Uncommon costo symptoms

Posted , 57 users are following.

Costochondritis is unfortunately, not widely known or discussed and I've got more information from here than my gp.

Although I'm lucky to say I'm 80-90% healed, I've reached a plateau.

I wanted to share some of the less common symptoms I've experienced in my healing process for those who may be scared/confused:

Dizziness

Head pressure on the side of inflammation

(possibly led to a slowing down of the movement in left eye, I now wear glasses to refocus, never had eye issues before)

Headaches

Swollen neck

Tightness in neck

Swollen shoulder muscles

Back pain in the middle of back

Inability to eat

Feeling physically full after half a meal but still hungry

Stomach pain

Burning sensation in muscles

Tingling sensation in muscles

Strange sinking feeling when breathing, comparable to the stomach drop you get in fear/on a rollercoaster or similar but it's more muscular/physical

Sensation of muscles suddenly "deflating" when falling asleep - possibly anxiety related as well

Constant palpitations

Fatigue

Tiredness

Generally weak

Arm pain on side of inflammation

Feeling like I can't breathe

Difficulty walking at speed - who knew swaying arms could be so painful?!

Feeling fine all day but swelling up when you lie down to sleep

Sinus pressure

BONUS: For those who have overcome the majority of the pain

general discomfort/awareness/heaviness/tightness of the affected areas

Feel free to share your uncommon/less discussed symptoms

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  • Edited

    hi.

    you had or have all of this from costochondridis ?

    how long have you had it and who treated you.

    i have it and have been in emergency room 6 times.

    i just spent 2 days in hospital and had a scope down to my stomach and nothing found except a little gastritis and gerd which I've had for years.

    i have no Doctor near where I live who treats it.

    can stress or anxiety make it worse ?

    hospital just put me on Nsaids and on vitamin D. but i think my anxiety or a mental illness is making me feel like food is stuck in throat or chest.

    i hurt chest, neck, arms, shoulders and back and it's like a red hot ax. it started as pressure.

    I'm limited on foods and medication i can take do to allergies.

    ive had it since December 2020.

    • Posted

      I've had all this. So many doctors and tests.

      It all started around perimenopause. I don't know if I believe costo is the cause or if it's just mixed in there with all the other things going on. When it started it was a month long sore throat, followed by lump in throat, then everything went south. Hit me like a train. Flu like misery, jelly legs, costo pain in left back by shoulder blade, elephant sitting on my chest, shortness of breath, shakiness, consecutive frozen shoulders, chest pains on left side, vision problems, reactivated viruses like EBV, headaches, burning feet, more.. Ive been so unwell since 2017. Lately I'm wondering if its old Lyme Disease as it's difficult to wrap my head around that menopause or costo could be causing all this. This last bout of bad costo came in Jan after painting. Came with SOB and lasted a month. Then came back in June after doing chest pilates exercises but more SOB than pain. All the other symptoms starting to pile on again.

  • Posted

    Hello everybody, how are you all doing with costo. After 4 years struggling with these symptoms, i would like to share my experience here. i still dont know the exact cause for the weird symptoms costo gives. i managed with anxiety medicines and multi vitamins along with vitamin d tablets. they only helped me to manage but did not cure my condition. now my current symptoms are muscle tightness nd pulling sensation in mid back nd neck after doing some house hold work. if i take rest my mid back gets stiff urging me to give some blow on my mid back, i ask my husband to massgge with some pain relief ointment. thats again temporary. this repeats everyday. guys, if anybody found the reason behind this weird symptoms nd cure pls share here it will help many to improve their quality of life.

    • Posted

      I wish I knew the reasons! I think it's just all so interconnected, the muscle and the tissue and we don't realise how one affects the other until there's an injury or pain.

      Then having chest tightness in general plays on your mind which can give you anxiety. Even if in your brain you know it's not a heart condition, I think your body reacts as if there is something happening with your heart. It's automatic I think. That's my theory, I don't really know.

      Try tumeric teas, that's what helped with a lot of my symptoms. My pains were almost gone within a month of drinking tumeric tea daily. But it does thin the blood so make sure it's safe for you to take.

  • Posted

    I've been dealing with these same symptoms for more than a year now. what did you do to get some relief

    • Posted

      Hi, the thing that helped the most was tumeric teas. Just get regular tumeric powder from a local Asian supermarket, put a teaspoon or two in boiling water and drink. You can add honey or ginger to tone down the taste.

      My symptoms were relieved within a month or so compared to the weeks I was taking ibuprofen with little change.

      It can thin the blood though make sure it's safe to take before trying,

  • Edited

    oh god... I understand how you felt. I'm a male 39 yo and Ive been diagnosed with costochondritis (probably Tietze but it's about the same thing) a couple of days ago by my doctor. I have many of the symptoms you have. Mine isn't that painful but chest pressure is how it feels and keeps giving me the impression that it's harder to breath but it's really not. It's even swollen near the breastplate on the left and tender on some spot. If I look at both side of my ribcage one side is definitely bigger. Pain sometimes goes to the jaw but just briefly. I also had a period of constant palpitations (extrasystoles) earlier this year. This might all be related to the costochondritis. I have been checked for heart issues (ekg, holter, bloodwork) but nothing except extrasystoles (pvc) which my dr says is normal.

    "Strange sinking feeling when breathing, comparable to the stomach drop you get in fear/on a rollercoaster or similar but it's more muscular/physical"

    This might be / have been some extrasystoles. Feels like heart skips a beat. I feel mine that way.

    My theory is that since there is an inflammation, it makes a little more pressure on the heart.

    Headaches

    Tightness in neck

    Back pain in the middle of back

    Inability to eat (sometimes i feel nauseous but not to the point of throwing up)

    Burning sensation in muscles

    Feeling like I can't breathe

    Sensation of muscles suddenly "deflating" when falling asleep (feeling of falling off / jolt that's waking you)

    Fatigue (sometimes)

    Tiredness (sometimes)

    Constant palpitations (had it for a while)

    Left Shoulder pain / tightness

    My doctor put many of those symptoms in the anxiety bucket but I kinda doubt that. This all started a few months ago with muscle spasm on my left side (might even started alot earlier when I hurt my left chest muscle ) and peaked with palpitations which turned into panic attack (never had any in my life) non stop for a month and now it transformed into costo. The more time passes the more I think it's been costo all along from the beginning. Some symptoms are wanning off lately but some are recent like swelling and pain / burning feeling.

    Currently trying a couple of things to help. I have bough a massager to see if it helps. I drink some tea. I will have to try the tumeric tea at some point. Valerian, Chamomile, help with anxiety like symptoms, Peppermint supposed to be some kind of anti inflammatory tea. I try to do stretches. Chiropractor told me not to put any pressure of the left side so I'm not sleeping on that side which is hard since I'm a side sleeper and tend to switch side a few times per night. Right now it's trying to apply some heat to see if it helps with swelling. I've stopped all form of physical workout involving chest so I'm basically walking 30 minutes per day because it seems to help in my case.

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