I thought I was going crazy or was psychosomatic...I have nearly the same exact symptoms most of you have described...I had a Upper GI and Barium Swallow back in February and supposedly the Dr. could not find anything although the girl doing the work said she thought she noticed something...on questioning my regular doctor he said he would believe the doc because he is reputable...My worst fears were cancer...I just don't want to continue and find out it is too late...thanks!

It is called Costochondritis. I went through the same thing about a month ago, was rushed to the hospital - they thought it was a heart attack. Echocardiogram, lung Xray, blood tests - everything came back normal. 3 weeks later I woke up coughing what I thought was phlegm in my mouth - a lot of blood. Turned out I had a severe lung infection which did not show up on the Xray which was left untreated for too long (long story)... anyway I am on antibiotics now but the ribcage and breast bone had become inflamed. It is very hard to diagnose. Google it - I know the pain is like a knife stabbing you when you breathe. You need antiinflammatory medicine (motrin - ibuprofin) - but check for a lung infection as well.

I am amazed that so many of you share my exact symptoms!!! I feel so helpless because I've been to cardiologists, breast surgeons, and through a ton of x-rays to find NOTHING - i've ended up in the ER 8 times in the last 2 years. I have a pain under my left rib that radiates to my back - it comes and goes - sometimes disappears and sometimes its very painful - sometimes dull and sometimes sharp - no one can tell me what it is.... if anyone has any ideas please write me. Thanks!

I have had same pain for three years now. I've done it all ct mri colonoscopy tests etc...no relief. ibuprofin helps and so does vicodin. Hate taking meds to get through the day. At this point i have given up and decided to live with the pain!

Me too... I'm going on 3 years and it's really ridiculous at this point... i don't mind the pain so much if i could just be assured that it's not something horrible like heart problems or cancer. Where exactly is your pain? Mine is directly under my left lower rib - if i stick my fingers under my rib that is where the pain is - although it is not sore to the touch - it's more inside - and also my left back shoulderblade has a knot which come and goes as well.

Costochondritis.
Here is a link which EXACTLY describes the symptoms you are going through and the pain. - It is not cancer, or a heart problem. It is also called chest pain - inflamation of the cartilage connecting the ribs. Copy and paste this link into your browser and you will see or google COSTOCHONDRITIS. It is very frightening and painful but can be treated with Ibuprofen - Motrin or Aleve.
http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/sprainsstr ains/a/costochondritis.htm

Need help.....

I am 34 year old male and I have a nagging and gnawing pain in my left nipple area for last 5 years. I got x rays, stress ecg, ecg done and all were normal except i have a slightly curved spleen. The pain is constant, sometimes it feels like a heartburn, sometimes it is pinching pain, sometimes it is a dull pain, i feel worse while sleeping when the alarm goes off or my wife is vacumming or any other type of sound. I feel a slight relief when i strech my chest or left shoulder and arm, and also when i play sports. Sometimes i feel the pain on the right side of the chest however that is only occasional. Around 7 months ago i also started feeling pain in my left side back/kidney area, i got my urine checked and did blood test, everything was normal. Nowdays i also feel shivering, a rush, waves, pincing pain in my head area. The pain in my nipple area in constant and the pain in the lower back area and the head in frequent but not constant. I feel frustated. The doctor claim that all these pain might be stress related as heart and kidney are normal. I havn't yet done any scans for my head area.

I have no idea how to cure it, my life is becoming miserable...

please help me and give me some suggestions and solutions

Jsubak,

just so you know where I am, I think I had mono- it does some really bad things to the spleen- and mine still hurts after 3 months -1 month being sick...I would suggest that anyone seeing this check in to a martial art called CHI-KUNG- as doing something called the 8 pieces of brocade helps me dealing with my issues that I have on-going I still have pain, but it's getting better- at first when you stretch your trunk, you'll feel like you have a knot in that area if you feel like I feel after doing it- you'll be a little better each time... anyhow good luck. just wanted to drop my 2 cents here. hope someone gets some help out of it.

~Mike

Having the same feeling on and off for a few years now. Started with stabbing pain in my left chest casing me to wake in the night for about 4 weeks constant per year, kinda got used to it and swept it under the carpet.

Don't know if the above is related but moving on;

Now over the last 3 months a slow developing pain that feels to be under my left ribcage seems to have spread (pain started originally mostly after eating), most of my left ribs feel sore with firm pressure, same sensation on the back just very light and towards the bottom & the pain under & below my left ribs is very sensitive, my whole abdominal area felt bloated tonight and I broke out in cold sweats and shivers & nearly passed out (I though something inside me had exploded!) for the last few hours I can taste blood on and off in the back of my throat, but it's saliva when I spit.

My concerns now are worse so soon as the doc gets up in the morning I will be paying him a visit, I am only 26, in good health and regular exercise.

I feel your pain & worry, I just don't think the medical profession do. Will keep you posted.

sam_wise

DUDE- Don't wait until morning on that one...if your spleen ruptured from mono, as I have read happens to a small % of people -you need to get your ass to the ER -and tell someone in a white coat. the bleeding your describing you feel is internal, and it could kill you.
Please man- go to the ER and get checked out.

~Fitzy

Fitzy

I'm not dead =) kinda felt like I was going to explode, but the doc just brushed that off when I saw him, he reckons I have twisted or blocked colon (big intestine?) due to location & thats causing the pressure build up on my lungs and surrounding area, told me spline feels good & nothing else is located at the front. However being a Doc he only really listed to part of what I was telling him, my crazy symptoms last night seemed not matter & was my major concern! (But I think I must have panicked, due to crazy weird pains and feelings... we shall see)

Still he took my blood and sent of to the lab & wants me back next week when he has sampled the stuff!

As long as he can rule out heart/lungs & any major organ (especially where I only have one of them) I will be happy.

Will let you know what he comes up with, but my issue may be different to everyone else's.

Cheers, Sam.

I have had this pain for years on and off. I thought it was a problem that was associated with my heart murmur but I have had plenty of test and nothing showed up. I also had the doctor tell me it was stress and just prescribe me some anxiety pills and stuff to try which I didnt I just never went back to him.

I was 2 days ago in Emergency Room. On that day I was about to get a job and I had to leave my manager right there running to Emergency Room, while waiting there, pain was gone, but they checked me anyways. Nothing serious was found. But the doctor noticed my thyroid and she made a conclusion, that the pain actually comes from hyperthyroid, which makes my heart beat too fast and the pain I feel on the upper left side under ribs is from heart she said. I don't believe that, as even on the days when my heart is find and beating fine I have terrible pain. The other doctor said it's gas and I need to keep a diet and take pills from gas. It was helping for a while, couple of weeks. But not helping no more.
I have this pain for a year, it comes and goes, it may long for a month and then go for a week. They all were shocked in ER when I told them that. I have problems with my stool, by the end of the day, when pain goes, I have terrible diareah, and after that the pain goes. Also I noticed, if I don't eat too much at the evening, or heavy food, I feel good in the morning for couple of hours, before pains come again. The pain makes my life miserable, I can't enjoy nothing, I can become very angry at my family, my husband, in the moments of pain, as I can't do nothing, nothing is helping, I can't eat, I can't work, I can't have fun...It makes me so down. And the pain seems to become worse and worse, every times it comes back after a little break, it comes back stronger.
A year ago, when the pain started, I thought I ate some wrong, but I didn't payed attention to my stress, it was a very bad times for me for the whole year, so much stress, like never before in my life. But at least, when I sit or lay down, the pain could leave me, now it's there even when I am trying to sleep sometimes. I can't find the side to lay on to not feel the pain.
I can't believe none of the doctors can help. I don't know what to do, I can't even work no more and the money doesn't come from nowhere. I don't want to loose everything because of this pain.
I need to mention, that when I have a good fart, it helps a lot. There were some happy days during this year, when I could keep farting almost all day and the pain was shut up for the whole day. So I am trying to figure out the food, or very strong pills or whatever, that could relief gas.

I have had pain in my side for a good 7 months now. I orginially thought it was my spleen because I had problems with it being enlarged when I had mono twice. This idea was immediately ruled out. After a battery of blood tests, CT scans, and ultrasounds, I was finally sent to get an MRI of my back, and it showed that I had a slipped disk in my thoracic cavity, that is pushing in on my spinal cord. This apparently is giving me extreme pain every now and again. I have been seeing a chiropractor for a couple of months and undergoing neurostimulation on the area, which seems to help for a while but it isn't permanent. I am starting to doubt that this is truely the cause of my pain. From reading through some of these posts, I am noticing that many people have this same problem. However, mine gets worse from excersising and staying active. This is something that really gets me down because I am only twenty and will presumeably suffer with this for the rest of my life. I hope someone finds an answer to this.