Rib cage pain

Hiya pinkp123

I personally haven't heard of anyone with that sort of pain. Hopefully someone else can help by letting you know, even if they haven't experienced it.

Maybe check with your GP

Good luck

Hi pinkp123,

Yes, I am also suffering from pain in the rib cage area, so you are not alone on that one. I have found that over the last several weeks, while dropping my steroid dosage each fortnight, the main pain seems to 'move around' while still hurting all over !

The time I dropped from 20mg to 17.5mg, the worst of the pain was in my lower back and hip area and made walking very difficult, but I perservered and 'came out' the other side a few days later.

I am hoping the same happens with the pain in the ribs now that I have gone down to 15mg.

I am seeing another GP on Friday, my usual one is on holiday, so I'll see what he thinks then.

Enjoy the sunshine, between the showers.

DD

Yes - a couple of years ago I too had pain around the rib cage which was quite bothersome. After moaning and complaining and generally throwing a tantrum about it I did get some further investigation done and it turned out to be blocked/swollen lymph nodes. Manual lymphatic drainage did the trick and I haven't had it since then. I've just got other problems now!

Hugs,

Nefret

[quote:9e65fddc4f=\"Devonshire Dumpling\"]Hi pinkp123,

Yes, I am also suffering from pain in the rib cage area, so you are not alone on that one. I have found that over the last several weeks, while dropping my steroid dosage each fortnight, the main pain seems to 'move around' while still hurting all over !

The time I dropped from 20mg to 17.5mg, the worst of the pain was in my lower back and hip area and made walking very difficult, but I perservered and 'came out' the other side a few days later.

I am hoping the same happens with the pain in the ribs now that I have gone down to 15mg.

I am seeing another GP on Friday, my usual one is on holiday, so I'll see what he thinks then.

Enjoy the sunshine, between the showers.

DD[/quote:9e65fddc4f][quote:9e65fddc4f][/quote:9e65fddc4f] :P

[quote=\"Devonshire Dumpling\"]Hi pinkp123,

Yes, I am also suffering from pain in the rib cage area, so you are not alone on that one. I have found that over the last several weeks, while dropping my steroid dosage each fortnight, the main pain seems to 'move around' while still hurting all over !

The time I dropped from 20mg to 17.5mg, the worst of the pain was in my lower back and hip area and made walking very difficult, but I perservered and 'came out' the other side a few days later.

I am hoping the same happens with the pain in the ribs now that I have gone down to 15mg.

I am seeing another GP on Friday, my usual one is on holiday, so I'll see what he thinks then.

Enjoy the sunshine, between the showers.

DD[/quote

Hi Devonshire Dumpling

Cheers - that explains it I am now down to 3mg a day - seems a lot better this morning but now the pain is back in my shoulders!!!

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Hi Pinkp123

Re the returning pain in your shoulders today: You mentioned in your previous entry that you were diagnosed with PMR in February and that you are now on 3mgs - assuming you may have started on 15mgs in February, that appears to be a very rapid dose reduction, and may have contributed to the return of the shoulder pain. It has often been recommended on this site and by the experts that once below 5mgs it should be a very very slow reduction, possibly staying on each 1mg drop for up to 3 months. Could you perhaps get your ESR and CRP blood tests repeated to check for raised inflammation?

Good news about the rib cage pain improving though - that must be so uncomfortable with every movement.

Good luck to you and one and all out there (especially to Nefret today!).

MrsO

[quote:fc555f701e=\"MrsO \"]Hi Pinkp123

Re the returning pain in your shoulders today: You mentioned in your previous entry that you were diagnosed with PMR in February and that you are now on 3mgs - assuming you may have started on 15mgs in February, that appears to be a very rapid dose reduction, and may have contributed to the return of the shoulder pain. It has often been recommended on this site and by the experts that once below 5mgs it should be a very very slow reduction, possibly staying on each 1mg drop for up to 3 months. Could you perhaps get your ESR and CRP blood tests repeated to check for raised inflammation?

Good news about the rib cage pain improving though - that must be so uncomfortable with every movement.

Good luck to you and one and all out there (especially to Nefret today!).

MrsO[/quote:fc555f701e][quote:fc555f701e]Hi MrsO

Had my ESR & CRP tests last week and have gone down again from the previous test. I originally started on 40mg because I could barely walk but misunderstood my doctor on reduction. Anyway I am now on 3mg which I am going to be on for approx 3 months. The pain in my shoulders is only slight and don't mind a little pain compared to what it was. Doctor said if things get worse I can go up to 5mg again. Good luck to you and thanks for your comments[/quote:fc555f701e]

Hi again pinkp123,

Glad to hear that the pain in your ribs has subsided and the pain in your shoulders is bearable. I know just what you mean when you say you don't mind a little pain compared to what it was. I think we all have to find our own coping strategy.

I can honestly say that since this all started for me, the pain in my neck / shoulders has been constant.

Hope you find dropping the dosage of steroids goes OK,

Keep in touch on here to let us all know how you are getting on and I'll be back soon !

Hope Nefret is OK !

All the best to everyone,

DD

I also have had pains in my ribs but I put it down to carrying more weight around my waist through the Steroids

I think my general pain gets worse with stress. I have just been on holiday and I got all worked up about packing, what to take,the booking and the journey so then spent the holiday in pain.

I was down to 5mg a day before my holiday but my doctor put my back to 10mg just before I went away. I started on 20mg last August.

The pain appears to be going down to my feet now not so much in my shoulders. And my hands get better as the day goes. I also can fall asleep anywhere, even sitting at the computer. Does this happen to anyone else?

I have had Polymyalgia since last August.

Hi, I too was diagnosed last year at 51 but I'm not totally convinced now that it is pmr. I've had the burning/painful ribs, very tender and feels like I've been gripped by a grizzly bear. I read up on vasculitis, which is a general term for a group of diseases that involve inflammation in blood vessels and it includes pmr and gca. That made much more sense to me as it does actually feel like it's the blood vessels rather than muscle causing the problem. The rib problem did go on its own so can't add any more, but my doctor did do some blood tests for vasculitis at the time.

Have finally registered properly on this so will add my own entry soon!

Hope this is of interest.

Yes, I would agree, there does seem to be a connection between PMR/GCA and Vasculitis - I was diagnosed with Vasculitis between diagnoses of PMR and GCA. It would be interesting to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience.

MrsO

I had not heard of Vasculitis before but now you have mentioned it ,I think that might be what I feel in the veins of my wrists, the pain shoots up to my hands. I will mention it to my doctor next time I see her. Thanks for that information.

Spammy

I'm convinced that I have either been told, or have read somewhere that PMR is also classed as vasculitis anyway - and I'm sure I found it on one of the Vasculitis sites. It would make sense as it seems the latest thinking is that PMR affects the blood vessels linings which in turn starves the muscle of blood and that is why so many of us feel it as muscle pain.

Perhaps our Mrs. K or one of the other PMR Fighters will come along and confirm this (or tell me I've got hold of the wrong end of the stick).

Nefret

Nefret

Yes I just dropped in been very busy making a DVD and recovering from downturn - now on the up and hoping to maintain it.

Stuart Strange Vasculitis Trust - website http://www.vasculitis-uk.org.uk/symptoms.htm

Remember there is a wide range of auto-immune diseases and one can often be misdiagnosed. But those symptoms, in the vernacular, 'do not compute for me'

Read it and make your own minds up and also read the page on Vasculitis.

Hi again, I found the the John Hopkins Vasculitis Center most helpful....http://vasculitis.med.jhu.edu/

It's good I'm not alone with this. After my ribs were particularly tender one day and my insides felt like they were burning, I noticed some tiny bright red spots on my skin in that area (only about eight, but they're not going away).

Thanks all.