Chest pain | Arthritis Information

 

Hello everyone, I am new to posting on this forum but i have been reading for a long time and I have come to trust the opinions that are posted here! I just had a question, any replies would be greatly appreciated! I have RA and Lupus, was diagnosed 8 years ago during my last pregnancy, I do suffer with many attacks of pluresy (sp?) but this time the chest pain is just not going away! I have been having chest pain for months, I had a horrible fever with it of 103 about a month and a half ago, the dr did chest xrays thinking it was pnemonia but everything came back fine. I have been on predisone bursts and am taking a maintence dose of 10mg per day, nothing is getting rid of it. I can not sleep because the pain is so bad at night and I feel like I can not breath. Last night was particularly bad i almost felt like the pain was in my right breast, like it was tender to the touch and it radiated into my right shoulder and neck. i love my RD, he is normally so on top of things, but all he is doing for this is giving me pain meds so I can sleep. Has anyone ever experienced this sort of pain before? Any input would be a great help! Thank you for taking the time to read this post!

Angel, I am so sorry about all of this for you.  Wow, that doesn't sound good.  I have no idea and I am of no help here.  If it were me, my hubby would have me seeing another doc about this.  Maybe even ask my regular medical doctor.  I am saying a prayer for ya that this is nothing major and is easily solved.  While I would want my doctor to rule out more serious causes first, my instinct is that you might have costochondritis (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/costochondritis/ds00626).  Many of us with RA have it, and during my last bad flare-up, it hurt to breathe for about 3 days.  Unfortunately there's not much to be done about it, so painkillers might be the right course of treatment here, or your could try NSAID's and/or muscle relaxants if you're not already taking those.  I hope it subsides soon and you're able to get some sleep.Thank you for the replies, and thank you innerglow for the link! I have dealt with chest pain many times before, this time just felt a little different when it actually hurt to touch. The pain with the deep breaths and while leaning over and lying down are the symptoms I normally have with pluresy, the pain while actually touching my chest was new and scary!Hi angel Angel, I have had chest pain for years and have been diagnosed with costochondritis. The soreness is almost always there but when it flares it becomes really bad. I have gone to the hospital in the past because I thought I may be having a heart attack, but they could not find anything wrong with my heart. My chest pain and stiffness are the main complaints with my inflammatory arthritis. When pushing on the spot/or spots duplicates or intensifies the pain I think you have arthritic pain in the chest. PS ( I am not a doctor and would strongly suggest that you seek a medical opinion!) Anyway...Good Luck and let us know how it all turns out.Thanks for posting this.  I have been having chest pains on the right side for over a year.  It is worse and then just dull pain.  I checked out costochnondritis and it sounds like it might fit.  I will check it out with my doc.  Thanks again and I hope you get feeling better.  Thank you everyone for the input. I have had chest pain off and on in the past, dr diagnosed it as pluresy. this time seems different, first of all it has been non stop for months now, it gets really bad at night and it seems to be localized behind my right breast. I have mentioned it to my dr and because I had a clean chest xray he seems to be kinda brushing it under the rug. I see him in a week, and i will definately mention everything you all have brought to my attention. As of right now the only thing keeping the pain under control at night is the pain meds. Thank you again for all your information.
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