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last night while driving i felt a bit of discomfort in my chest so i felt and it was extremely painful where my ribs meet at the solar plexus area.
about an inch or so of each side and the little nobble where they meet is extremely tender like its bruised?
unfortuneately i began to panic and as i was quite away from home i ended up having a major panic attack while drivinig which was horrific.
i stil have the pain today. no visual bruising or swelling just pain
:lac:
Sounds like you are experiencing costochondritis. This is basically pain sensation in the soft tissue and cartilege surrounding your ribs, and is quite common in anxiety sufferers.
I have had this for over ten years and notice it particularly in the upper and lower ribcage, when I have been using the upper chest muscles for continuous activity, i.e. painting and decorating, digging, over-use of computer keyboard, and as in your case driving.
Do you hold the wheel with your arms lowered at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions, or are you a gripper with your hands towards the top of the wheel. If you are the latter, as I am, you will probably find that you have unwittingly built up a lot of physical tension and stress on your upper ribcage and itis most likely this that is causing the discomfort.
You mentioned that your ribs feel 'bruised' and quite tender to the touch. This is a sure sign of costochondritis which can produce some very sore spots - quite often you can feel as if you have been punched although of course there is no bruising. Costo is neither degenerative nor does it present any health threat but you will find that you may need to temper your usual activity when it flares up, as it will from time to time, until it eases.
D.
thats really strange you mention that as for the past couple days i had what i believed was costo in my upper region of breast bone right between my pecs. i would notice that it would ache briefly with mmovement after being lay on my side or just randomly when moving. that has been present for a couple days and i did search and self diagnose that. especially after working out throught the week.
this new pain was right dow at the bottom where my stomach is and is a different pain like touching a very sore muscle or bruise. strangely i have tried to touch it umerous times today and the tenderness has changed from extremely painful to not at all. makes me wonder if the pain is my stomach and not y ribs.. maybe the ribs are pressed into the stomach in certain positions causing the pain.
i have also been feeling slight difficulty to geet in a full breath but thats always been a sympton of anxiety for me so i cant decide whether its a true factor or not.
also get a trapped wind feeling and some acidy burps/ hiccups???
All of the symptoms you describe are typical of costo. The acid reflux and trapped wind are also associated conditions - I've had them for years and they come and go in terms of severity.
The thing with costo and even fibromyalgia which is generally the underlying condition of which costo is only a manifestation, is that the associated pain is roving. It used to drive me insane before I realised what it was - the pains and tender spots seemed to change location daily. One day it would be a pain in the upper ribs, the next in the lower ribcage. Sometimes I feel as if I have been hit in the stomach with the muscles immediately below the lower ribs feeling extremely sore like yours are. If you are getting this pain when driving you will most likely realise that it goes together with the chest pains, caused by physical tension and holding your arms to the wheel in a static position for a length of time. I get the same pains when I have been on a long drive or been on the computer keyboard for too long.
Fibro can manifest itself anywhere where there is repetitive bodily activity and muscle 'abuse'- sometimes the stomach, sometimes the arms, shoulders even legs - anywhere where a muscle is in proximity to a joint such as the ribs, hips, shoulders, wrists. It wont incapacitate you but it can be frustrating when it flares up and it often mimics the symptoms of a range of organic illnesses. Best thing to do is educate yourself on the condition. I can recommend some excellent websites and reading matter which explain this 'dustbin' diagnosis (doctor speak!) or just type costochondritis or fibromyalgia in the search box of this site and you will see there are a fair number of us suffering from it.
D.