Costochondritis

[Amkoffee]

Oh my God! I have come down with a condition called costochondritis. And I've had it for almost 2 weeks and let me tell you the pain is relentless. I'm only posting in this group because I've discovered that it is something not that unrelatable to PMR. A very informed PMR patient told me that it is common with people who have rheumatoid arthritis or Ankylosing spondylitis both of which are also common with people who have PMR. I would love to hear from anyone else that has had this condition.

[Neverending63]

I have had this and you are right about the pain. I have PMR and RD and it was worse than both of these. I had it for about 2 - 3 months. I gather though it can return. Just keeping my fingers crossed it doesn’t 🤞🏻. Hope you feel better soon

[Amkoffee in reply to Neverending63]

I have RA and of course PMR. I am hoping it doesn't last that long. I've heard from other people say that they get it off and on. My niece said her's lasted a full year!

[markbenjamin57]

Hi Amkoffee.

I'm pretty sure I have it / have had it for a good 6 weeks since a bout of the Flu. Sore ribs (or to be more precise, inflammation in the interconnecting tissues to the upper ribs / sternum?), worse if coughing or sneezing, doesn't go away at night / possibly aggravated by physical activity, etc?

My recent Chest x-ray was 'Normal - no action' so I've ruled out cardiac / lung problems, and my PMR symptoms are currently quite mild despite nudging-down the Pred dosage (currently at 2.5 mgpd) and doing quite a lot physically.

That said, I do wonder if, with PMR, we are more susceptible to ALL types of infections and symptoms of inflammatory activity - so there could be a link. But as many here say, the trouble with PMR is that its symptoms can mimic those of all manner of other ailments!

It'll be interesting to see if others here have similar experiences of costochondritis. And, of course, The Aunties will probably be along with their gems of wisdom soon

Keep us posted

MB

[Amkoffee in reply to markbenjamin57]

Did they rule out any broken or cracked ribs? Since you had the flu it is possible that you're coughing may have damage to your ribs.

[markbenjamin57 in reply to Amkoffee]

Yes, I'm sure the Chest x-ray would have spotted that too! But certainly, I was coughing (the 'tickly' type) a lot during the Flu and I suspect that the combination of that and the underlying PMR inflammation was / is the cause..

[Amkoffee in reply to markbenjamin57]

Well from what I read that can certainly bring it on.

[Hidden in reply to markbenjamin57]

Hi Mark, nice to catch up on how your getting on. "Costochondritis" Gxx whatever next! 😞 Just wondered how the deathly fatigue is now 😱🤔 that you on lower doses ?

Pete 🙂

[sazzyb]

I remember reading some years ago that it's fairly common amongst schoolchildren too, either from carrying a heavy rucksack on one shoulder or from being hunched up over their desk. Painful!

[Amkoffee in reply to sazzyb]

Well that's actually contrary to what is online now about the condition. But there is a similar one and I can't think of the name I know it begins with a T and that's more common with younger people.

[Longtimer in reply to Amkoffee]

Yes, my nephew who is 29 now got diagnosed with that this morning....think it is called Tietzies........very similar to what you have.....not nice, he has been under a lot of stress recently.....girlfriend trouble....and stressful job, that`s the building blocks for many things......we learn when it`s too late unfortunately.....

[Amkoffee in reply to Longtimer]

From my research what I've learned about tietzies and Costochondritis is that tietzies is the young person version and it typically includes swelling. Whereas Costochondritis typically hits people in their 40s or older. Generally women and does not cause swelling.

[Rosedail in reply to Longtimer]

So agree about the "learning when it's too late..."

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Amkoffee]

That was the Mayo I assume? Webmd says:

"Costochondritis (with unknown cause) is a common cause of chest pain in children and adolescents. It accounts for 10% to 30% of all chest pain in children. Annually, doctors evaluate about 650,000 cases of chest pain in young people ages 10 to 21. The peak age for the condition is ages 12-14."

Kidshealth thinks it happens enough in teenagers to have few pages about it and Medscape says under paediatric costochondritis:

"Costochondritis is a common cause of chest pain in children and adolescents. The condition is characterized as an inflammatory process of one or more of the costochondral cartilages that causes localized tenderness and pain of the anterior chest wall. [3] Most cases of costochondritis are idiopathic. The remaining cases may result from costochondral irritation due to direct trauma to the area, aggressive exercise resulting in a strain of the costochondral cartilage, or a prior upper respiratory tract infection with cough which can cause repeated stretching and strain at the costochondral junction resulting in local irritation and pain.

Costochondritis is a relatively benign and usually self-limited condition though symptom resolution can persist for up to three months. [4] Patients are often evaluated initially in the emergency department (ED) or in their primary care physician's office.

The term Tietze syndrome implies swelling; costochondritis refers to pain alone."

which suggests they are the same apart from swelling being obvious with Tietze.

[Amkoffee in reply to PMRpro]

Well I stopped relying on WebMD about 2 weeks ago when a medical professional told me not to use WebMD that it was fraught misinformation. And I don't remember the source that I read just passed and she ate my claim. I even looked for it and couldn't find it again. but it wasn't Mayo Clinic because they're ones I did check again. But at this point we're just going to have to agree to disagree. I am 56 years old and I'm a woman with Costochondritis.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Amkoffee]

Fair enough - but that is why I gave the other references. Who aren't WebMD.

[Amkoffee in reply to PMRpro]

What you learn something new everyday. And I thought that was all from WebMD I didn't realize it was excerpts from other websites too.

[sazzyb in reply to Amkoffee]

It depends on which site you read. I tend to favour patient.info

[tiasbear]

I’ve had Costocondritis for almost 2 years. I don’t know what to do about it, and every Dr I’ve seen haven’t told me what to do about it either.

[Amkoffee in reply to tiasbear]

Have you had a constant stabbing pain for 2 years? I will commit suicide if this takes that long. I have spent 2 weeks with the knife pain and it's driving me batty. And none of my doctors agree with me that it is costochondritis. I am so frustrated and I cry everyday because of the pain. Everytime I move, every time I breathe deep... well you know. I even have opiates to take because of my back pain and that's not even touching this pain. My rheumatologist doctor just proved me to up my dose of prednisone for 6 days to see if that improves it any. It's been 2 days and I've had no improvement.

[tiasbear]

The stabbing pain has lessened greatly. The pain I have now is constant but very bearable. Not bad at all. So it does get better. I remember that awful stabbing when I would lay down. Hang in there, it will get better.

[yogabonnie]

I have it now. HOW are you now.? I see this was written a year ago!

[Merryfield]

I have a mild case of breastbone enlargement, but it is alarming to have one side of your breastbone to be so much later than the other. I can feel an ache with certain movements.

[Amkoffee in reply to Merryfield]

I have not heard of that happening but it sounds dreadful.