Bloating/constipation w/ chest pain ( Costochondritis ?)

Have you ever considered doing a cleansing program to help with constipation? I have ibs c and what worked for me was the colonix program by drnatura. I have been using colonix for 8 years now and it has kept my system running smoothly. I also went to seek the advice of a naturopath and he helped me with my eating. With the cleansing and the diet I am very happy and all of my symptoms are under control and some even nonexsistant. Keep us posted on your progress and what is working for you.

The doctors at Sick Kids gave our son lactalose and modulon 200mg T.I.D. for the constipation caused by severe I.B.S.- C Hope this helps you out.

Hi,
I have nearly identical problem as jfoster23 mentioned. I am male 30, health and fit. But this pain/pressure start building up on my chest, a bit to the left / under breastbone. It has been 2.5 months now. I have also developed very tight tendons and muscles at the mid back, which make me struggle to site in the office.
I have done ECG, Stress test, Blood work, X ray (twice), CT, Gastroscopy... not thing the doctors could spot... Was diagnosed with reflux then costochondritis... but they just don't fit the picture.
I am considering to get help with Tranditional Chinese medicine now. But the uncomfortableness really make me stressed.
Did you get to the bottom of this, jfoster23?

Dear Jfoster23,

I highly recommend, from my own past experience, that you get a blood test right away to check for: PTH, serum calcium, ionized calcium. I let this go for so long that I ended up having to have Rectocele surgery due to all the constipation causing a hernia in my intestine... you do NOT want to go through all that! Hypercalcemia (usually due to hyperparathyroidism) causes consitipation and can cause some of the other symptoms you have. You owe it to yourself to at least rule hypercalcemia out as a cause of your problems, by getting one simple blood test to test for PTH, and the two calciums I mentioned. I sincerely wish I would have done it years ago. The Rectocele I mentioned was only one of several surgeries I've endured due to calcium damage over the decades. You see, when you have hypercalcemia, your bones are being stripped and then your body won't digest that calcium, so you end up with calcium deposits here and there all over your body, wreaking havoc where-ever they land, damaging muscles, organs, blood, etc. If that turns out not to be the cause, get a colonoscopy. If no results there, get tested for your adrenal glands, your pancreas, etc. Believe me, both IBS and Chostochondritis are what doctors around the nation will diagnose people with when they don't know what the heck is causing their problem... In doctor-speak, those two diagnosis both mean, "I have no idea, but it MIGHT be this." However, usually both IBS and chostochondritis-type pain are in actually just SYMPTOMS of an underlying medical problem... you just have to be an assertive patient to find it. Best wishes!

Dear Thinpig,

Like the advice I gave jfoster23, I also highly recommend that you see if you have hyperparathyroidism and hypercalcemia because one of my symptoms was also the sternum/breastbone pain. I, too, was finally told it was Chostochondritis after they ruled out my heart. But, decades later, after discovering high PTH and high calciums, and removing a tumor on my parathyroid, they are readdressing my sternum pain to see if bone scans will show if that is one of the areas where the bones were stripped of calcium, causing pain; or if it could be the thymus, a gland right beneath the sternum/breastbone, which often becomes abnormally enlarged due to hypercalcemia, and causes pain when it presses against the breastbone/sternum if you move a certain way. So, get thee to a lab with a doctor's order to test for: PTH, serum calcium, ionized calcium in order to rule this out. They can test it all in just one vial of blood, so just one draw needed. SIDEPOINT: Drink water before you go to help them find a vein easier, if you have ever had trouble with them poking you over and over again trying to find a good one... I just found out the hard way that dehydration makes your veins harder to find when drawing blood, fyi. Best wishes!

P.S. to Jfoster23 and to Thinpig,

One thing I forgot to tell you. In 75% of cases of hyperparathyroidism (which is the USUAL cause for hypercalcemia), both your PTH and calciums will be high. However, I've learned that in 20% of people who also have this, only their calciums are high, yet their PTH stays in the normal levels. WARNING: Most doctors--because they aren't too educated on parathyroid glands--think a "normal" result of PTH is o.k., even though calciums are high. The fact is, if your parathyroid glands are working correctly, the PTH should always be in the low level, usually near ZERO when you have high calcium. Why? Because the glands should then turn themselves off from producing PTH because they recognize you don't need anymore calcium in your body. So, if you have high calciums on blood test results and a High -OR- a NORMAL PTH, you still have hyperparathyroidism. Google the Parathyroid world experts by searching for: "Dr. James Norman, Parathyroid Center, Tampa General Hospital" for more info on his excellent, easy to look up things, website. Hope all this helps!