and tightness is bad at this time for some reason especially when I take a deep breath.
pls any reply will be appreciated 🙏.
rebekah79156 jade18705
Edited
i was first diagnosed with costo when i was 16. i was a bagger at a grocery store, and all the repetitive motion caused it. im 37 now, and i have chronic costo. It never goes away. i had bloodwork last month, and i tested positive for auto immune antibodies. im currently waiting to see a rheumatologist. my sternum has never caused me pain, oddly. I only have pain on my left side of my rib. The pain feels like its under my left breast, and wraps around the back of my rib cage. Driving flairs it up and It aches so bad. How is so little known about this cursed disease??!!??!!
Has anyone read about the relation of chronic costo and different forms of arthiritis? Something is causing this. why is my rib only effected by repetitive motion?? why not my wrist, elbow, or shoulder?? All of us chronic sufferers need a real diagnosis. Costo is like a generic term for an illness, just like eczema is for a skin condition. Something causes eczema, but not many find out what is truly causing theirs. They just mask it with steriod cream, and we mask our costo with NSAIDs. grrrrr!!!!!
hany32949 rebekah79156
Edited
rebekah79156
I had to create an account to reply ! but it's worth it, as you made a very good point.
YES ! There's a relation between costochondritis and arthritis, I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis first then costo a few months later. Pretty weird for a healthy 30 ish male, who doesn't even have any skin signs, but it is what it is thanks to autoimmune diseases
In many cases it won't come to patient's and well as doctor's mind to go deeper and check the root cause of costo, and most will just stop at the triggering even, chest infection, accident causing chest trauma, etc.
A rheumatologist is the best specialist to go see if someone is suffering costochondritis, that being said, both are chronic, no permanent solution, you will have to learn to live with it unfortunately and change your lifestyle. At least that's what I figured out after a few years, and seeing many doctors in both Canada and the US. However in other regions of the world where healthcare is not as expensive as in north America , surgery can be a final resolution. I have been thinking about that, I don't want to spend the next few decades not able to move a piece of furniture and burning my liver with -anti inflammatory.
Good luck to all
d39385 jade18705
Posted
I've had Costochondritis since June 2019, I was 18 back then. I got it by overtraining and not knowing my limits in the gym. In these two years it feels like not a single doctor wants or can help me and i feel hopeless. If anyone has any hints on what to do to relieve the pain on my sternum, you're more than welcome to let me know.
toria_07298 d39385
Posted
rotate ice and heat xx
amber44044 jade18705
Posted
Hey,
So I have been experiencing this pain for the last 3 years. I get severe sharp pain directly under my left breast that radiates from there into my left upper back, also sometimes get some shoulder pain too. For me it can be brought on my movement like bending over or moving the wrong way. I was wondering if that happens so anyone else? It's so severe it makes me feel like something terrible is going to happen as I cant get a breath with it. I basically need to try and lie down in a position where its not as severe, usually with my pillows propped right up and sometimes I can't move without severe pain until the next day. This has been happening on and off for years so 1 month I'll be fine and then it happens out of nowhere. I haven't been diagnosed with this as my GP is useless but it really does sound like I have a lot of the same symptoms.