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Anyone had costochondritis?

8 replies

kuckingfunt · 13/02/2011 12:35

Has anyone even been diagnosed with this?

The gp has said that I could be suffering from this. It has gone from me having a stomach ulcer to possibly having this. I just dont know anymore what it is, it has been going on for months now.

Has anyone had costochondritis? Could you tell me what your symptoms etc were?

OP posts:
Elibean · 13/02/2011 14:08

Yes, I did. Felt like a pain behind one breast, really nagging achey sometimes quite sharp (enough to make me gasp). Saw endless breast specialists, had mammos etc etc and eventually one of them thought to poke up behind breast where joint between rib and breatbone cartilage is - I nearly jumped off the couch.

You can get it near the breastbone, or further out where the cartilages join...its inflammation of the rib/cartilage joint/s. HTH.

AlexaMulberry · 13/02/2011 14:09

YES!

Hurt like hell for about a fortnight :(

Iggly · 13/02/2011 14:11

I think so. Never formally diagnosed. Bloody kills, ibuprofen every four hours when it flared up did the trick.

mrsden · 13/02/2011 14:16

I have had this on and off for about 10 years. The pain is on the right side of my left breast, between the ribs. It can be a dull, achey sensation but is often a sharp, stabbing pain. For a while I was worried that it was related to my heart because of where the pain is. It comes and goes. It can be fine for months and then flare up and I have no idea what started it off in the first place.

I try to avoid heavy lifting as this does cause a flare up the next day. Ibuprofen works well for the pain.

notcitrus · 13/02/2011 14:29

Yes, I had this for a couple years, getting so bad I couldn't climb a flight of stairs or walk 100 yards without sitting down for a rest.

It's an inflammation of the joints where your ribs join onto your sternum. As ibuprofen didn't work I was prescribed diclofenac which works well for many people and indeed was working for me except turns out I'm allergic to it (so if you take it and get D+V for more than a few hours, STOP taking it!)

Some months later I went back to the doc, saw a different GP who instead of saying there's two options (do nothing or anti-inflammatories), said there were three options. So I asked for option 3.

Turned out option 3 was to inject anaesthetic and anti-inflammatory directly into the joints. I begged for it and he was startled, then agreed, had to order in the drugs, and then did most of the joints. Didn't hurt cos only the skin has nerve endings. He did tell me to call 999 and tell them I had a punctured lung if I had any pain over the next few days...

It was a miracle cure. Actually I had to go back once to have some of the joints done again, but on the whole it's been fixed. I walked half a mile home without stopping!

The problem is finding a doc willing to do that, as usually they want you in hospital for it, or aren't aware it's an option.

kuckingfunt · 13/02/2011 18:00

My symptoms dont sound quite the same - my pain is in my ribcage at the front, but lower down than behind my breast, almost in the top of my stomach. I get it on both sides too. Some days are better than others but it has been going on for about 2 months now.

OP posts:
DrMcDreamy · 13/02/2011 18:02

Yes. Convinced myself was having a heart attack or a pulmonary embolis and ended up in hospital having every test known to man. Was more than a little red faced when they diagnosed the above but it does hurt a lot!

notcitrus · 13/02/2011 19:59

kuck - costo is easy to diagnose: feel along a rib bone until you get to where it meets your breastbone. Press hard. If you want to kill me for suggesting that, it's probably costo...
Grin

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