Costochondritis, asthma, allergies and joint pain

I'm sorry you are dealing with all this. I would also look into the role histamine nay be contributing if you haven't already. Food as well as environmental.

I’m on a gluten free and dairy free minus some cheese diet. I take cetrizine and spiriva inhaler.

I have asthma and costochronditis. I have fibromyalgia, arthritis and all over joint pain. Mobic (prescription med) has helped me greatly. I use heat packs, epsom salt bath soaks, volteren gel and getting a massage helps. I find that since I have developed asthma, I have more sinus infections and asthmatic bronchitis. I use the proair albuterol inhaler and that helps greatly. Sometimes I have to go on oral steroids for the asthmatic bronchitis. I do know that as I have gotten older, my allergies have gotten worse and have changed. I too question if I have histamine issues. I am so sorry you are going through this and I am praying for you. God Bless!

It sounds as though your condition is something like my own. Although I haven't been diagnosed as having costochondritis doctors have previously checked me for it because of the combination of respiratory failure and the painful difficulty I have raising my arms, and inability to press my arms, in front of my body. It's likely that you will find it relatively easy lifting your arms to the sides or performing pressing motions to the side. That's the reduction in chest muscle function resulting from sternum/muscle cartilage function. Mine resulted in bursitis in my shoulders as well. In my own case I believe that overexertion was the cause, consistent with both having occurred as a consequence of the same cause.

As for the issues with increased allergic response it's likely similar to how my own respiratory failure has affected any of my own conditions which also affect my breathing, making them more serious because the pectoral muscles don't respond to support increased breathing. Out of interest, has your own loss of function affected your abdominal muscles like my own? I haven't been able to engage my abdominal muscles, in order to sit up, since my condition commenced.

Hi thank you for reaching out! It’s helpful to hear from people that are having the same symptoms. I’ve been doing what you have been doing for relief. I started taking Meloxicam and that made a world of difference. I’m now on Cymbalta which has also helped with pain and depression. Rain and cold also affect me like today. Im hoping to get more answers at the Iowa university hospital soon. I’ll let you know! Prayers for you too.

Hi thank you for your reply. I don’t have issues with my abdominal muscles. Just ribs and all over joint pain. Good luck to you and prayers.

Barry9888, No, my abdominal muscles have not been affected. I do have the bursitis/arthritis in one shoulder. Can you take NSAIDS such as Motrin or Advil?
Sometimes that can help with the Costochondritis. I know a lady that started swimming as exercise and it caused Costochondritis and she thought it was her heart and went to the ER! It is painful stuff. I am so sorry that you are battling this so intensely. May God Bless You!

Covidstinks2023, Yes, I experienced the sensation of rapid heart rate and heart attack and was checked out by the cardiac ward with nothing found. If it wasn't for the constantly high bood oxygenation I'm certain that the fact they cancelled the cardiac stress test as soon as I lost my breath, when they sped up the step machine, would have put them on the right track to pulmonary issues. Paradoxically, having the constantly high oxygenation has ruined my life because all of the experts just decided that I was faking my condition, much like many of the people who've suffered from long covid. Because of the exposure to permanent silica nanoparticle coating sprays I stopped being able to enter water, due to water pressure on my chest and stomach preventing breathing, long before I experienced any other health issues. I wouldn't be surprised if it hadn't been some kind of situation, prior to your friend commencing swimming, which laid the foundations for the effects to appear once she started swimming.

As for treatment; the fact that I was accused of faking my condition means that I have to prove there's really something wrong before I can afford to do anything to ameliorate the condition. Think of it like being accused of having committed a crime but without any evidence given or right to defend myself. As the Australian medical system currently only allows us to attend our local hospitals, which are run by the same private company, I can never seem to get access to tests or investigations necessary to prove their doctors claims wrong. I suppose you could say that I'm the witness to a doctor having committed a crime but the doctor is the one who judges the case. I'm actually not too much into trusting pharmaceutical interventions anyway; much preferring wholistic and natural options. I know that doctors always dismiss the effectiveness of using diet or supplements to treat disease but you really wouldn't believe the amount of medical research which proves that they're often more effective than pharmaceuticals.

I was prescribed hydrocodone for 2 years for my pain then that stopped working. Meloxicam works wonders but when I have asthma issues and it inflames the Costo I wind up in the ER. They don’t want to give any pain meds now. It’s like I’m faking it or something too. Sad.

Yes, I was told that the pain was all in my head after I collapsed at work with heat stroke. No one who knows me thinks much of the doctors who have treated me, protecting the company I worked for from legal action resulting from leaving me on the factory floor after I collapsed. It's a poor statement on the state of the medical system that they care more about corporations than their patients these days.

Within the next ten years I'm confident that a next generation of nasal allergy sprays will become available. I've been looking at a lot of recent medical research into how serine protease enzymes in pollen cause things like hayfever and exacerbation of asthma so a number of different options are being explored to prevent the damage resulting from them. I'm allergic to Japanese cedar pollen, going into full blown hayfever if I even come close to one of the tree's when it's carrying pollen cones. I'm still getting over a bout of it starting a couple of days ago when some pollen travelled my way.