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cooperstar

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Joined
Aug 19, 2017
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10
Reason
DX FIBRO
Diagnosis
07/2017
Country
US
State
NJ
After 20 years or so of pain in many parts of my body, I finally got diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. My rheumatologist has been very helpful. I have pain in all the tender points, but there's another area that bothers me. I also have pain on my mid Spine and ribs and the pain goes all the way to the side of my body. Very tender ribs (3 of them). Hurts to move, walk, cough....anything. If I sit still I'm okay although I'm still aware of the hurtful area in some way. Any one know if this rib pain can be related to Fibromyalgia?
 
First of all, welcome to the forum.

The pain could be related to fibro, or it could be not. Really hard to tell. Did you get an Xray/MRI done? You should as soon as possible.

I had severe neck pain in all the years that I also had fibromyalgia but was not diagnosed with fibro. Both were put down to Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and my sensitive perfectionist personality. I'd get physical therapy and OTC pain medication. Years later, I was so fed up with the pain that I went to a private hospital and had an MRI done. And yes, 2 herniated discs, pretty severe and had to be operated on (most likely due to 2 accidents I had had in my teens). The loss of feeling/power in my right arm, which many doctors also dismissed as RSI for more than a decade, had thus a real cause.

But the 2 surgeries I had made everything worse - the pain is very sharp and the headaches are endless. Now they blame fibromyalgia .... whatever it is to blame, listen real well to your body. Eat well, live well, exercise, do basic stretching/yoga moves, moves you learned from the physical therapists, avoid stress, do things you love doing as much as possible etc. Sadly this is often the only option we have. It can be blamed on an illness, but the treatment is almost always the same. Which also includes pain meds by the way, but keep that option as your last.

All the best!
 
First of all, welcome to the forum.

The pain could be related to fibro, or it could be not. Really hard to tell. Did you get an Xray/MRI done? You should as soon as possible.

I had severe neck pain in all the years that I also had fibromyalgia but was not diagnosed with fibro. Both were put down to Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and my sensitive perfectionist personality. I'd get physical therapy and OTC pain medication. Years later, I was so fed up with the pain that I went to a private hospital and had an MRI done. And yes, 2 herniated discs, pretty severe and had to be operated on (most likely due to 2 accidents I had had in my teens). The loss of feeling/power in my right arm, which many doctors also dismissed as RSI for more than a decade, had thus a real cause.

But the 2 surgeries I had made everything worse - the pain is very sharp and the headaches are endless. Now they blame fibromyalgia .... whatever it is to blame, listen real well to your body. Eat well, live well, exercise, do basic stretching/yoga moves, moves you learned from the physical therapists, avoid stress, do things you love doing as much as possible etc. Sadly this is often the only option we have. It can be blamed on an illness, but the treatment is almost always the same. Which also includes pain meds by the way, but keep that option as your last.

All the best!



I have not had an X-Ray yet. I cannot have an MRI done due to a shunt I have in my head....had a brain aneurysm rupture a few years ago, two brain surgeries, and I am not allowed to have an MRI. My next appt. with Rheumatologist is 1st week of October. If pain persists, I will make an appt. sooner and maybe I can get a CT Scan to see what's going on with pain in my ribs and spine.

I too have had many injections for the pain and physical therapy throughout the years. I know exercise should help.....but I'm too freakin' tired! My rheumy said Yoga and/or mild exercise...no more than 15 or 20 min. Due to other illnesses, I am on medication that does not allow me to use 4 diff. medications my rheumy told me about. I told her I would be fine with taking Aleve. I am super relieved to know what my pain is all about now. I guess I'll wait a little for now. Thank you so much for your response.

If anyone out there has this same "rib and spine pain" please tell me if you're doing anything that can help me. Many thanks.
 
Hi, Cooperstar--I can totally relate to the rib pain which was horrible (throbbing, stabbing). mine lasted for months and months and months. It ruined my sleep as there was no way to get comfortable. I'd cracked ribs many years ago in a sailing accident and that hurt like the devil for 2+ months, but it went away gradually. This stayed at the same pain level for the entire time, which leads me to believe it was a fibro symptom rather than an injury. That's been the pattern of my pain: sharp, severe, long-lasting, and always without an identifiable cause. The pain has occurred in all different parts of my body, sometimes in ridiculous places like my thumb! Not having a "why" to explain the pain, and knowing that it won't slowly get better but suddenly and mysteriously disappear are two of the hardest things about Fibro for me. Normally when you have an injury you are able to calm yourself when the pain is bad, knowing you are healing and that it will gradually get better. Fibro pain is not like that for me--it's almost always inexplicable.
 
i have almost constant rib pain at a high level..i agree with PainArtist, an injury gradually improves...i have broken bones in my foot twice but having the same high pain all over your body for months or years is MUCH harder to manage the emotional side as well as the disability my fibro causes.
 
It's always seem like most fibro sufferer who has been through some kind of surgeries or painful hospital treatments always seems to ended up with more unexplain painful Fibromyalgia symptoms . I do have rips pains on both side and touching them hurts even more every time along with my hips towards the back. Gotta be careful when getting a hug. :cry: . I've found the lidocaine patches help a lot when the pains are unbearable. Along with regular pain patches on my fibro spots/spine. So much so I bought a henna tattoo pen to mark the precise spots for the accuracy each time so I won't ever miss.
 
Does the pain feel like it's the muscle over your ribs, or between your ribs? There's a condition called costochondritis that causes inflammation of the cartilage between your ribs and it hurts like hell! anti-inflamatories and rest. Not sure about the spine, though. Or it could all just be more fibro pain showing up in weird places. Anywhere there are nerves, there can be pain. Definitely worth asking your doctor about in case its something else.

Also, no surprise you have fibro after 2 brain operations! I have a teeny aneurysm we are keeping an eye on (my father died of one at a young age) Thankfully it's small enough that the neurologist thinks it shouldn't be a problem, but that doesn't stop you worrying a bit: if it ever burst it means either death or brain surgery... I'm not sure which terrifies me more! In the meantime, yey MRIs.
 
Does the pain feel like it's the muscle over your ribs, or between your ribs? There's a condition called costochondritis that causes inflammation of the cartilage between your ribs and it hurts like hell! anti-inflamatories and rest. Not sure about the spine, though. Or it could all just be more fibro pain showing up in weird places. Anywhere there are nerves, there can be pain. Definitely worth asking your doctor about in case its something else.

Also, no surprise you have fibro after 2 brain operations! I have a teeny aneurysm we are keeping an eye on (my father died of one at a young age) Thankfully it's small enough that the neurologist thinks it shouldn't be a problem, but that doesn't stop you worrying a bit: if it ever burst it means either death or brain surgery... I'm not sure which terrifies me more! In the meantime, yey MRIs.


I've been told that I have costochondritis throughout the years. My pain has been in between the ribs. I saw my Foot Dr. for pain around ankles and top of feet, and he gave me a shot on my foot and meds for arthritis. It actually helped my pain and now it is mostly gone!

Good luck to you with your aneurysm. Have your headaches checked. My neurosurgeon told me that brain aneurysms aren't usually genetic, but there are some cases of it. My brother died of a brain aneurysm, and my surgeon said my family should be careful. I'm one of those few cases. I guess you are too....so sorry. Thanks for responding.
 
Sounds like costochondritis alright. I had a bad bout of it a few years ago that went from "oh that feels weird" to "OMG why is there this stabbing in my chest?!" that sent me to emergency. After blood tests, heart monitors, xrays, etc etc, they told me it was probably costo, take anti-inflamatories and it should go away. So weird. Don't know if it's another common fibro symptom or not?

Yeah, I was only screened for brain aneurysm because of my dad. Kinda wish I didn't know about it, to be honest. Thankfully no killer headaches. I have enough pain as it is! I'll get an MRI done again in the next few months (5 year follow up) so if it hasn't grown it probably won't (so my neurologist assures me).
 
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