So now I have taken my entire 30 day supply of the medication. I feel ok for normal daily activities but I still really can't do anything strenuous without some pain. Forturnately my job (software engineer) doesn't require anything strenuous, but it sucks not to be able to play tennis or do my normal activities with the kids.
Tomorrow I go back to the doctor to find out if she has other ideas and maybe do some x-rays or other tests. I want to make sure that what I have is Costochondritis or Tietze's and not something more serious with my heart.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Costochondritis 2
After doing a little more reading, I think I actually have Tietze syndrome and not costochondritis. The difference according to wikipedia and other sites seems to just be whether you have swelling, and I have some swelling that seems to be controlled by the Meloxicam that the doctor prescribed. Anyway, the difference doesn't matter too much because the treatment is the same: anti-imflammatory meds and rest.
I've been taking the meloxicam for a little over two weeks now. My doctor recommended I take it for 10 days, but felt I needed more so I checked and the doc said it was ok to keep taking it. There's no doubt it helps control the pain and swelling in my sternum area. I also seemed to be recovering until today. Our office had a boat party in the afternoon, so like an idiot I went there and jumped off the boat, swam in the lake, and pushed myself harder than I should have.
So now I'm back in pain and remember what my chest felt like a couple weeks ago. I'm a pretty active person, running, tennis, yoga, swimming with the kids, etc. And I'm finding it's difficult to resist the urge to push myself and do the stuff I like to do. Hopefully by writing this I will help to remind myself to be more careful. I keep reinjuring myself and as a result I'm not healing.
So my plan today is to really try to not do anything strenuous for at least one month. The first two weeks of which I will take the remaining medicine. I'm also going to keep a log so that I have a better idea of my improvement. Without a log it can be hard to remember how I felt 1 or 2 weeks ago, and then I get frustrated because I feel like I'm not getting any better.
I've been taking the meloxicam for a little over two weeks now. My doctor recommended I take it for 10 days, but felt I needed more so I checked and the doc said it was ok to keep taking it. There's no doubt it helps control the pain and swelling in my sternum area. I also seemed to be recovering until today. Our office had a boat party in the afternoon, so like an idiot I went there and jumped off the boat, swam in the lake, and pushed myself harder than I should have.
So now I'm back in pain and remember what my chest felt like a couple weeks ago. I'm a pretty active person, running, tennis, yoga, swimming with the kids, etc. And I'm finding it's difficult to resist the urge to push myself and do the stuff I like to do. Hopefully by writing this I will help to remind myself to be more careful. I keep reinjuring myself and as a result I'm not healing.
So my plan today is to really try to not do anything strenuous for at least one month. The first two weeks of which I will take the remaining medicine. I'm also going to keep a log so that I have a better idea of my improvement. Without a log it can be hard to remember how I felt 1 or 2 weeks ago, and then I get frustrated because I feel like I'm not getting any better.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Costochondritis
Last week I went to the doctor because I believe that I have Costochondritis. I had been taking ibuprofen in varying amounts for about a month and it helped a little, but I didn't feel like I was getting any better. The doctor basically agreed with my diagnosis and gave me a prescription for a stronger anti-inflammatory medication. It's been a week now, and the medication seems to be helping. I'm slowly regaining flexibility (without pain) in my chest. Hopefully one more week of the medicine and my sternum will be healthy enough to not need the medicine anymore.
My symptoms basically occurred like this: I was sitting at work on a Monday (maybe May 18th), I leaned back in my chair to stretch, and I felt this sharp pain in the middle of my chest. I almost thought I was having a heart attack! After a little bit of moving and relaxing the pain basically went away, but I could feel pain and tightness in my chest if I arched my back at all. Later in the day I had to sneeze and I felt my chest pop and a lot of pain again. That sucked.
Basically these symptoms continued for a couple of days so I did some research (i.e. google) and figured out that I probably hurt the cartilage in my sternum. I'm not sure exactly how I hurt it, but I have a suspicion that I hurt it when lifting some plywood the previous day. Anti-inflammatory medication seemed to be the recommended treatment so I started taking ibuprofin, but I wasn't taking it with any regularity and I wasn't really being careful to not reinjure myself, and I think that's why the problem persisted.
If this happended to someone else, I would recommend taking advil or other ibuprofin regularly for a couple of weeks even if it feels like you are ok, and trying to avoid any activities that irritate the area. If it's not improving after a couple of weeks then go to a doctor.
My symptoms basically occurred like this: I was sitting at work on a Monday (maybe May 18th), I leaned back in my chair to stretch, and I felt this sharp pain in the middle of my chest. I almost thought I was having a heart attack! After a little bit of moving and relaxing the pain basically went away, but I could feel pain and tightness in my chest if I arched my back at all. Later in the day I had to sneeze and I felt my chest pop and a lot of pain again. That sucked.
Basically these symptoms continued for a couple of days so I did some research (i.e. google) and figured out that I probably hurt the cartilage in my sternum. I'm not sure exactly how I hurt it, but I have a suspicion that I hurt it when lifting some plywood the previous day. Anti-inflammatory medication seemed to be the recommended treatment so I started taking ibuprofin, but I wasn't taking it with any regularity and I wasn't really being careful to not reinjure myself, and I think that's why the problem persisted.
If this happended to someone else, I would recommend taking advil or other ibuprofin regularly for a couple of weeks even if it feels like you are ok, and trying to avoid any activities that irritate the area. If it's not improving after a couple of weeks then go to a doctor.
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