Emergency trip to hospital

Good afternoon all

I woke on Friday with a pain just under my shoulder blade on the left and thought OUCH! And assumed I had slept funny. By mid morning the pain was also covering my side and by lunchtime it was right through to my chest. By 1pm I couldn’t stand it any longer. I couldn’t take a deep breath I couldn’t yawn everything was ridiculously painful.

I rang NHS direct who promptly sent an ambulance they did a heart trace and bp and gave me gas and air. They decided there was a risk of PE due to having missed 2 doses of Rivroxaban earlier in the week so took me to hospital. On the way the pain being so bad they asked if I wanted IV morphine which I accepted. I spent the night in the hospital had all sorts of bloods and scans and tests only to be told everything has come back fine it must be fibromyalgia related. Rest as much as you can and take all the pain meds you have at home if it continues see your GP!

I am absolutely flabbergasted. Does this sound fibromyalgia related? I’ve never had pain like this before?

[rosewine]

What a horrible experience. To be quite honest that is exactly how I felt when my costochonditis started even breathing was difficult. A friend had the same and her doctor sent her immediately toA & E convinced she was having a heart attack but like you all the tests came up clear she said she and never been in so much pain in her life. Do hope you feel better soon.x

[Dotpot in reply to rosewine]

Yes I get this ended up at hospital everything came back

Fine painful

[Lou1054]

This can happen but I would advise A&E every time. xx

[M0AL61 Moderator Volunteer]

Costochrondritis is common in fibromyalgia sufferers, and many people feel as if they are having a heart attack. The pain can be really severe. Any chest pain should always be taken seriously and if at all concerned go straight to A & E or call an ambulance. Never take a chance x

[Sillysausage234]

Hi, I have tietze syndrome...which is chronic costochondritis,very painful imflamation of the sternum and costal cartilages .same pain as you’ve described

[Chrisbel in reply to Sillysausage234]

I was diagnosed with tietze 38 years ago in uruguay and now I have fibro, they said there was no treatment for it then, has anything changed?

[Hidden]

That is terrible for you, gosh only air ambulance here and for some personal reason I would be too embarrassed to use them

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Where abouts in the world are you? I was embarrassed to use a normal ambulance but the pain is ridiculous

[justmai in reply to Hidden]

it could be a heart attack would you really be that embarrassed you could die. I suffer with this type of pain all the time in still scared that it could be heart related one time its so painful

[Hidden]

I had a flare that caused costochondritis for almost 3 weeks. The pain was awful and I realised it had originated in over using muscles in my right arm. It got so bad one night I did wonder if it was heart related. Only things I've found that work are painkillers, rest and heat on my chest and back. I did use my tens machine on low high up near my collarbones ( don't think it's supposed to be used near the heart area) and that helped too.

Hope you're feeling a bit better now.

[Hidden]

Thanks for all your replies I am going to see my go today to see if they can help. My pain meds are not working and I am full of fluid today. I weight 4lbs heavier than I did on Friday and I’ve barely eaten anything. I look like stay puffed from ghostbusters ☺️

I hope you are all well and as pain free as possible x

[justmai]

I get this all the time. along with someone squeezing my ribs so hard hot water bottle helps to relax the muscles. lasts 3-6 weeks at a time for me sometimes every day it's horrid

[Violetta25]

Did they check your gall bladder because it sounds very much like it to me?

[Hidden in reply to Violetta25]

I haven’t got a gallbladder I had that removed a few yrs back. It was the wrong side for gallbladder anyway but thanks for the suggestion

[Hidden]

Ok so gp had notes from hospital and they suggested costochondritis (I hope I have spelled that correctly) and gp confirmed it.

The bad news is due to me being on lifelong rivroxaban I can not be prescribed anti inflammatory pain relief 😭 so now I have oramorph for whennits really bad and tramadol paracetamol and my gabapentin for daily use

[YASMINTINA FMA UK Volunteer]

Hi there sorry to read of your experience I hope trip to doctors gives you some answers , never worry about calling an ambulance you did the right thing , just feel for you being in so much pain xx

[Hidden in reply to YASMINTINA]

Thank you. I hope the morphine kicks in soon xx

[gothicmum]

I had the same experience as you 4yeara ago, had all the tests nothing was found I felt like such a fraud, I was finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia just over a year ago, I hope you have managed to get some rest sending you gentle hugs 🙏 xx

[Hidden]

Would you believe it?!? The morphine has actually caused me more harm than good. It is the oral solution which I thought nothing of as I was just glad if some slight relief but it’s full of sugar which knocked me out of ketosis so all the high fat meals inbeen eating has actually caused me to gain a couple of pounds in just a few days! This has made my head spin and now I am feeling very fat and deflated (yes I am aware I can’t be both but one is physical and the second mental) but I am keepin on track keto wise and hopefully going to find a way to manage pain without morphine 😩

[rosewine]

Hopefully it will start to ease soon. If you have a bath out a few handfuls of Epsom salts in and have a downright ease the pain.x

[Kittyletmein]

Yes, it can be agonising affecting shoulder blades, ribs, neck all at same time. I was recently given an injection for frozen shoulder.