Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion Helpful Tips chest pains

I recall over the last 10 yrs. when trying to take a breat I couldn't. It felt like my ribs were going to break or be ripped apart. Just yesterday and today did my chest hurt, and ususally it happend when I have been on a medro pack. The the third day I feel like I am having a heart attack. The doctor says with AS and the steroid that my heart is more at risk for problems. So guess what no more prednisone.

that is crazy, It comes and goes for me but when it happens it stays for a while. I haven't really thought about the medication i am on and chest pains as a side effect. Something to think about!

HI, and OUCH
It sounds more like spasms. From ribs coming thru to chest.

I have been able to get rid of a little bit of my spasms by strecthing. But could nt do that when i had pain, was bloody horrible. Thena s pain settled down with help of PT and osteopaths, started strecthing while cutting thru pain. it did help.

Good luck, may be you can get in touch with a PT (physio, osteopatch)... may be then can help a bit

Quote: "I have a lump right on my breast bone which grows and reduces. Dr. told me it is just the last rib to become solid bone..."

Magician - if you put ini a seqarch for 'Sternum Pain' you will find a raft of past posts on the subject. Yes. Many of us have that 'duck egg' on our sternum - and IF you push it, it aint half painful...!! Initially, mine was sort of squidgey cartilage duck egg, but now it has solidified into a bony duck egg protrusion - and hurts like h..l if you push it.

Flippin AS.

Astrid - costochrondritis. Goes right along with AS. Very nasty. ALSO, pleurisy is another little nasty that all too often rears its nasty head for spondys.

Stretch is the best way to tackle costo. Need to stretch and do deep brathing exercises, intercostal diagphragmatic breathing, to exercise those ligaments, tendons and stop em from seizing up. All too easy for us to seize up ya know...

Bending down is hellish during a costo attack. Feels like one's back ribs are going to explode through one's front rib cage. And as for breathing...owie, owie. But only thing that helps, is gentle stretching and 'deep' breathing.

Mind you, when REALLY BAD I do take antiinflammatories AND pain killers. Aint gonna be a matyr 'to' pain, thanks. On the other hand, stave off taking ANY meds, until I 'really' have to.

As for pleurisy. IF you get this'un, you'll know right well that you'v got it. It is hellish painful - left me crawling. Will prob need antibiotics to kill off the bacteria in the lungs and oxygen to help with breathing. I was hospitalised - hope I ***never have another attack like that again. Horrible.

Lovely spondy monster, such a fun wee chappy - GGGGGRRRRRRRRRR

Thank you much love for the tips.

I have awful chest pains at times, and when they first started I was scared that I was having a heart attack, too!

My family Doc did a few tests on my heart. I don't remember what all I had done. One was a stress test, another was an ultrasound of the heart. Everything came back ok.

My Rheumy later told me that I had fusion around my sternum. I also had some pain from the NSAIDS being rough on my Esophogus. I take Prilosec now to help with the NSAID burn.

My chest pains aren't particularly painful as they seem to be for many of you. There is one strange pain I've felt since I was a small child and it only lasts for a few minutes at a time.

It will come out of nowhere and feel as though I was being stabbed with the point of a compass or something in the middle of my chest on the left side. This pain gets worse while inhaling making it difficult to breathe. One day, many years ago I figured out that if I take one big breath, I can end the entire episode in one go and when I do this, I feel something "click" into place where the pain was.

No doctor has ever considered this worthy of comment and no bone spurs or fractures or anything ever showed up on X-Rays so I never gave it much thought either.

Chris

I found an explanation on the net
The manubrio-sternal joint is a tight joint - the manubrium and the sternum are held firmly together at the level of the second rib in a 'tight' joint.
This point of the chest (where the lump forms) is referred to as the sternal angle because the bones meet not in a straight alignment but are slightly offset at an obtuse angle.
In AS the manubrio-sternal joint often develops it own synovial space (this is abnormal) so that on coughing, sneezing, etc the movement of one bone relative to another causes great pain.
It is no coincidence that the joint is adjacent to the bone marrow of the sternum and an MRI will show that the marrow is itself inflamed. Whilst the inflammation in the manubrio-sternal joint is dominated by macrophages the bone marrow inflammation is due to an abnormal proliferation of T lymphocytes.
Probably no co-incidence that the SI joints are adjacent to the bone marrow of the iliac crest (the superior border of the ilium or greater pelvis).

Cheers David

Davo, where did you find this article? would like to read more