Pain by left ribs

[Westie2012]

I have had worsening pain and swelling by my left ribs since having pericarditis and an effusion . I saw my gp and she said it could just be that my chest is more prominent that side . It’s so bad now that I have started using voltarol gel along with strong pain relief to try to sleep, if I lean forward the pain is much sharper and lying on my side is sometimes too painful . I will be having a chest X-ray and a blood test , I had an ecg today and when the sticker was placed on my rib I cried out in pain . Has anyone who had had pericarditis had this problem later on? I’ve recently stopped my colchicine as instructed by my cardiologist to see if the fluid comes back , I have an echo scan the end of the month to check the fluid levels which I’m not looking forward to as they have to press quite hard with the scanner and the last one I had was painful so I know it will be even more painful .

[Sunnie2day]

Yes, I've had this sort of pain for decades now (recurrent pericarditis diagnosed early 2000s). Most of the time it's a 'dull roar' I mostly can ignore but when an acute flare is coming on the pain worsens and if there is a large increase in the effusion, the pain becomes so intense in that area that it is extremely tender to touch - that is my signal to get the cardiologist made aware or go to A&E if it is 'out of hours'.

Strong pain when putting pressure (body weight or simply a bra or touching) on the left side is not a good sign and waiting until next week for that echo may be a week wait too long. If you having coughing when reclining on your left side, btw, that is the signal of a potentially life threatening condition called 'cardiac tamponade' and the coughing usually develops within 3-5 days of the chest pain on the left side worsening.

Telephone the cardiologist now. Right now. (Be sure to mention what the GP said about your supposedly more prominent chest - any GP who knows your history yet tries to fob off left side pain as 'your chest is more prominent on that side' is a GP you should change away from).

Please keep us updated.

[Westie2012 in reply to Sunnie2day]

Hi sunnie thank you for your reply, I think my gp is quite good but I’m not completely convinced of her diagnosis of a more prominent chest. I don’t have a cough but it is so sore , up until last night it didn’t feel like pericarditis pain but around 4am I got a sudden sharp pain that did feel the same as when I had peri. It lasted around 10 minutes, I took some pain relief and eventually managed to get back to sleep . I really hope it isn’t the start of it flaring up again , I’m going to see how it goes today and overnight as I have my daughter at home , she’s only 8 and I have no one to look after her but tomorrow is hubby’s day off work so he can look after her if I need to go to see my gp or go to hospital . Your advice is great x