I have been experiencing bouts of bad chest pain for the last year. Sharp intense pain in the center of my chest lasting about 5 minutes. I also have more of an achy burning pain in the lung area. My dr says this is pleurisy and costochondritis. Does costochondritis come and go this quickly? (5 minutes)
Laker
I do not have the costochondritis but Danielle does. I have seen it come and go that quickly with her. My costochondritis comes and goes that quickly most of the time, but sometimes it can last an hour or more.I have had that for years. It was initially diagnosed as Costo but laterBecky,
I have had pain only much less severe all day and down into the lower left ribs. When I ask about this my dr just says its inflammation and does nothing. I am getting a little uneasy about all the chest and abdominal pain I am having. I know vasculitis and RA can cause pain in these areas but I think I would feel better if someone would check it out. I see my primary soon and will ask her again about it and I am hopefully going to Cleveland Clinic so I will be sure to ask them about it. I woke with quite severe pain in the night and really wondered if this was really "nothing to worry about." Did you have any tests or imaging that helped show what was going on?
Laker
i have had the costo for over a week now. but i remember before i had my gall bladder out i had that sort of pain. it would pay to get it checked out as no chest pain is good pain . Laker, I have the costochronditis as well. It doesn't bother me too much unless I have an infection or some other inflammation going on. When it bothers me, it will be during an extremely bad flare, if I've been coughing a lot like with bronchitis, etc. I do have to get it checked out because I have a history of pericarditis which is inflammation of the heart. The Rheumy usually sends me for a complete workup by both the Cardiologist and the Pulmonologist. This has been important other problems that weren't real serious but were affecting how I felt needed to be addressed. When I asked my Rheumy how do I tell if I need a workup, he said it is hard to tell and that over time I may be able to tell the difference in the pain. But if it has been a while since I've had a workup, say a couple of years, I should get one done any way. Pericarditis happens (and can be chronic) when your heart is inflamed. You can tell some of the difference by the fact that your heart will race and it feels better to sit up than lay down, even sitting rather forward. You do need to have pleurisy evaluated because the lungs can be affected by RA as well. I guess I am lucky in the fact that it is obvious by looking that the chest/Hi,
I get costochondritis too, it's there all of the time but it flares occasionally - sometimes it will just be sore for a short while, sometimes for days... Also if I overdo things I get sharp pains in my chest (mine tends to be either side of my sternum and up to my collarbone) that go away when I rest. Have you had your chest expansion measured? That's where they measure round your chest with a tape measure and then you take a big breath in, the difference in circumference is your chest expansion. If you have costo for a long period you tend not to breathe using your ribcage, just your diaphragm. This means you aren't using the full capacity of your lungs and can lead to breathlessness but also infections and ultimately pneumonia if you're very unlucky. I do exercises (recommended by Physio) to try to work out my chest muscles. The easiest is the "doorway stretch", you stand in a doorway (not too wide a door) with your hands on the door frame about level with your jaw then lean forwards so your body moves almost past your hands. Keep your back straight and don't push too hard. This also helps me when I am at work and have been sitting at the computer for a while. I've managed to increase my chest expansion by 1cm to 3cm with doing these exercises and getting a steroid injection (systemic) when I have a flare. I also do breathing exercises to concentrate on moving my rib cage when I breathe - I think it becomes a habit not to do it because it hurts then when the costo settles you carry on only breathing with your diaphragm.
I hope you can get it sorted - it's miserable when even breathing hurts!
KT
The first flare of costo I had, I thought it was a panic attack at first, then maybe a heart attack. I did end up in the ER. That was about 1.5 years ago. Since than, my chest always hurts, I never wear a bra and can't lift anything. Sometimes it does flare and hurts even worse and it feels like there is an elephant sitting on my chest. It hurts to breath, my heart races and I break out in a sweat. I haven't found much yet to help with the pain. I had an 80mg injection and did a double dose steroid pack less than two weeks ago and its still flaring really bad. Its on my list of things to talk to the pain doctor about this Wednesday, I will be sure to post of she hasn't any good solutions! My RD has me doing ultrasound to break up the inflammation. That hasMy doctor hasn't ever put a name on my pain; only says what I experience is inflammation in the breast bones. He can push on them and their painful. The pain isn't constant though it comes in short painful burst at times brought on by some sort of activity that will strain that area.
For me; a cold pack really does help bring down the inflammation. You might want to try that.
This thread has been really helpful. Thanks! Today things have settled down to a general burning pain, especially when I breathe out. I checked and have found that do I have tender areas on my ribs. I'll try some cold and ask my dr about it again next week. I just would feel a little better if they would at least check it out a bit instead of saying "that's just inmflammation". I have had nothing at all done to see if there might be anything else wrong. Thanks again!
Laker