Chostochondritus after cardioversion ?

[Sailblue]

Hi everyone, after a successful cardioversion I felt amazing. However, after six weeks I was told it has failed. I still felt alot better but recently it has been getting worse with some dizziness and more episodes. However, after being at A E 3 times since, the docs are sure that the chest pain on my ribs and associated symptoms is due to chostochondritis. Is there a link ? The only trauma to my chest was the cv and I had severe pain on my shoulder for a week after. My AF is still there. Now it seems to be a mixture of both causing me alot of pain. Any ideas on this, much appreciated.

[BobD Volunteer]

Having had several DCCVs plus had to fake one in a film once it can be quite "energetic" but never had any lasting problems. I have had torn intercostal muscles before thanks to my own stupidity which resulted in a trip to cardiac care unit and it was pretty uncomfortable. (understatement) .

[Hidden]

Have to admit this is something I’d never heard of before and it’s certainly not a common occurrence as far as I know but no doubt you can make some contact with the hospital. There is some good news though which you may already be aware of, because it worked, and assuming your current problems are satisfactory resolved, it should now be possible for you to have a catheter ablation that will help resolve your AF problems. Good luck…..

[Sailblue in reply to Hidden]

Thankyou for the reassuring info regarding the ablation 🙂

[Madscientist16]

Probably not related. May want to visit a doctor or chiropractor and have your feet scanned. I developed costochondritus after losing my job. Apparently, not wearing shoes for several months caused my bones to shift. I needed orthotics in my shoes.

[Peony4575]

I got costochondritis two years ago after carrying heavy bags of manure around the garden. Mostly better but still a bit tender if touched, it’s chronic I think .

[saulger]

Hello Sailblue. Six months after my thoracoscopic ablation I went a bit mad and did too many pull-ups at age 76. A dull ache started in the Solar Plexus area that caused bouts of tachycardia for a couple of weeks, which resolved spontaneously. I felt then that trauma to that area of the chest was the culprit?

[Sailblue in reply to saulger]

Yes, I do yoga, swimming and walking and sometimes over do it but even the docs don't thi k it could be triggering this ?

[saulger in reply to Sailblue]

Yoga and swimming don't sound too drastic. I was pulling my weight up a bartoo many times and hurt a muscle / diaphragm and this triggered two weeks of tachycardia, on and off. Do you swim very fast?

[Maggimunro]

Hi Sailblue

I had a similar experience after my first ablation and was rushed back to AnE with the medics thinking I had aortic dissection.

It turned out that 6 years previously when I slipped on ice that I had broken the end plate of one of my thoracic vertebrae. This apparently left me with a herniated disc which had been irritated by the three and a half hours on the very hard table in the cold cath lab.

For my subsequent two ablations I was wrapped in a heated bubble wrap type contraption and didn’t get nearly as much pain.

So I sympathise with your rib pain

[Sailblue in reply to Maggimunro]

Gosh, I hope you are doing better now 🙂

[Dollcollector]

I was told l had costocondritus while having terrific pains in my chest. Not long after l had a big stroke due to afib. My friend was also told she had costocondritus. She thought she was having a heart attack. Not long after , she had a minor stroke. Did we have costocondritus? Who knows.

[Sailblue in reply to Dollcollector]

Dear Dollcollector,I am so sorry to hear that. I hope you are both recovering and getting the support you need ❤️.

This seems to be the diagnosis if you are not having a stroke at the time. As you know the markers for this are time dependent and they don't do the scan of the brain if bloods are fine. They thought I may have had a TIA when my afib started over 18 months ago. I didn't have the scan or assessment for 5 months ( two week target ! ) so the GP had to try and manage the drug treatment by emailing the consultant cardio and admitted they were out of their depth. Luckily, no scaring so said probably happened. I think it did. I have slight cognitive changes.At first they were obvious but now subtle eg missing letters from words, sometimes go blank when doing calculations and have to ask people to repeat instructions more. You really have to help yourself too. I've been playing more games on my phone as this helps build connections and do regular yoga, swim and walking when I feel well.. You cannot rely on the NHS like you used to. All those amazing docs, nurses and others seem like their spirit is broken. Something has to change ❤️

[Dollcollector in reply to Sailblue]

Thank you . We are certainly not getting the care we used to have x

[55zuzanka61]

I have been through about 10 cardioversions,never had severe pain but almost always experienced for quite a few weeks discomfort in the sternal area, neck stiffness and pain and occasional dizziness as well as off and on pains in different parts of ribcage.Nothing to stop me,but on occasions quite unpleasant.It all eventually slowly resolved,be patient,you’ll be ok

[MaryCa]

I regularly got costochondrits pre being diagnosed with sleep apnea. Since then I haven't had it once. Thank God. Steroid injections really help, rather painful to get done but they get it under control. I must have had it ten times over the last decade. Afib and sleep apnea highly linked. Lots of research on google scholar about it. I have both. No afib at the mo due to an ablation thirteen months ago.