help, am in absolute agony

[Flightattendant7]

Sorry to moan but have been up all night with clingy ds2 who is getting fourth molar in I presume..

I've had bad muscle strain or something in my side since monday, but it is sudden;y dramatically worse - I can barely walk, am in tears, it feels like someone broke my rib or something.

I've probably made it worse by having to keep lifting ds all night in bed, feeding him from each side and all the hoo har that entails plus trying to carry on as normal and lift him etc during the day.

I just got up at 3.45 because I thought I should ring the out of hours, but all he said was 'yes, it's common when you've been coughing to disclocate a rib, there's nothing we can do, of course it hurts to breathe, take some paracetamol, no, there's nothing we can do even if it is broken so don't bother coming up for an x ray'.

I said 'it's suddenly much much worse, how can I prevent doing further damage?' and he said 'It shouldn't get worse by your doing normal things, ' but that's exactly what has happened and I'm scared I'll cause permanenet damage...probably panicking a bit knowing me though.

My parents are going out all day. I have a 5yo and an 18mo and I can't move without crying.

I don't know what to do.

Oh feck - you poor thing, I'm not qualified or anything but try to focus on your breathing to calm yourself a little so you dont cough - do you have any remedies you can take to try and calm cough?

I think you may need to get this checked as it might not be a rib it could be a hernia? Ring someone to look after kids and get yourself up to A & E or a walk in centre. Some walk-in center will give you appointments so you dont have to wait when you get there.

HTH - let me know how you get on.

Thankyou so much, just nice to know someone cares!

what are you doing up at 4.30?

I haven't got cough any more, it was bad for a couple of weeks but mostly gone now. I don't even remember doing this to myself tbh, it just kind of crept up.

Can you get a hernia at the side?
It's right on the edge of the ribcage, not abdominal as such.

thanks again for replying.

Sorry I dont know about the hernia thing. Well I am up because I just got on here at midnightish DH asleep then he woke up and started watching CBB and we had a coffee, he's gone back to bed. I am supposed to be getting up and out the house for 9.30 in morning.

But anyway I hope it calms down, has the pain subsided any? I hope you manage to get some sleep you'll be knackered - I'd plan an easy day for yourself! dvds and waffles for dinner!

You still awake FA? You ok?
Exhaustion can do the most horrible things to our bodies - sounds like you're really run down. Gould it be a stomach muscle? I sometimes get cramps just below my ribcage when I've given DD a feed at night.
Def go and see a doc in the morning if you're not better.

hi girls,

waffles for dinner is about right lol.

Drs are all closed today, so it would only be the out of hours. He did say 'ring again if it causes you trouble over the weekend' and I was like, 'ITISALREADYCAUSINGMETROUBLE!!!'

But saying that, now I am properly awake it seems to be more manageable. I can walk around, albeit in pain, and have been tidying the living room in case I do end up immobile and have to get someone round. Ds woke up after I posted so he is around as well, after mammoth feeding and whinging. He has cheered up a bit too.

I will have some help tomorrow as parents will be around. I just wish there was something I could do to it, to make it stop hurting so much or help it get better. But I don't think there is anything.

I'm not sure how to stop lifting ds, will try and avoid it though as much as possible.

How can he possibly diagnose you over the phone? If its still really bad then go and see someone Hope its better soon

Yes I was a bit

Perhaps they are very busy up there, and if it's what he thinks it is and there's nothing they can do anyway, I guess he was being pragmatic.

I don't really like the idea of a dislocated rib, it worries me that it might do other damage if it's in the wrong place?

I'll try and get an appt up there later if it's still agony. I hate just taking painkillers, I'll be on them constantly if I do that. Already been taking far too many with the flu I had for a couple of weeks.

I've just thought. Would having osteoporosis have any bearing on this? I'm starting to wonder if I might actually have fractured a rib somehow.

Apparently it is easier to do when you have o/p, especially if you are coughing a lot

I forgot to mention it to the Dr as I was dx'd years ago (post anorexia) and it was borderline, so no treatment or anything.

Go and see doc. If its still hurting its important you get it sorted. I've just remembered years ago after a really bad chest infection I had similar pains and `i went to doc who told me I had torn something (can't remember what, sorry) from coughing so much. i was in agony.
Go go go! Or I'll fly back to the Uk on my broomstick and drag you there myself!

Thankyou, you are very kind! Perhaps it is just that - something got a bit torn.

I just rang Dr again to mention the osteoporosis and said 'shall I come in for an x ray?' and he said no!!! He doesn't think I should do anything except 'rest' ha ha like that is going to happen...and he said take paracetamol and if that doesn;t have any effect it might be a fracture.

So...will take some and see.

Thankyou...goodness what time is it over there? !

Flightattendant - I had the same and went to A&E. This is what they did:

• electrocardiogram (to check I wasn't having a heart attack - because having pain on left side of ribcage can mean that, apparently)
• some kind of blood/oxygen test to see if I was getting enough oxygen
• only after first two were clear did they take me for a special x-ray that shows not only bones but also some soft tissue. This is where they saw bones weren't broken but there was a fracture and some soft tissue damage.

In the end, they gave me (1) anti-inflammatory pills, and (2) prescription paracetamol (1 g).

I balked at the paracetamol and asked for some "real pain-killers", but they said you can only take paracetamol with anti-inflammatory medication.

All this to say that you should go and get checked out. It is probably just some tissue damage, or a fracture at most, but at least you will get the medication you need.

You can't dislocate a rib, by the way, because ribs don't have sockets to come out of.

Hello Cote, many thanks. How did you manage to injure yourself like that? And how long did the pain take to ease off?

I would be reassured by some tests etc but I don't think they are keen to bother, particularly as I am right side and not left.

Though anti inflammatory stuff might help...

Yes makes sense about dislocation! I am a bit dim

Iboprofen will do more than paracetamol for a pulled muscle, from what I know.

Still, sounds like crappy medical care.

I was convinced I had cracked a rib after a particularly horrendous and long lasting cough a few years ago. I was walking dd2 (then about 18 months) back to the car after dropping dd1 at school and something just 'pinged' in my side. I couldn't lift dd2 into the car and was in absolute agony. The docs said I would just have pulled my intercostal muscle, very common after bad cough etc etc and gave me some strong painkillers. Trouble was they made me so spaced out I had to go to bed . In the end I had to put up with the pain without them for a few weeks otherwise I couldn't have looked after the children! It was really, really, really painful though - you have my sympathies.

I was coughing hard when I felt something snap. When horribly sick after NYE weekend in Amsterdam where at one point I was walking around town with a lace top, saying "Weather is so lovely!"

It took at least a week or two for the sharp pain to go away, iirc. I remember I couldn't laugh and coughing was just agony.

I think you would benefit from an anti-inflammatory like Voltaren. Can you get some?(I can't remember if they are OTC in UK) And take lots of paracetamol.

Good luck. I know it hurts like hell, but it will pass.

Don't take ibuprofen if you will be taking anti-inflammatories.

Oh a couple of weeks isn't too bad, at least I can know the end is in sight iyswim.

NQC thankyou have got some ibu as well...might take both.

Polgara - thanks, maybe it is just an intercostal. I can stop panicking if I know it's likely to be muscular or a small fracture, i was worried about other stiff like internal organs and so on before but i think it getting worse like this after a night of disturbance suggests it's mechanical.

I am just a bit nrevous about how to get through another night like that. Ds teething badly and just wants to bite all night. He cries unless i swap sides continually and sit up a bit so he can attach hismelf.

It's uncomfortable at the best of times.
I might get some medised if can make it to the shops! Never used it before but am feeling desperate lol.

Oh ok cote, will bear that in mind though not looking hoopeful I'll get rpescribed anything. I don't think you can buy that stuff otc. (tempted to just get very very drunk instead but prob not a good idea...)