Chest/Back Pain

[Matt M.]

Thanks for the compliment TJ

Thanks for the compliment TJ

I only took 1 pain reliever last night and I had little pain today, but it was minor. But unfortunately just about 2 hours ago the only thing that could make me go crazier happened.. All of a sudden my right side started hurting. It is very similar to the pain I feel when I first had problems with the left side, like the exact same thing that has happened each time before. This condition has happened a few times with my left side, but not on my right side.. until now. The symptoms of pleurisy seem to exactly fit this pain in my right side.

It's very frustrating that pain occurs that you don't even have control over, like I didn't do anything to bring on the pain.. My appointment is still over a week away which is aggravating as well. I guess I'll just have to take a couple pain relievers tonight and see if I need more in the morning.. So far it at least seems that pain relievers can help deal with the pain but it is still frustrating nonetheless.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Get to the emergency room

Get to the emergency room immediately if you think you need to. Listen to your body, and don't put it off when the time comes.

 

[Matt M.]

Sorry about the delay, I

Sorry about the delay, I haven't gotten to posting about this.

I had my doctor appointment Sept. 9. Beforehand, I found that taking naproxen sodium (type of NSAID) for a few days made the pain go away. That leads me to believe it was inflammation. The pain has not returned since. Anyway, the doctors did x-rays and such, and they could see nothing wrong with my ribs or lungs, or anything else. They also had me do a breathing test, and I was better than average. There also appears to be no allergies or anything affecting me.

In the end, the basically said that with all of my descriptions plus the physical evidence, they couldn't know what it was. They said they weren't so sure that it could be pleurisy, because usually something triggers it. But I still think it was pleurisy.. there's no other explanation and the symptoms fit almost exactly, so that's what I am going to say it is. But to them it was pretty much a "mystery".

The doctor said I should take NSAIDs for a month to see if it could get rid of any problem in there. He said maybe if it was caused by inflammation, taking the NSAIDs for about a month would make sure the problem would go away. But I just don't feel like I can do that. The pain has gone away, and it seems as though if the pain comes back I know that I just need to take the naproxen sodium. I know it's not really good to go against the doctor, but he doesn't even know what it is. I don't think I should take pills just for the heck of it, if there is not pain.

I wouldn't have had any idea what the problem was without your posts, thanks for your help everyone.

 

[Danjo]

I'd be careful about working

I'd be careful about working out too much until your sure the problem is gone. And your lucky the pain releivers help, I'm somehow immune to pain medicine, they never help at all. Even when I had my super cramp (probably wasn't really a cramp, but pain and tightness in my calf that had me limping for 2 months) the doctor prescribed me 1200 mg of ibuprofen 3 times a day, thats an insane amount! And it didn't affect the pain at all, it just made me really tired, and all the extra chemicals in my system felt like crap, but the pain was the same if I took the pills or if I didn't.

Try going to another doctor and seing if you can find out what it is, because mystery illnesses and problems with your body can be really dangerous.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

This is really weird, Matt. 

This is really weird, Matt. I wonder what was wrong with you. I thought about you a couple of times and was hoping you would post. I agree with Danjo. You should seek a second opinion and research this more over the Internet. Sometimes we have to be our own advocate.