Ever Heard of This Condition?

wmonique2 · Post by **wmonique2** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 7:08 pm

Hello friends,

I have disappeared for a few days--I am having a demolition project in my kitchen...Anyway I complained recently that I was having pain under my right rib case. I finally made it to the doc after about two weeks of symptoms.

He says that a lot of things can happen in that area but according to my symptoms it seems to be a condition called COSTOCHONDRITIS. Essentially it is an inflammation of the cartilage on the ribcage. No treatment for it, just compresses and NSAIDS. Wait 2 months and if it doesn't go away, have an ultrasound.

So when I got home I researched it. Guess what? It is related to MC. It is mostly found in people who suffer from IBD or arthritis.

Isn't MC a peach?

Love,

Monique

Post by **tex** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 9:01 pm

Hi Monique,

Actually several other members have also complained about that issue, over the years, but it doesn't seem to be particularly common.

Here are a few old posts about it, listed with the oldest first:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=788

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6633

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10253

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16488

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16750

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17689

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17916

At least it's not something serious, that's the good news.

Yep, MC is an equal opportunity disease, if there ever was one.

Thanks for checking in.

Love,
Tex

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:25 am

My friend with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Hashimoto's, and more recently Gluten Intolerance, has been battling COSTOCHONDRITIS for years. She ended up in the hospital a few times thinking she was having a heart attack! She has an aortic aneurysm, so she has reason to be overcautious. I think this condition is pretty common among autoimmune sufferers. Sorry.

wmonique2 · Post by **wmonique2** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 2:13 pm

Tex,

Thank you so much for all the links. I'll read more when I have time. Yes, I am glad it isn't something more serious and I just hope that it goes away as quick as it came.

Z., I agree that it can be scary. I didn't know what to think. I could think of at least a few conditions that can trigger such pain. And I am finding out that once you have one auto-immune disease (in my case diabetes), you can have any other auto-immune disease. Unfortunately for us.

Monique

Fiona · Post by **Fiona** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 7:24 pm

Just doing a thread-bump here to see if anyone else has been diagnosed with Costochondritis since Monique's original post. I was diagnosed with it today! I'd been having pretty bad chest pain for the past few days that I just assumed was a recurrence of the pleurisy I had back in 2011, for which the only treatment was rest and painkillers. Well, it got worse today, so I went to the doctor who, after taking a chest x-ray to rule out anything more serious, determined that it's Costochondritis. I figured it wasn't anything serious, despite the severity of the pain, but it is well beyond annoying. And the treatment? Rest and painkillers.

So imagine my surprise when I plugged it into the search here and found that it is indeed linked with inflammatory bowel disease and other autoimmune diseases. It makes me wonder if what was diagnosed as pleurisy back then was actually the start of Costochondritis as they're very similar in how they present, and pleurisy isn't something you can see on a chest x-ray, from what I understand, unless it involves pleural effusion, which mine did not. In both cases, no viral or bacterial infection, no injury to the chest, just random one-day-I'm-fine-and-the-next-I'm-in-severe-pain weirdness.

So I'm wondering if anyone here has experienced this (or pleurisy since developing MC, for that matter). Everything I'm reading says that it's frequently idiopathic, but given its inflammatory nature, it makes me wonder if I'm doing something wrong with my diet that ISN'T affecting my MC, which is very much under control right now, but MIGHT be causing inflammation elsewhere in my body. And Monique, if you happen to see this, did your Costochondritis resolve and not return (I hope!)? How long did it take?

Thanks,

Fiona

wmonique2 · Post by **wmonique2** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 7:30 pm

Fiona,

It went as fast as it came. Two weeks in total. Never felt anything since.

Monique

Fiona · Post by **Fiona** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 7:31 pm

THANK YOU, Monique. That is exactly what I was hoping to hear.

Fiona

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:03 pm

2 of my best friends have suffered with chostochondritis. One has Crohns and Lupus and developed pleurisy too. The other has Hashimoto's thyroiditis, gluten intolerance, joint pains, and now...finally an answer...Lyme disease.

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:08 am

Monique and Zizzle, I must have missed this thread within the last couple of weeks. With Myasthenia Gravis (MG) it is a known issue that the thymus plays a unique role in MG.

Costochondritis is symptom that has intrigued neurologist and patients with MG, the pain is located in the center sternum region which is also where the Thymus gland is located. One of the treatments that is regularly offered to help reduce the symptoms of MG, is a thymectomy.

There have been a least a few studies that looked to determine if having the thymus removed helps the occurrence of Costochondritis. At least anecdotally over a range of patients and doctors did show that there was reduction in Costochondritis and severity of MG symptoms. Given the rare nature of MG, about 12 cases per 100,000 and of those bottom line is there are not too many examples thats about 6 cases per year in the US population.

Joe Funk

MICROSCOPIC COLITIS SUPPORT