Saintjohn

[saintjohn]

Hi Everyone.

Although this is my first post on this site there are some here that will know me as Hampshireman from the Macmillan site.

I have lived with CLL for a year now,had the normal ups and downs that we all suffer at various time's but for the last two weeks I have been laid low with a viral condition known as Bornholm Disease,A nasty bug that attacks the chest muscles,chest cavity and lungs (pleurisy) my Doctor has assured me that its not through anything I have done wrong, but is likely to have been picked up in somewhere like my local pub or from a restaurant..

A compromised immune system really does leave us open to some strange Disease's and I'd never heard of this one before. Is there anyone out there that has suffered with this and if so can you let me know of anything that will help,taking Ibuprofen as instructed has little effect.

Best regards

john (saint come's from my support of Southampton FC)

[Newdawn Administrator]

Hi Saintjohn,

Sorry to hear you're still having a painful time with this (we've spoken on other site).

I've never had Bornholm Disease but I have had pleurisy in the past and excruciating pain in the intercostal muscles when I was pregnant many years ago (which limited treatment options). I used hot packs on the area and it was quite debilitating at the time.

In healthy people BD is normally a short term viral problem but obviously we are not 'normal' in that regard. It's obviously continuing to cause you a lot of distress which ibuprofen isn't helping. I wonder if your GP needs to be consulted again to consider other options. I've read that anti-inflammatories (of a more effective dosage than ibuprofen) are sometimes used. Im not sure if muscle relaxants are appropriate but it's worth discussing.

Because we can't expect the usual remedies to work as effectively or timely as other people, you may need additional help to overcome this. If it were to continue, I'd be asking for a referral to the pain clinic. Hope you get some relief from it soon. It's yet another reminder that we are at the mercy of poor hygiene practice from others (you'll have read the possible causes of contamination...not pretty!)

Be persistent with the medics, they have many hundreds to consider, we have ourselves and have a greater reason to be insistent (I know your experience hasn't been brilliant so far).

Newdawn

[splashsplash]

Hi Saintjohn,

I found going off all cow dairy until the chest infection has cleared works for me and speeds up recovery. Cow dairy, particularly the whey part triggers phlegm production at the back of my throat that then runs down into my lungs.

[jangreen]

Hi I had inflamation of the muscles between the ribs. My GP knew what it was and treated it with anti inflammatories which worked. It lasted about a week but was very painful.