chostochondritis

[Sherry]

I'm a heart patient and an occasional visitor to the forum. I had a mitral valve replacement five years ago. I now have a problem that is maddening and related, I believe, to the surgery. For the past four to five months, I've had piercing/stabbing pains on the left side of my rib cage, both front and back. The location in the front is right under the left breast. It literally feels like someone is stabbing me with an icepick. My cardiologist did an echo and standard x-ray and ruled out heart-related stuff. My general practitioner has ordered kidney exams, a cat scan, and an endoscopy, all of which came back normal. He believes it's something called costochondritis and is sending me for a nerve block, which will be in a few months when the orthopedic guy can see me. It's pretty scary because it goes away for a few days and then comes back with a vengeance. Have any of you had any problems with this? Thanks, Sherry

 

[Nancy]

Hi Sherry-

Welcome to the site. It's a wonderful place, you probably already know if you've been visiting for awhile. I'm very sorry that you're having this pain. Here's a description from MedTerms.com:

Costochondritis:

Costochondritis is the result of inflammation of the cartilage of the chest wall, usually involving that which surrounds the breast bone (sternum). It causes local pain and tenderness of the chest around the sternum.

I hope they are able to find some relief for you.

 

[csutherland]

I'm glad for your post because the surgeon said that's what is bothering my husband, but we couldn't remember the name of it! He had AVR in Feb, then pericardial effusion in April which resulted in another surgery (pericardial window). His pain is near the site of the last surgery, where the drain tube was in place for 13 days. The pain isn't as intense as yours sounds, but I notice him touching the area frequently. A few weeks ago he decided to check on it and the surgeon actually wanted to see him almost immediately. He did diagnose it as chostochondritis, but the bad news is that Jerry can't take anti-inflammatories because of Coumadin.

I hope you can get something done for your pain.

 

[gary]

3 weeks after surgery in 4/00 for AVR

3 weeks after surgery in 4/00 for AVR

I had more pain than I did post-op and it was eventually diagnosed as C'Cdritis.

Several painkillers were attempted prior to the cause being determined. Then Lodine was prescribed and the pain was gone in 3 days.

I'll never know for sure that it was C'cdritis, but you may wish to explore this scrip.

 

[Sherry]

Hi to all who replied. Celia, I am on 400 mg. of Celebrex per day and am also a permanent Coumadin user. Amazingly, my INR was 1.8 (low) just today. The nurse was rather perplexed. The doc is going to order a TEE to see if he can see more than the standard echo has been showing. There have been some conflicting numbers with my left atrium measurement. (Trying to rule out any heart valve problems before he officially calls it the chostochondritis even though that's what both docs seem to think it is.) Gary, I'm going to ask about that Lodine you mentioned. Is it an anti-inflammatory? Any different from Celebrex? Thanks for all of your input. If anyone else has had these problems, let me know. The pain in my back is especially unbearable. Sherry

 

[Zipper]

Hi,

I've taken Celebrex, Vioxx, Bextra, and even Prednisone to combat my Bicipital tendonitis and cervical radiculitis...All of those have affected my INR....Home testing has been a wonderful tool thru all of this. Is there, in fact, ANY anti-inflamtory that does not have an affect on INR???? Doc's that aren't in that speciality will say it's ok....hmmm....I don't/won't trust that opinion! If you must take an anti-inflamatory...keep close watch on your INR! Just my 2 cents!

Zip *~*

 

[gary]

To: Sherry

To: Sherry

I never did check out which group of analgesics Lodine belongs in.

The relief after many, many sleepless nights was all I cared about back then.