anyone with arthritis in there ribs and s | Arthritis Information

and sternum? I have been having difficulty taking a deep breath expecially in the mornings. It feels as though my rib cage is stiff. and sternum is tender to the touch as well. I have PA, and meds have been unsuccessful as of yet. but this breathing thing is a somewhat new symptom

kel

I have RA; but I too have problems in those areas. Often an increase in my MTX will help me through for a while.....but it always returns. I've found that an ice pack on my chest helps more than anything. Ribs are difficult to ice so I often use a heating pad and that seems to sooth it some.

Hope you feel better soon.

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kel

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Sounds like costochondritis (inflammation of the rib/sternum joints). Very painful - been there done that! It can take months to resolve. I would suggest seeing your doctor about this new symptom ASAP! He/she might want to try something new.

thanks guys, i just talked to my rheumys nurse and told her about the new symptoms,waiting for a call back. Great idea,i bet if i use a heating pad that will help! i am going to look up costrochondritis. my reumy took me off my meds for two weeks until a infection resolved. so i guess my meds i am taking are somwhat effective,because since i have been off i have progressivly become more stiff,pain fatiugued. and it takes alot of energy to take a breath.

kel

That could very well be the care Kel. It's sad to say but often we don't realize how much our meds are actually working until we're unable to take them for one reason or another. So often it turns out they are working far better than we originally thought. It's certainly happened to me. In fact the first time I had the pain in my breast bones it was when we were trying to lower my MTX dose.

I have costo ass well and boy, it can be really painful!!!! Try keeping your clothes lose and take that bra off!!!!

good idea about the bra, dont really have anything its holding up anyway

kel

Good luck tomorrow! I haven't worn a real bra in over 1.5 years because of the costo!! I buy these little pull over shelf bras at JC Penny, luckily, I haven't got much to hold up either!!! I have Tietze's symdrome. Similar to costo but there is visible swelling. It
is very painful. My biggest relief has come from cortisone shots in the
sternum. I put it off but I got to the point that I couldn't turn to back out
of a parking space.

Make sure that you get this checked out. Anything in the chest area can
be scary.

becky

It needs checking out the 1st time. Once you know that it is costo causing chest and breathing pain it isn't such a big deal.

I get it every time I get a chest cold or especially when it has gone all the way over to bronchitis.

I really only get relief from this in a hot bath, light weight pain meds like darvacett and tramadol don't help much.

Feel better soon. Try not to worry.

I'm glad your dr is seeing you tomorrow. Good luck and don't forget to let us know what he/she says. Hugs!

I hope i dont have mtx lung

kel

I have the same pain in my ribs and sternum. Been dx'd with Costo and my Rheumy told me it's a part of RA. So either way - it's there! I've heard that the MTX can cause lung problems - but not sure what they are. Let us know what your doc says. Hopefully it will resolve when you get back on your meds. Good luck - you're definitely not alone!

Hugs,

Jen

I complain about costo every time i see rheumy or gp, neither of them do any thing about it. It hurts to wear a seat belt, and it hurts my hands to hold it off my chest.

We definitely hear you. Good luck.
It's always comforting (in a twisted way) to come to the boards and see that other people are experiencing the same things. I looked up costochondritis, but I don't have the chest pain?? I noticed my ribs on both sides starting to hurt this evening. They are tender to the touch. I can't tell if they're swollen, but they are giving off heat. Is this consistent with costochondritis even without the chest pain or is it something else? Or maybe am I looking forward to chest pain manana? I have costo too, and breast bone pain, agony recently and my ribs were so painful, they thought I had fractured them, turns out I had come down off the pred too quickly and made myself flare pretty badly again. Oh well, with this dreaded disease its always something, in my case, practically every day its something else and I do start to think I am a hypochondriac!!!! Hugs Janie. Fractured foot from Easter still fractured so seeing an orthopaedic surgeon next week, see what I mean?

Hi Kel,

I have PA to a nd I get costo-chondritis occasionally (especially if I ma having a flare-up). I really sympathise with you as it's not nice. Pain in your chest, especially if you take a deep breath and especially on either side of your sternum... Every time I get it I get a steroid injection that seems to zap it but i also have to do exercises as my chest capacity has altered because of it. The steroid injections work well for me and I'm hoping that when I get some meds to work that will stop it flaring... Hope you're felling better,

I was just told last week by a breast specialist I had the costochondritis--I went in with breast pain actually. But once he found the inflamed area on my breast bone and pushed on it--WHOA--figured out that was what was causing the breast pain. He also mentioned it could be from the RA....he also had me get both breasts mammo'd just to be safe...I have had a couple spots they had been keeping an eye on before I got preg. with my last baby, but I'm not worried it's anything bad like that. He told me anti-inflammatory meds might help..but no actual treatment for it...He had asked if I had pain while taking a deep breath, so maybe that's what you have going on? Hope you get feeling better!!