Pain from costochondritis is more severe than normal

[Westie2012]

I have costochondritis and the past two weeks I’ve had so much more pain than usual , it’s there pretty much 24/7 and higher pain score than normal . I take paracetamol and 30mg codeine which usually the paracetamol is enough 2/4 a day but I’m on 8 paracetamol and 2/3 codeine , if I take more then I feel very sleepy , I’m counting the hours until I can take the next dose. If I lean forward and over to the left I feel I’ve been stabbed, pain can also be in lower left back but always below left breast. I go into a school to help out and sitting on the tiny chairs is agony when it’s is normally not a problem . Do others get medical advice if the pain has stepped up a few gears or just carry on ? I know I’ll probably be told it’s ’just costochondritis ‘ and there’s nothing else I can do about it . I have a pacemaker and have had pericarditis and a pericardial effusion back in 2020 so having heart problems and left sided chest pain can be tricky to ignore at times .

[deb25426]

I feel your pain. Volterol has helped me. As I can’t take ibuprofen x

[DollyDutchGirl in reply to deb25426]

Do be careful with your use of Volterol - as it’s not meant to be used for more than two weeks at a time. it can seriously harm your kidneys - I talk from experience as I now have CKD stage 3 and 50% damaged.

[deb25426 in reply to DollyDutchGirl]

Thank you for the warning. I’m so sorry you have CKD 😔

Fortunately, I don’t use it loads, just on really bad days xxx

[DollyDutchGirl_1946 in reply to deb25426]

I don’t think a lot of people realise - I certainly didn’t. However, the good part is that it kicked my GP into gear and - he got me an appointment with the pain clinic…🤣

[cyberbarn]

There are a lot of nerves between the ribs and they can get trapped and irritated. I wonder if this is what the problem is? It might be worth asking for a referral to the pain clinic as they can arrange in injection to see if it is a nerve that is trapped.

[DollyDutchGirl]

Please, do consider making an urgent appointment with your GP because a) your pain levels have increased substantially - and b) - because of your medical history. Please , please, take care of yourself…..