Costochondritis pain and discomfort
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I am a 39 yr old mother of a 5yr old daughter. I live in Newry, northern Ireland.
I was diagnosed with costochondritis 2 years ago this month. Like everyone elses case I have read on here I was totally convinced there was something more serious wrong with me and argued with my Doctor for a long time about it.
It started when I got a flu while on holidays and the only thing that I can think may
have brought it on was the coughing. It comes and goes every couple of months but there isn't a day that I don't get some kind of pain in my back or chest area. Just
before Christmas last year while driving to work I took really sharp chest pain and
felt like my heart was jumping around in my chest. This panicked me as I thought I
was having a heart attack. I pulled into the hard shoulder as I had my little girl in the car with me and I was finding it difficult to breath. The panic stopped after a while and I went straight to A&E. They did numerous tests, ECG, chest Xrays, blood tests, you name it and in the end they said they agreed with my GP that it was
costochondritis. They put me in Diclofenic tabs, which are anti inflammatory. They did help and the condition eased up after a few days but it wasn't long til it reared its ugly head again. so for me its 2 weeks of severe pain and maybe 4-5 weeks of bearable pain then back to severe pain again.
I am down at minute but this time its really bad, it seems each time I get it It is more severe. I am now on naproxin which to be honest I find useless. Pain killers are not working and even the hot water bottle which I found great is no use this time.
The majority of my pain in in my back between my shoulder blades and travels up into my neck and shoulders, sometimes down my arms. Although I have chest pain the worst is in my back, though if I were to press on my ribs at the front I could scream with pain.
I find this time with it being worse it is affecting my moods. I am snapping at my little girl all the time which I feel terrible about, and I just dont want to do anything. Work is just a nightmare recently. I am normally an upbeat person and very little gets me down, but it is really taking its toll. I have had this condition now for 2 years and it really in not understood. Most people I talk to have never heard of it, so when I found this forum and so many people suffering like myself it was a God send. So hopefully I can gain some knowledge from other people and anyone panicking about the pain they are feeling and thinking its something bad, can take some reassurance from my story.
Does anyone feel the pain is in their back more then their chest area. And if anyone has any advice or anything, please do share with me.
Sinead
11 likes, 604 replies
david36238 sinead_34836
Posted
Yes Sinead I have had most of my Costochondritis in my back. I have had lots of times a piercing pain near my heart that felt like a wooden stake was driven into my chest. I spent YEARS running to Doctors who said I had a 'kidney stone', was exaggerating the pain, etc. etc. With no help for this excruciating pain I decided to kill myself. On the 1-10 pain chart, my Costo pain was a 65! Truth. Finally I read the YouTube info on Costo by The Backpod Backstance. I got me a Backpod and I am NOT kidding you that after a couple of months I do not have pain. Truth. The Backpod stretches the cartlidge and muscles that are causing the pain. Using the Pod hurt a lot at first. Then better and better. I have a life again. In the U.S., the Pod costs over $200. Ugh. I researched and got mine from BadBacks in Australia for $80 which includes shipping. Follow the instruction that come with the Pod. You can/will get better. Costochondritis is an evil pain.