Hello, I have been suffering from ribs contraction(tighten up) when I wake up in the morning.

I am no doctor but I have to wonder if it is as simple as a need for magnesium. I can't afford one, but doctors who have intergrated practices meaning they do nutritional assessment labs before putting you on a bunch of drugs that add problems is the best route. My Mom used her money on  the last year of her life and they sure uncovered problems unfortunately many years of "main stream" medicine had done way too much damage  and robbed her of quality life.

I share my Mom's story, so although I don't have the problem I very much understand how people are suffering. It is hard sometimes cause doctors and some people can make you feel freakish and your sx are just drama. A site like this one can help suffering people not feel alone and sometimes learn management tips. Keep us up dated . Myself I was believed to have a thyroid problem because of a lab test TSH the gold standard by doctors. I was a perfectly well person until I was prescribed something that felt like a type of speed. Sadly I didn't put my sx together with the drug cause it is harmless and good for you according to the doctor. With in a year and a half I had low grade high BP and placed on two drugs that finished what the thyroid med had started. I am hoping to get off some of this crap, but I may not be fully successful. One thing I did have was really bad muscle spasms that would give me severe spasms around my rib cage area  when I twisted or turned and would twist my fingers like they were spaghetti and it was painful. I thought I had some slowly evolving neurological disorder.  Last month I quite literally saw my self on some of the BP med threads  and started a magnesium as a natural calcium channel blocker  and it has been weeks now since I've had the spasms! I still have many of the myriad of sx that these drugs have caused, but many are lessened. I am so grateful to the generous sharing of others. I too to try share if only to encourage. Thank you for your response.

I worked with an older Occupational Health doctor back in the 1980's. We saw a good deal of that and all it is is pulled and inflamed muscles and he would prescribe things like Indocin (sp) and other non-steroid  anti inflammatory medications prescription strength for 10 days and rest. I saw these guys get better and these guys were handling really huge grinding wheels. They had conveyors and hoists, but still pushing and turning this stuff and trying to make rate really did beat people out. This company was a division of Dresser Ind. who makes things used for oil drilling and the like.

You have a number of complications, and pain can be difficult to pin down because it can transfer and be felt elsewhere through the nerve system.

?But people with achalasia, which is more or less what you are describing with the break in peristaltic function in your oesophagus, can suffer spasms that are sometimes felt in other parts of the body.   But if your barium swallow test was normal, this makes it less likely.

?If you have erosion in your stomach and/or oesophagus you might need to be careful about Barrett's Oesophagus and the potential risk of developing dysplasia which is a precursor to cancer.   There is more information on the website Action Against Heartburn.  It might be that radio frequency ablation might be an approach that might prevent further issues, but it will depend on the detailed findings.   I think one priority may be that you have medication to reduce the acid erosion effects to give your system time to recover on its own.    The erosion might be causing the problems with your peristalsis / swallowing function.

?Did the endoscopy find food residue that had not passed through to your stomach?

I think it might be the case that certain food might cause more problems than others, normally because of the texture, potential for congealing in your oesophagus (eg bread, rice) or its spicy effect.   So I would try and concentrate on taking bland, mushy / liquid food for a period, and keep a food diary to see whether you can reduce the problems.

There may be medication like Buscopan or other anti spasmodic drugs that might be able to help, or other medication that might help with blood flow, but you need to have your doctor's advice on these possibilities.

?Sleep propped up at night to reduce any reflux and think about taking Gaviscon Advance which can protect your oesophagus lining.

?Do ensure that you take proper amounts of liquids and nutrition;  otherwise you will indeed feel malnourished and weak and this will not assist your recovery.

 

Agree, although my relation to this thread is second hand since I lived with Mom experiencing the disease, but what I have come to understand is people afflicted just get over whelmed with myriad of symptoms. I think as human beings we rationalize and try to make sense, so we can fix our problems. Some times we get lost in the weeds sort of speak. It is so good to see people helping one another.