pleurisy !!

[alfiemama]

Ive been ill now for about 9 weeks, started with a chest infection, then got sent to A & E for suspected PE which thankfully turned out to be a false alarm.

I have now been diagnosed with pleurisy but I am just not sure if this is correct.

I have a sharp pain in my right rib, it is their all the time and only eases with strong pain killers and have had this pain since the end of November. It hurts more when I breathe in and I struggle to sleep at night as wake myself up in pain when I turn over.

I have been back to the Dr's 4 times and each time he just keeps saying it will go and just pleuritic pain. He has even stopped giving me antibiotics now, as had about 3 lots now.

Has anyone else had this, I keep thinking could it be my gall bladder as they mentioned this in A & E.

I had a chest xray and also a negative d-dimer test for the pe.

I am getting so down with this, just want to feel "normal" again, and well to be honest it hurts like hell

Oh poor you! I can't help at all but noticed this in unanswered threads, so I'm bumping away. Have you tried googling pleurisy and gall bladders? Pleurisy sounds wonderfully Victorian, but the reality presumably isn't romantic like a Catherine Cookson book!

Thanks Songbird

it sounds terribly victorian, and should have stayed in that era instead of finding itself in me.

I have been googling like crazy, cant help but think if it was something more sinister and I kept leaving it.

Its hard sometimes to put all your trust in the Dr's. I just would have thought the pain would have gone by now. I can understand feeling drained, and boy do I! But its the pain thats horrendous makes you feel sick.

Thanks Watsthestory. Oh crikey, I will keep an eye on it, thanks.

Thats the daft thing though, I dont have a cough any more, yet still have this pain.

With Gallbladder pain, does it come and go? as this seems to be there all the time. Hard to tell fully, as eases when on the pain killers, but cannot go without them. agony!

And Im sure Im not being soft, I seem to have quite a strong pain threshold.

I've had pleurisy too and it was just like you describe. Do look after yourself. I also have a reasonably high tolerance for pain but pleurisy was absolute agony. I see you've already had antibiotics and they didn't work. I'd be demanding super-strength ones in your place, I think, if such a thing exists. Or at least demanding to see a specialist. I think if you've had three lots of ABs and are no better you definitely have a case for further investigation.

Alfiemama - I had it too, a couple of times, over a period of about 6 months. The first time hurt like hell, the second time was (IMO) worse than childbirth.
Antibiotics didn't work at all but after weeks (second time) of absolute agony, (every breath felt like my ribs were bursting out of my chest) almost constant crying etc I found that diclofenac worked a treat. When that pain goes away and you can actually breathe without wanting to scream is absolute bliss. It never came back and that was 8 years ago.

Thanks Horton. It makes me feel better when you are all saying that, what I am describing is what you all had.

I think if no better by the Monday, I will go and harrass the dr again.

I suppose because I had an Xray and nothing else showed up, it cant really be anything else!

Ooh 12stone, Diclofenic, rings a bell with me. Im sure I had that after my sections.

Your right it does feel worse than child birth, Id swap it any day. I think Im getting on dh nerves, because Im moping around, he keeps telling me things, but because of the pain, I just dont seem to be listening half of the time.

I just keep thinking theres worse of than me, but my ds is going through assessments at the mo for Aspergers/asd so I need to be on tip top form, in case I have to fight for him, ifyswim.

Alfiemama that sounds exactly like pleurisy (I have had it too) - but I am confused as to why GP is not giving you more/different antiB's if that is what it is.

I have had gall bladder pain and yes that definitely comes (in realatively short (hours, not days) attacks) and then goes (sometimes for weeks) whereas the pleurisy was constant.

Unless somebody has actually experienced pleurisy (or childbirth for that matter... note to DP!!) there is no way on earth they could possibly understand how miserable it makes you.
Do you have to brace yourself every morning to push yourself up out of bed, knowing full well that for at least for the next few minutes you won't even be able to speak because of the pain?? It's horrific.
Definitely Dicolfenac was the cure for me - equally effective when I twisted my lower back picking DS up when he was little, it's an amazing thing. Definitely worth speaking to your doctor about.

Another vote for Diclofenic (sp?) - whichever it is, as it was the only thing which stopped me rolling around wailing with Gall Bladder pain as well.

How terrible for you. My DH had pleurisy a few years back and it was awful for him and very painful. I really hope you feel better soon.

I wanted to add that he has since been diagnosed with asthma and is on meds for it and hasn't been nearly as poorly with chest infections and pleurisy since his diagnosis.

I wanted to add that he has since been diagnosed with asthma and is on meds for it and hasn't been nearly as poorly with chest infections and pleurisy since his diagnosis.

Thanks everyone. Is Diclofenic, only available as a prescription.

I think its odd that Im not on antibiotics any more. At least when you are there is hope that they could be working.

Yes very, well extremely difficult to get out of bed in the morning, takes me at least 20 mins to come round enough to sit up. Just cant wait to wake up and feel normal again. Feel at the mo, like I am always going to be on these dreadful pain killers.

At the mo, taking co proxamol and neurofen, every 4 hours and have been doing so, since 30 November, I know because it was my Birthday

Diclofenic is indeed prescription-only and will replace (I think) the Nurofen aspect of your current cocktail.

That is a long time to be in pain. I would be insisting on a referral IIWY

(and like ByTheSea's DH, since my asthma meds were sorted out I have not had a single chest infection of any sort whereas I used to get them, in varying degrees, every time I got a cold)

Good luck.

Yep, definitely worse than childbirth because there's no let-up and no payoff!

I had Diclofenac for backache and it is aces.

And I have never had pleurisy again after that first time either, despite being asthmatic and prone to chest infections.

The codeine might be making you more groggy and down Could you switch to more powerful anti inflammatories and see if that works?

Horton - yes, that's what I meant by saying it's worse than childbirth.

BTW - I'm asthmatic too.

Try Co enzyme Q10 if you take supplements; I had pleurisy 3 times in one year and then pneumonia. When I stopped anti-bios I took Q10 and it helped.

I send you much sympathy, it's rotten.

Going to ring the Dr again, I suppose Im getting a bit freaked now, but its not going to go on its own.

I dont think I have asthma, daft question, but would I not know if I had, ie attacks ect?

Good point about the codeine, notnowplease. This is what the hospital told me to take, or paracetamol and codeine seperate, but I think this is the same isnt it?

The Dr did say the only reason he sent me to hosp was he thougth could have been pe or bronchial pneumonia.

I did ask him could it be anything sinister, but he said he really didnt think so, listened to my chest again, and said it will go, this was last week.

thanks again everyone, sorry if I sound like a moaning minnie

alfiemama, out of interest (as I have been diagnosed this last week with pleurisy too), do your ribs / chest area hurt when pressed? My GP thinks I have pleurisy, doc at the hospital where I was referred after chest x-ray thinks it is torn / pulled muscles because of all the coughing I have been doing with the chest infection I've been harbouring for weeks. I'm not saying yours isn't pleurisy but is it possible that you've pulled muscles too? Mine doesn't sound half as painful as yours and I have been in agony, still am when I cough, feels like a hole is being ripped in my side. You have my sympathies! Hope you start feeling better soon - and think you should revisit your GP.

sorry should have said, doc at hospital said that pleurisy wouldn't usually result in tenderness when ribs pressed.

oh and the GP (who thinks it is pleurisy) told me I would feel ill for 4-6 weeks - sorry.

codeine is not good for asthmatics iirc it suppresses breathing esp when asleep no wonder you can't get up!

As with others - yes it sounds like Pleursy. Thing is pluersy isn't always bacterial - or at least the inflammation (which causes the pain) can hang around even after the infection has been cleared - so that is why the ABs may have stopped - especially if the is nothing on an X-Ray.

Another possibility is something like chosto-chondritis which is inflammation of teh cartilage which joins you ribs to your rib cage - don't think it shows on XRay. And that is bloody painful (although localised over the affetct rib junction). treatment for this is anti-inflamatories (i.e. diclofenac).

As others have said you should be taking co-codamol and either ibuprofen or diclofenac (aka voltarol).