Costochondritis, Chest Pain

[summer]

Just wondering if others experience chest pain often. I have had this most of the time for 16 months (since I got sick). Costochondritis was the first diagnosis I was given, before my doctor realized that so much more was going on. I was told that it should clear up over a few months. It has never gone away. Most of the time it's like a tenderness over my sternum and ribs. When it gets bad it sends shooting pains through my chest. Do any of you experience this almost all the time? Does it ever go away? I have been cleared of any cardiac problems.

[pat57]

I have gotten it on and off for decades. Recently my MD treated it with Advil gelcaps, one a day WITH FOOD for 8 - 10 days.

Its gone for now.

[ljoeb]

Yepper... I have chest pain almost daily, it goes along with my feeling like poop in the mornings. Before I knew anything about this disorder, I thought I was having a heart attack, but now I know its just a part of my disorder. I do pay close attention though, to make sure I don't get short of breath or have pain shooting through my shoulder. But I have had just about every test you can have on your heart, and other than needing a pacemaker for severe bradychardia, my arteries are "clean as a whistle" and I have no disease process at all. And my doctor has assured me that I don't need to worry about it.. its just part of the process. Hang in there!!

[summer]

A thorough cardiac workup was the first thing my doctor did too. I found it scary at first, but after all this time, it's just painful. I'll try the advil gelcaps. I do wonder sometimes how I will ever know if there is really something cardiac going on. With so many symptoms happening all the time, we sort of start to ignore them!! Maybe that's not good.

[maryfw]

How severe is the pain? My husband was told he had chostocondritis but it was so severe that he was finally put in the hospital and told he had pulmonary embolisms. Now he is still having severe chest pain even though his clots are gone and they have found out his gallbladder has stones and sludge and needs to come out. Gallbladder issues can also feel like a heart attack too. He is also being sent to a rheumatologist. Some other disorders like Lupus can cause chest pain so there are all kinds of things we are finding out that can be his problem and not just chostocondritis. If it continues and is severe dont stop looking for answers.

mary

[jump]

My doctor told me that when I experience the "shooting" pains it is brought on by dehydration. I don't know if it's psychosomatic or not, but I have found that if I experience the more severe pain if I really push fluids it usually goes away faster than when I don't. But I don't know the science behind that, I never really asked.

Sorry you're still in so much pain!

jump

[pat57]

I may be cornfused but I want to be clear that I was DX with Costochondritis, took the Advil gel caps(anti-inflammatory) and it cleared up.

If you don't know what your pain is, I would have to recommend seeing your doctor. On the other hand if you do try the gel caps, don't forget to take with food.

[morgan617]

As far as I know nsaids are the only thing that really works for it, but as Pat says...food food food...I get pleurisy type pain, so that when I breathe in, it feels like someone has stuck an ice pick in my chest, so I can't get a breath in. Hurts like a booger, but usually clears on it's own. It is the sharpest pain, I just hate it. I told my cardio about it and he said, well that's too bad, see you in six months....morgan

[summer]

Thanks everyone,

I am confident that I'm only dealing with costochondritis here and that it is not something more serious. I have been thoroughly checked out. I guess nsaids are the way to go. I was just hoping eventually it would clear up, but maybe I'll always have it.

Morgan, I used to get pleurisy often but haven't had it for a few years. Yes, it was like a knife! Hope yours goes away and stays away too. Obviously, your cardio has never had it.

Jump, that's interesting about the shooting pains, and dehydration. I have actually been doing a better job of staying hydrated lately, and I think possibly I'm not feeling them as often. I wonder how that works.

Summer

[Kitsakatsa]

I had it long before pots. From what I understand, it is always underlying and can come back with stress, or stress to the region. I got it from working in a burn unit. I had horrible pain and my physiatrist wrote for iontophoresis. Basically, there is some sort of anti-inflam med in a disc. The disc goes on your chest and the lead over it. I had about 7 leads. It looks alot like an EKG test. Then, they turn this thing on and it sends vibration waves? into your chest with the medicine. This isn't alternative medicine, it sounds wierd- but its a routine thing they use for a variety of conditions. Anyway, it helped me alot and the whole thing was over within 3 months. I have to say though, while I was fighting that- I was pale and felt horrible. I amazed that you are faced with pots and that at the same time. yowza!

Kits

[wireless]

I'm pretty sure it's something I have/had, it's improved over time with massage/physical therapies (types such as myofascial release) and occasional muscle relaxants.

[nunibenuni]

I get costochondritis and pleurisy all the time. It is really painful! I've been to a rheumatologist and he prescribed physiccal therapy (this was before I was diagnosed with POTS). I still do that and it helps for at least a short time. I'm on Lyrica for the pain. I've also done Aleve, Flexeril, and Celebrex. My stomach can't tolerate too much advil. I would recommend trying to improve your posture. Ask your doctor about exercises to strengthen your back.

I hope you feel better soon!

[MightyMouse]

ditto on the pleurisy and costochondritis...I also get it with bronchitis and asthma--anything that has me coughing. At one point it was so bad that while in the hospital, they shot me in the ribs with steroids and lidocaine to try to get the pain to settle down. Hurt like a bugger when they gave me the shots, but it did help within a few days.

Like others, mine comes and goes. It often takes me weeks to months for the last of the rib pains to go away

[nunibenuni]

I just remembered something else. I use lidoderm patches on my chest. You can ask your doctor about them. They only work if there isn't that much fat that the med. has to go through, but it is worth asking about.

[Megan]

I have heart pain fairly often when my POTS gets bad, but my dr has reassured me that it's nothing to worry about. It does hurt a lot and sometimes I end up doubled over in pain, but it passes. I've been told part of it is from not enough blood getting to my heart because it's pooling in my feet, so propping my feet up helps with it a lot.

Meg

[Tessa]

Have you checked your blood pressure while having the chest pain? Have you had your electrolytes checked?

Hope you can feel better soon,

Love,

Tessa

[Carly87]

I knew there was a thread here about costochrondritis. I have recently been diagnosed with this, and am wondering WHAT exactly is the connection to POTS/Dyt? It seems like a lot of people here also have costo. Does it have something to do with the collagen structure in the chest? If so, that sounds like EDS too...Man this disorder is so confusing! So many possibilities to have checked out!

I always take Advil or Motrin (any ibuprofen) when my chest hurts really bad. It works (most of the time.) But the pain always comes back.

[nunibenuni]

I've had bad chest pain all year. It was what sent me to mayo. I was diagnosed with POTS and the chest pain wasn't really solved. But all my other problems were linked together. The drs didn't believe that my chest pain was linked to POTS, but it is linked to my loose joints which might be related to POTS. I'm going to a pain clinic in 2 weeks and hoping to get help there. If I try anything that might help anyone here, I'll share.

[Sunfish]

carly et al -

i don't think that there's any connection between costochondritis & dysautonomia, other than - perhaps - for those with EDS? i don't have EDS & my diagnosis is autonomic failure rather than POTS but i did have a nasty bout of costochondritis this spring/ early summer. for me it was indirectly related to my autonomic issues only b/c the trigger for the injury was an episode of vomiting/ dry heaves which, for me, is due to nausea that's related to my gastroparesis & intestinal pseudo-obstruction which ultimately is caused by neuropathy throughout my GI tract.

for me the pain was distinctly different than pain i've had at other times from pleurisy, pneumonia, pleural effusions, etc (yep, i've done them all); i could tell that it was more external...didn't mean it didn't hurt but it was different. my doc also acknowledged that there was a chance i'd actually cracked a rib as well but since treatment wouldn't be any different we didn't bother with an x-ray. i used Flector patches (local NSAID prescription med that's fairly new) as well as systemic pain meds, motrin as well as increased dosing of other opiod meds that i'm on regularly. i didn't expect to be pain-free but we needed me to be able to breath sufficiently to keep me pneumonia & pleural-effusion free as my lungs have a history that causes them to fill up and/ or collapse quite readily.

for those mentioning "chest pain" it's hard to know what type of pain you're referring to without more of a description. there are just too many types of "chest pain" with a wide variety of origins to have much meaningful discussion without more specific info.

hope this helps,

melissa