Costochondritis pain and discomfort

I've been having pains under and behind my left breast and in my rib cage for 12 days. I dealt with it from Friday to Friday and then didn't want to go into the weekend with it. I made an appt with an accupuncturist and she tried to trace the path of the pain with needles. It calmed me for awhile but the pain persisted. She recommended I go to urgent care. At the urgent care facility they didn't know what it was and thought I should get a catscan which they didn't have. They sent me to a small local ER at which they did an EKG and X-ray and blood tests. All negative. I knew it wasn't my heart. The pain was intense and hurt more when I moved but also hurt when I sat still. At first I assumed it was a bad gas bubble then I thought that I had pulled something with aggressive yard work that I was doing. However I didn't feel specific pain by replicating the same moves. Tried to explain all this to the des. They were sympathetic but unhelpful and it turned out to be an expensive, exhausting waste of day. They did however provide pain meds which alleviated the worst of the pain. The aceteminophine didn't help but the ibuprofen did. They both hurt my stomach and gave me a headache and I worry about needing to take it long term. Still dealing with this but yesterday a friend of mine who I had visited in the past few weeks told me her baby was diagnosed with gingivostomatitis. Looking it up I found out that it is painful mouth sores caused by the coxsackie virus. Interesting. I continued to look up info on pain under left breast or chest and found this site on costochondritis and I researched it to find out that Tietze's Syndrone and Bornholm disease are similar conditions. Bornholm is caused by the coxsackie virus. Lightbulb!  This is the third time I've picked up an illness at my friends house and her baby is often sick.  Her husband owns and operates a home healthcare company and probably brings strange bugs home all the time. A website about Bornholm states that the main symptom is pain in lower chest or upper abdomen and may be sharp or severe especially when taking a deep breath or moving. It comes in goes in spasms with dull ache in between. May experience difficulty breathing if pain is severe. The area that is painful may be tender to the touch. That is exactly what I was experiencing. I forgot to mention that at all the places that saw me they had mentioned that shingles was a possibility although there were no visible signs of rash. I hope this info can help anyone who is experiencing similar symptoms. The website does not recommend an antiviral just pain meds but I plan to take this info to my allergist who can treat me for it using NAET to get it out of my system for good. I've had great results with NAET but that is for another forum. 

Hi Shelle7belle, 

I have just recently been diagnosed with Costo, also. I get pain in my bones too which was making me feel like I had dislocated my ribs. This came after an attack I had last week where I felt like my whole upper body back and sterum had gone into spasm. The natural thing that you do is hold yourself to protect the area that is painful, which I am sure that we all do. Try icing the area, as that sooths mine when I feel it burning and flayring up. Also I find if I sit with a lot of cushions supporting my back and something under my foot like the bottom of the table so that my muscles aren't feeling heavy when I am sitting I don't stiffen as much. I always have a feeling of something feeling like it isn't in the right place. I don't know if anyone else has this? 

I also go for ultrasound once or twice a month depending on what kind of month it has been. I am slowly learning to manage it and know what helps. I have had it for a year since I fell down the stairs on the bus, but I have only just found out what has been causing all this pain all this time. 

I also find wearing a bra is very uncoumfy so I wear over the head ones that are soft and they don't have fastenings at the back. 

At the minute I am taking Naproxine and Paracetamol 500 tablets and if I am having a bad day co codomol at night time. 

I work in a nursery, and used to work in the baby room, but my work are being so supportive and we have came to the conclusion that I work with the older kids in Toddlers so I am not doing as much lifting or bending up and down :-) 

It is a relief to know what it is that is causing the pain, and as you say to know that there are other people having the same symptoms as you are as you don't feel you are being silly and making it all up. 

Do they know what caused you to have costo? x

Hey everyone, I can totally feel like I am living in some of your experiences. It is so refreshing reading this forum to find out what other people have tried. I have had the symptoms for over a year and have always had an inclin of it being costochondritis but I have had two attacks in the space of two weeks, where I can't stand or hardly walk as it feels like somebody is sitting on my left side, and I also then get spasms throughout my back and trembling because the pain I am experiencing tenses up the rest of my body. 

I do take deep breaths, and this does help calm it down. People have said that they have to stay away from caffine, however I have found that the warmth of tea actually helps, but I do only drink two cups or three cups at the most a day. I also drink a tea called Kava tea and Peppermint tea also. Camomile and Honey tea is also very good for night time. 

I work as a Nursery Nurse, and have to be very careful at work, the management are so supportive and have put me working with the older ones so there isn't as much lifting involved, I was willing to do it because it is my dream job and I couldn't imagine doing anything else. 

I use ice when I come home from work and I feel that is very effective. I had an attack two weekends ago and one last Thursday and it has taken a while to recover from the pain. It has felt like I have bruised my ribs or someone has kicked them very hard. 

I feel that there should be an awareness month with costo as it isn't very well known in the NHS and I feel there should be more awareness of this condition, as people from reading in here have been mis diagnosed with it. I have an appointment with my GP on Thursday to ask for more advice on dealing with the condition, so I will come back and share with you what he says if it is anything different, but it seems like we have all invneted ways of dealing with it ourselves that work, and for that I commend everyone! Not easy having something that you have to learn how to manage yourself. 

The pain is slowly dying down but I am always feeling it still at the moment like a dull ache, so I am aware of not lifting or doing sudden movements so that I don't set it off again. I would be greatful for any new ways of handling the condition and advice about keeping the pain away if anyone has managed to keep it away completely without having to avoid doing certain tasks? 

hi everyone, im male, 28 and im currently going through what i beleive to be costo.  iv had the tests for any heart or lung problems and doc assures me my heart is fine. i find it easier to bullet point my symptoms as their are alot of them

Physical and Mental Symptoms:

-sometimes a Dull Pain/Tenderness to push underneath center of sternum/upper abdomen where the rib cage connection ends

-Tenderness and tightness in upper left/middle rib cage

-Occasional shooting pain for a few seconds in the left/middle sternum/upper abdoman area 

-Occasional "pops" in the upper middle rib cage, almost like cracking a knuckle, when I spread my arms open or twist my body. 

-Muscle knots in intercostals, mainly on left side. They don't find relief with trigger point massage.

-Superficial neck, shoulder and upper back muscle tightness

-Heart Palps and OCD over heart beat

-chest pain and tightness when running or exerting myself especially on upper left side

-Occasional spasm in upper middle sternum and/or strong heart beat. Not sure if it is esophagal spasms, but its best described as a normal heart beat disrupted with a single delayed strong heart beat then back to normal. 

-Occasional forced burping/gas

-shortness of breath even while doing the simplest things

-dizzeness/ light headedness

-constantly feel the need to hold my chest (guarding)

out of all these things the one that bothers me the most is pain in my chest when doing anything active like running or even walking as this is a typical symptom of angina.  i dont smoke, have maybe 2-3 glasses of wine a week and my diet is balanced at best.  i hit the gym 3-4 times a week and have laid of the heavy weights for the last 6 months due to the symptoms im having.  Has anybody else had the pain in left side of their chest while excersing or walking?  its scaring the hell out of me and have made another appointment with the doc to discuss it further.

thanks in advance guys and good luck with your recovery

Russ