Rare and random pleurisy pain

[Pleurisyhelp]

hi,

Reading a lot here about bouts of pleurisy and antibiotics. I've been experiencing random sharp chest pain that gp diagnosed as pleurisy but I have no other symptoms. Its a very frightening pain but only lands a few seconds thankfully as I would not be able to breath through it. Its always in the exact same spot. Has anyone had this experience of pleurisy without chest infection?

Thanks

[Lauren793]

Hi, i had pleurisy at the beginning of the year for about 3 months. Mine was a constant sharp pain. I had no signs of infection, so i just kept being given loads of painkillers for it, and no antibiotics . Still have no idea what caused mine, very out of the blue.

I hope you feel better soon!

[Pleurisyhelp in reply to Lauren793]

Thanks Lauren. Its hard to accept not knowing but I've been warned that's the most likely outcome. Glad to hear you're over it. Thanks for sharing

[2ndtenor]

Yes it comes and goes but not very often don't know why

[Ergendl]

Hope it improves soon.

[IslandBean]

Have you had an x-ray that shows the pleurisy? Without proper diagnostics I would be worried that it could be something else (not necessarily something worse than pleurisy but something requiring different treatment) If in doubt and it continues please do request more testing.

[Pleurisyhelp in reply to IslandBean]

I have been referred for an xray hopefulyl next week but go things it might not show anything. Oxygen levels good and sound fine from thetescope

[Hidden]

Does the pain fall at a specific point e.g. during an in breath or on an exhale, or is it random? Do you have an underlying respiratory diagnosis?

[Pleurisyhelp in reply to Hidden]

hi Charles, yes its during a normal inhale, I stop immediately at what feels like a game over pain lets say 30% and then I breath below that 30% until it passes in say 5 seconds. Its always the exact same point and once its gone I'm completely back to normal. Its happened throughout my life but very very rarely until recently when I might have one incident every few days.

[Hidden in reply to Pleurisyhelp]

Hmmm. Standard caveat to begin with: I’m not remotely medically qualified, these are just my thoughts based on my own experiences and understanding, but...both the fact that you’ve had it for so long and the way you say it comes and goes every few days makes me think pleurisy is pretty unlikely tbh. That kind of inspiratory pain can be called pleuritic pain even in the absence of pleurisy, though, it just denotes the type of pain it is: my daughter has a chronic respiratory condition and quite often gets a sharp, localised inspiratory pain in the most damaged part of her lungs that lasts for a few seconds before disappearing. When well, she’ll get it once every few weeks or something, when her chest isn’t great (if she’s got an infection, or we’re getting close to hospital treatment being due and all the rubbish we haven’t managed to clear is consolidating in her lungs), she can get it several times a day, but your lack of other symptoms and respiratory history wouldn’t really support something like that, or mucus plugging being a factor.

Is the area where the pain occurs sore to the touch? Have you looked into precordial catch syndrome, or considered things like costochondritis? Again, costochondritis would typically be much more constant than what you’re describing, and is pretty uncomfortable for the duration, but it may be something worth just having a look at to see if it sparks any ideas for you. A chest x-ray will obviously show any significant infection, but will only diagnose pleurisy if there’s fluid in the pleural space which isn’t something that always occurs, so it’s going to be more of an exclusionary test than anything, I suspect.

[Pleurisyhelp in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much for your response Charles, its great to hear other thoughts and experiences. For years I couldn't even describe the pain and had never heard of pleuetic pain so the more things I can investigate the better. I suspect it will be exclusionary also which feels a bit disheartening. I'm very lucky its not chronic or impacted my life but it is very frightening.

My chest isn't sore to touch but then when the pain occurs I freeze like a rabbit in headlights until its gone. Another key factor is that I don't associate the pain with illness or cheat infections (which I've had many). The pain appears in otherwises healthy times. Never occurred when exercising either, and I know this cos I'm afraid how I would deal if I needed to empty my lungs when I'm panting for air..

[Pleurisyhelp in reply to Hidden]

Just looked up PCS, thats actually quite likely. Thanks so much Charles. Really sorry to hear about your daughters conditions, I hope you stays well.

[Pleurisyhelp]

no underlying diagnosis