[dllfo]

That is not a good title, but I couldn't come up with a better name for it. If my Trigeminal Neuralgia is where I have a "tooth ache" in four teeth next to each other... how about if I have several ribs to the left of my heart that hurt the same way?? I went to the ER room Friday. Twice. Severe pain in my ribs. SEVERE PAIN!! I was hurting so bad last night I could not lay down in my bed. I spent the entire night sitting up simply because laying down hurt my ribs too much. The ribs immediately under the left pectorial muscle are the problem.

I have been off opiates for almost a year, but yesterday ended that. Oxycodone and Percocet seemed to have relieved at least a large part of the pain.

Have any of you heard of this?? Some "disease" wherein 4 or 5 ribs are tied together.

The ER determined I did not have a heart attack and some other things, but these did not know what was messing up. Any ideas?

[Doodle bug7]

I was just released from the hospital, having had pneumonia for the 5th time. My left lung hurt when I breathed in and felt like broken ribs.
Did they get a chest x-ray? keep asking a lot of questions and do research on your own like it seems you are doing. There is an answer,
just keep looking and don't give up.
All the best, Doodle bug7

[dllfo]

thanks Doodle Bug7, I had xrays and later on, a CT Scan.

They really don't know and the ER had two shots at figuring it out. My lab tests show I have a huge infection or inflammation in me. As I may have said, I will be taking 60,000mg of Septra DS in 30 days.

Here it is: High Sensitivity CRP is 32.20. 3-10 range says to consider retesting in 1-2 weeks. So my Cardiologist, Pulmonologist, Urologist, Neurologist and the janitor are all watching. My Urologist thinks I have Prostatitis, hence the high amount of anti-biotics. My PSA went from around 5-7 up to 18 in 6 months time. After 30 days I am to get another PSA test and if it is still real high, it is biopsy time.

Back to my ribs. One dr. said it is a long shot, but maybe the "infection" is causing the rib pain. Who knows??

Sorry to hear about you being in the hospital, that is no fun on a good day.

[Koala77]

I had something similar many years ago and was finally diagnosed with Bornholm Disease. My pain was severe and seemed to affect the nerves between my ribs on one side. You might like to read up on that and see if it sounds like what you have.

"Symptoms may include fever and headache, but the distinguishing characteristic of this disease is attacks of severe pain in the lower chest, often on one side.The slightest movement of the rib cage causes a sharp increase of pain, which makes it very difficult to breathe, and an attack is therefore quite a frightening experience, although it generally passes off before any actual harm occurs. The attacks are unpredictable and strike "out of the blue" with a feeling like an iron grip around the rib cage....." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bornholm_disease

[dllfo]

Koala 77, thank you for the specific information. I will ask my Neurologist about it.

Of course, I will have to write it down or I will forget it.

My wife has two theories as to why my ribs hurt so bad.

1. She found me unconscious on the kitchen floor (tile) and I probably hurt my ribs as I fell.

2. My Medic Alert Dog. I have CCHS and when I fall asleep without my ventilator hooked up, she will literally jump at me, hitting my chest with her front paws. If that does not wake me up, she licks my face. If that does not work, she punches my face with her nose (41 pound, 5 year old Portuguese Water Dog) and if none of these things works she alerts my wife or whoever is home with me. Since my memory is poor, my wife wonders if I didn't fall asleep in my chair and Tolly hit my ribs too hard. Hard to say, but front and back were incredibly sore.

Percocet did nothing for me, so I got Oxycodone. THAT worked. After about ten days my ribs are still tender. None of the doctors seem to know what happened.

As a result of those incidents my specialists ran over 30 lab tests on me.

My PSA jumped from 5 to 18 in 6 months and my hs-crp is 32.20. So I have other things to think about. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but they put me on Septra DS. In a 30 day period I will take approximately 60,000mg of it. I have never heard of anyone taking that much antibiotic outside of a hospital, but keep your fingers crossed. Prayers gratefully accepted. Life just keeps getting more interesting. Thanks again...Dave

[Koala77]

Hi back again dllfo.

After reading your reply, I thought I'd give you more information about the viral infection I mentioned above so you can eliminate it if your symptoms don't fit.

Bornholm Disease is an acute infectious illness caused by the Coxsackie B Virus. It causes fever, and flu type symptoms, as well as severe pain in the chest...usually on one side. That pain can be stabbing, or 'grip-like', and spasmodic... lasting for 15 to 30 minutes at a time. Coughing, sneezing and sudden movements intensify the pain.

Maybe I've confused matters by bringing it up because I didn't know about the antics of your rather large dog until now, and injury from Tolly trying to wake you up is certainly a possibility. Maybe you have some nasty internal bruising.

I read that you'd had XRays and even a CT, but I've had broken bones myself that didn't show up on XRay, and CT wouldn't pick them up. It wasn't until I had bone scans done that they were able to confirm what I already suspected. I also broke 4 ribs in a fall a few years ago, and from what I remember about the rib pain I had with Bornholm Disease, that pain was similar to the broken rib pain.... the pain from these fractures being worse though.

An elevated CRP definitely indicates infection somewhere, and antibiotics should help with that..... unless of course you have a virus, in which case they probably won't do much at all.

Good luck with your next round of tests, and I do hope your PSA has stabalized or decreased, and you don't have to have that biopsy.

[dllfo]

FOLLOW UP -----
I took 64,600mg of antibiotics. It worked. My PSA dropped to 14 (biopsy coming up), my
HS-crp dropped crom 32.20 to .6 --- back where it should be. So I really had a "Systemic infection" I guess --- who knows, but I was feeling better until tonight.

My rib pain is back. Not as bad as before, but bad enough to keep me sitting up when I am really tired.

I need to read up on the "Bornholm Disease" and how to detect it. My ribs - on the right side are so sore it hurts to take a deep breath. Coughing just isn't allowed right now. So it appears to be back.

Life is good. Hope yours is too.

[dllfo]

Koala77,
Thank you very much. Since Jan 22nd I have been in the hospital a couple of times for Cardiac events, etc. I had a Prostate Biopsy and last Wed I had a colonoscopy and an Endoscopy. I thought maybe one of those sessions might have inflamed the interior walls or something weird.

The doctors informed me I was ok from their findings. My Primary Care Dr. gave me Cipro for the infection and I am taking Oxycodone for the pain. I have to admit the opiates do their job.

I sleep on my Ventilator, with oxygen, so sleeping with sore ribs is not easy. I was up at 2am this morning. Maybe I can sneak in a nap this afternoon.

Last time was my left side, this time it is my right side. Last time I thought maybe my Service/Medic Alert dog had caused the ribs to hurt, but this time it was not her fault for sure. Oh well, thanks again....