1. Community
  2. Mental health
  3. Anxiety Disorders

Rib Pain really anxious

Posted , 15 users are following.

stacey54711
stacey54711

I dealt with bad anxiety last year where I had really bad chest pains and would google every symptom and my doctors told me anxiety and left it at that. These symptoms all disappeared during the summer when I was distracted with traveling and was really happy but then I came back and all my terrible thoughts came back.

So the past couple of months I’ve dealt with a lot. The first and worst of which is i now can no longer go out to lunch/dinner with my family or I have a mini panic attack (I get severly nauseaous and hot and feel like I’ll faint or throw up) and I think it’s because it’s an inescapable place and I hide most of my anxiety from my family because they make my anxiety way worse when they worry so my body panics when I can’t hide from them knowing they’ll notice something is wrong. I’m in college so I don’t have to deal with this a lot as I don’t live at home but sometimes they visit and I have to fake having my period or something to avoid these situations.

Now the past month or so I’ve had multiple things. First I thought I had a chest cold because I’ve had a non productive cough and felt like there was mucus in my chest. I went to the doctor who listened to my lungs and everything and determined if it was anything it was a mild cold but there wasn’t anything in my lungs. The funny thing about that is my coughing stopped almost entirely immediately after the appointment.

But now I’ve had rib pain. It first started one night when I rolled over and felt a twinge of pain when my arm hit my one rib bone (on the right side). I started pressing that bone and realized it was tender to touch. the pain started radiating to my entire side but then I fell asleep. When I woke up the pain was gone until I started touching that same bone and felt exactly where it was tender to touch. Then the pain again radiated my entire side. I was obsessively touching it wondering if I could feel a tumor or lump there. Sometimes I convinced myself I felt something but then I couldn’t feel it again. The bone that hurt is my very bottom rib or the second one from the bottom. I realized the rib feels kinda like it’s sitting on top of the rib Above it? I decided it might be displaced ribs because the same rib on my left side doesn’t feel like that but a couple of days later my left side started hurting too. Certain ribs on both sides are now tender to touch. On my left side the bone that hurts is further up, closer to my chest but still completely on my side. Like it’s the sides of my body that hurt when these pains radiate. Everywhere I search says costochondritis but none of the pain is near the center rib bone and it’s mostly on the bottom.

I’m getting it checked out in a few days but I’m wary. I’m scared it’s bone cancer or something terrible but also the doctor Will attribute it to anxiety most likely. I’m tired of always being scared.

1 like, 23 replies

23 Replies

Next
  • xmaryx
    xmaryx stacey54711

    Posted

    Do you feel a burning in your stomach and are having burping sometimes? Sounds like gastritis (irritated stomach) and/or acid reflux. It can get quite painful and move around to your side and even your back. I'm healing mine now, but I also got anxious about it thinking it was my heart, gall bladder, etc. which only made it worse. Here's something I came up with that might help you find out quickly. Get some Peptol Bismol tablets (or liquid) and take a dose. If the pain disappears like  magic within a half hour or so, it's a good indicator that it's just acid. Pepto temporarily coats the stomach blocking the acid from irritating it. It only lasts about an hour or two, but at least then you can tell it's just acid and not something else. I've been taking Nexium for a week and after 4 days the pain finally went away. If the Pepto doesn't work, it might just be soreness from coughing. (Acid reflux will cause coughing and throat clearing, too). 

    • stacey54711
      stacey54711 xmaryx

      Posted

      I considered this last year when I had chest pain and I bought antacids (not pepto) I tried them once and I was fine but couldn’t tell if there was a difference and I haven’t tried them since. I’ll give it a go a second time though.

      I do notice my stomach is really noisy after I eat even something small and I have A LOT of mucus buildup in my throat and have had that for months so reflux is always in the back of my mind.

      But would it make specific rib bones tender to touch though? It’s not hurting from the bones pushing on anything it the bone specifically hurts and only in small different spots.

    • mohammedadam
      mohammedadam xmaryx

      Posted

      The Anxiety go down not like before but I fell hot coming out from my body one hour after I eat and muscle tens near my center spinal code, acid use to trigger my ulcers and some time I have anger easily.

      But I can now

      Sleep

      Exercise

      Meet few friend s

      Bath

      Whatch TV

      Go online

  • xmaryx
    xmaryx stacey54711

    Posted

    I should also mention I get the tender rib pain when I get gastritis. I also thought it was costochondritis or a bruised rib. It was worse when I sat. No pain in the morning until I started drinking coffee.
    • stacey54711
      stacey54711 xmaryx

      Posted

      Oh that answered my question haha sorry. Thanks for the input I’ll try taking them again and see what happens. I have pain even before I eat/drink in the morning so I’m not sure but fingers crossed.
  • jeannisha97114
    jeannisha97114 stacey54711

    Posted

    As far as I know I don't have gastritis I have a appointment Monday to get my stomach checked because I almost have appendicitis type pains now.. but I always got rib pains frequently and I also had that feeling like u said mucus in your chest uhhh that was so annoying but thank goodness that went away.. the rib pain still comes and goes I just choose to ignore it because I been to the dr and they keep sending me home sayin it's anxiety so now I just ignore everything unless I'm severely in pain.. my stomach kind of stops me from eating some days so I need to see a dr for that.. but I think the rib pain might just be anxiety 

    • stacey54711
      stacey54711 jeannisha97114

      Posted

      I’ve had an irrational fear of appendicitis like my entire life haha I’m pretty it’s where my health anxiety comes from.  I always check to see if it hurts to press down on the area when my right abdomen hurts which probably will just irritate my appendix in the long run.

      I do attribute most things to anxiety anymore mostly to get past them since I know any doctors I see will do the same anyway but I can’t imagine how my ribs would be tender from anxiety. Unless it’s costo which I’ve seen can be from anxiety I just don’t understand. I did do heavy lifting about 2-3 days before I got this pain so I’ve been wondering if it’s correlated but idk...it just feels like all these symptoms are one mystery after another. I also had one of my mini panic attacks the day before I noticed it and also had insanely bad nausea but I don’t think the nausea was from anxiety i had Burger King the night before and then woke up feeeling awful and bloated with indigestion and I think it triggered my anxiety attack. It’s crazy.

    • jeannisha97114
      jeannisha97114 stacey54711

      Posted

      Yea I think your fine you just need to relax mentally and tell yourself your ok.. but idk my stomach just seem so wierd.. I do the same thing as you though lol press on I'm lower right side.. but my stomach hurt that I don't want to eat and I'm really nausea it just don't seem normal.. and it brings me shortness of breath sometimes. So idk just thinking about gave me semi panicking right now I just want to get better .. but I think your rib pain is nothing 

  • spiral135
    spiral135 stacey54711

    Edited

    Did you ever get to the bottom of this? Your story sounds verbatim like mine. Hope you are feeling better. 
    • brad14787
      brad14787 spiral135

      Edited

      Hi, any answer to your symptoms? i am hoping that someone in this forum has found a resolution and will clue me in. i have had the same exact symptoms

    • lauren34626
      lauren34626 spiral135

      Posted

      hey i know its long after the post but did you ever find out?

  • navneet37075
    navneet37075 stacey54711

    Posted

    Hey Stacy did you ever get to the bottom of this? I feel the same way, would like to know what you found out.
    • brad14787
      brad14787 navneet37075

      Edited

      Hi, Navneet. Did you get answers ? i have has this Same issue and want to know if anyone has an answer

  • evelyn32813
    evelyn32813 stacey54711

    Posted

    i have never responded to any forum like thtis until i came across yours iam beside myself that our symptoms are exact! i have had everything under the sun tested i do have anxiety and i feel anxiety makes it worse but that cant be the reason nehind our rib pain this all began for me nov 14 its now feb 25th:( ive had mri of my spine, ultra sound of my entire stomach( thinking maybe its gallbladder related or pancreas) all blood work everything came back good all i do is lay in bed when i work i have to come home because my ribs hurt so bad. i now see the physical therapist she really thinks its a rib dysfunction . another doc is saying maybe a chronic costochondritis . i feel its never going to get better all i did was rake my yard and the next day i had terrible cramps in my ribs. i hope you find out whats causing tour pain

    • brad14787
      brad14787 evelyn32813

      Posted

      Hi, Evelyn. Did you get any answers. i have been experiencing the same exact symptoms and hoping someone has found an answer

Back to top
Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.