Question:
Ky., and thanks for all responses. My friend was dx. with pleurisy and is now home from the hospital. Suzanne
Response:
Boy I was slow on that one. J said it all. Just plain old high inflammation can cause that type of pain also, either viral or bacterial infections also. I do hope they do the right tests. But even with out a rheumatologist, some internal medical doctors can indeed spot trouble and do the right tests. Just keep the faith and push those doctors to find answers, no matter what it takes. janers
Response:
determining if there is a posture that relieves the pain is often helpful in diagnosis. Pleurisy usually feels better when one leans forward. Costo hurts all the time but is not affected by deep breaths or coughing or the like. I’ve had two bad bouts with costochondritis. extreme rib pain for over 2 weeks – no meds did anything for it although NSAIDs may have reduced the duration of the second episode (unfortunately, Can’t take NSAIDs anymore…). I became extremely depressed with the costo as I could never get comfortable and sleep was a pointless effort. it was finally just "time" that fixed it I suppose. Let her know that if she is "holding herself" in an effort to ease the pain she could actually be prolonging the problem as well as creating muscle spasms in other parts of her torso. This is what I did and thus had costo killing my left side and muscle spasms tweaking (painfully) the right side. Perhaps episode two was also eased by my not trying to "hold" any particular position therefore not straining otherwise uninvolved muscles. not saying this is what she has – just giving my exp. with this particular topic. I get the charlie horse type spasms that someone else mentioned but they are always on the front side and always brief. *********************************** KCat – I am not a medical professional. The contents of this post are based soley on my experiences and opinions http://www.ghg.net/schwerpt/mypage.htm http://www.ghg.net/schwerpt/aslfaq30.htm ("`-”-/").___..–”"`-._ (`6_ 6 ) `-. ( ).`-.__.’`) (_Y_.)’ ._ ) `._ `. “-..-” _..`–’_..-_/ /–’_.’ ,’ (()),-” (()),’ (((.-’
Response:
I get horrible spasms in my rib area – what I call Charlie horse type pain. But it could be almost anything causing it in your friend. There are also a virus that attacks the cartilage between the ribs. I guess it just depends on how well she can describe her pain to the doctor. Lexington as in KY or VA? The hospital should keep her comfortable tonight. Bev "SLong10268" <slong10…@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020211213408.13566.00001003@mb-mv.aol.com… > My friend, who was recently dx. with lupus, is in the hospital tonight. She is > experiencing horrible rib pain. What worries me is that in our small town > there isn’t even a rheumatologist to examine her. My friend’s rheumy is in > Lexington. What could be causing the rib pain. They plan on doing tests. I > have read rib pain is not uncommon in lupus patients. Has anyone experienced > this and have any comments on what it might be? Thanks if you can help, > realizing you would just be giving me your opinion, something that should not > be substituted for that of a dr. Having fibro, I know that sometimes those of > us who have it are better in diagnosing symptoms than drs. Thanks.
Suzanne
Response:
My friend, who was recently dx. with lupus, is in the hospital tonight. She is experiencing horrible rib pain. What worries me is that in our small town there isn’t even a rheumatologist to examine her. My friend’s rheumy is in Lexington. What could be causing the rib pain. They plan on doing tests. I have read rib pain is not uncommon in lupus patients. Has anyone experienced this and have any comments on what it might be? Thanks if you can help, realizing you would just be giving me your opinion, something that should not be substituted for that of a dr. Having fibro, I know that sometimes those of us who have it are better in diagnosing symptoms than drs. Thanks. Suzanne
Response:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003109.htm Common causes bruised, cracked, or fractured rib costochondritis (inflammation of cartilage near the breastbone) osteoporosis (mostly in women) pleurisy (the pain is worse when breathing deeply) http://www.drkoop.com/conditions/ency/article/003109.htm esophageal problem adhesions (from previous surgery) Some previous Lupus post(ers) http://groups.google.com/groups?as_epq=%20rib%20pain&as_ugroup=alt.su… HTH J – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -SLong10268 wrote: > My friend, who was recently dx. with lupus, is in the hospital tonight. She is > experiencing horrible rib pain. What worries me is that in our small town > there isn’t even a rheumatologist to examine her. My friend’s rheumy is in > Lexington. What could be causing the rib pain. They plan on doing tests. I > have read rib pain is not uncommon in lupus patients. Has anyone experienced > this and have any comments on what it might be? Thanks if you can help, > realizing you would just be giving me your opinion, something that should not > be substituted for that of a dr. Having fibro, I know that sometimes those of > us who have it are better in diagnosing symptoms than drs. Thanks. Suzanne
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