Chest pain for 3+ months, is it more serious than costochondritis? how do i handle the anxiety?

hello! i joined this community just to try and hear from some other people who may be having similar symptoms of constant chest discomfort and pain. also it’s nice to have a place to vent about your aches and pains to people who understand.

out of nowhere at the end of october, i started to have these weird chest pains. majority of the day it’s just a discomfort feeling that’s more annoying than anything, but when it gets bad it keeps me in bed all day long feeling like i’m on the brink of a heart attack. the pain moves constantly from my sternum to the right or left side of my chest, and it feels like a dull ache or strain. i can also feel some of my ribs protruding out more than others and they usually correlate to which side i feel the pain on. it freaked me out since i was only 23 (now turned 24) and since i also have severe anxiety that made it even worse and i ended up in the hospital several times. i missed a lot of work and wasn’t even able to go to thanksgiving this year.

my EKG, blood tests, chest x-rays and MRI showed nothing wrong with my heart or lungs. however the MRI did show that i have three bulging discs in my spine. this is not completely random because i have suffered from scholiosis, hyper kyphosis and scheurmanns disease for most of my life. everyone including my doctor believe that my back could be a factor in the compression of my rib cage when i have bad posture, which could have become a major problem since i started my first job in april and work at a desk all day. i’ve started going to physical therapy which overall had made a difference and helped ease the pain, but when i am on my own doing exercises sometimes i screw it up and end up making my pain worse.

anyway my main question for others is what are your best ways to deal with your chest pain? does my situation sound like it is just costochondritis? and even though i’ve had many tests done, how can i ease my anxiety and know for sure that nothing bad is going to happen to me? will the pain ever go away? i see all these stories of people who suffer with it for years and i just can’t imagine how i would deal with that without suffering major depression and anxiety. anything you have to say would be appreciated. thanks for reading.

[johnsmith]

You are seeing the medical experts. This means hopefully they are eliminating all the major concerns that may be causing your symptoms. What the medical profession are not doing is investigating the symptoms that you are causing. I am not talking psychosomatic. I am talking faulty muscle control and muscle micro cramp issues. This is something the medical profession know little or nothing about. This has always been the domain of the complementary medical experts.

See a McTimony Chiropractor. They know a lot about muscle compression in the ribs causing worrying I have heart problem symptoms. I am talking from experience here. Tightness of muscles in the chest gives discomfort.

Another issue which the medical profession know little or nothing about is posture and movement. Faulty posture and movement can cause all sorts of discomfort. An Alexander Teacher can help you with this issue.

Anxiety is natural. Being depressed about life changing disability is natural. Both these emotions are felt in the body. The brain body interaction can cause anxiety and depression to be far worse than they need be. Better movement and posture will help you move out of this emotional discomfort. Talking therapy can make these emotions a lot worse and improve the bank balance of the talking therapists.

[Schoeytravels]

I had similar after a being in hospital with various lung problems but the continued pain after the other was fixed was diagnosed as peripheral neuropathy caused by some nerve damage by the previous inflammation. I now take some meds for this and some muscle relaxant.

Your professionals can investigate and your issues might be entirely different but just giving my experience to try to help! Good luck and be kind to yourself.

[Hidden in reply to Schoeytravels]

I also take muscle relaxants, they help with my pain but I can't take them until night time because they make me very sleepy. I think my pain could also be related to nerves because my MRI showed bulging discs that could be pushing on my spinal cord and causing radiating pain. Thanks for your advice!

[Hidden]

Hi, I finally figuted out that the chest pain Im having is from Asthma. They did tests on me too without any results. One day when my chest was hurting I decided to try an inhaler I had gotten from the ER 6 months earier. I took two puffs and it took away my chest pain. Let me say though that for years Ive dealt with hayfever, gerd and mucus in my throat I couldnt get rid of. Makes me angry that doctors are so incompetent and you have to diagnose yourself, then give them the symptoms so they can prescribe your medication. Good luck finding your answers. You have to be your own advocate. Judy