Hi to everyone, who suffers like i do.

I'm a 24 year old female and come from Europe. I will discribe my painful Costo expirience over the years and hope someone can HELP ME!!!

Ever since i was little, i have now and than had a HORRIBLE knife-sticking pain between my 6th and 7th rib on the left side, near the sternium. When i was about 10, my mother took me to the dr., who said, that i was just stressed and i should drink a glass of water. Well, i did it the next time i had it, but it didn't do anything.

A few years later, i had a stomack angina (throwing up and stomack ache) and i remember one night, when i felt SOOO sick and i wanted to puke, but than this pain hitted me agressively and I could't bent over the toilet, because everytime i tried to move, it hitted me harder. I felt like dying! But than it went away.

I had it since like once in every 4 years. It lastet for a few minutes in which i could hardly breath, move ...

Last year (2007) I had it about 5-8 times.

FACTS:

Smoking: Til january 2008 i smoked 6 cigarettes a day for 9 years. Started with 15 with higher dossages.

Sport: Last year i was trying to do more sports. I'm indeed a very sporty person since i was a child, there was no sport i didn't do. I played a lot of badminton, a little tennis, snowboarding, jogging a little, a lot of beachvolley ball and so on.

Coughing: Since i had a muck angina (muck all over the tonsillas and lungs) in the year 2003 - , where i was taking Antibiotics for a month (my dr. gave me to weak stuff, wich only made it worse) and finaly went to the ER, were i got stronger Antibiotics , which cured me in two days - i have a very sore throat, i'm coughing all the time, because i feel like my throat is full of something and i'm constantly blowing my nose, cause i feel like it is full of something.

Last year i had my attacks:

1. One time during sex
2. Two times before badminton, cause i was coughing a lot
3. Couple of times just so, without any reason, when i came home from work.

Everytime i had it, i could hardly breath (fast and shallow breathing) and could just be in a vertical position - every movement from it felt like a heart attack.

NEW YEAR 2008:

I always wanted to have stomack abs, so i decided to start going to the gym and make myself fit. The first day at the gym i had a personal trainner, who showed me all the maschines. Than i started with cardio, lifted some weigths and went on a bycicle to finish the workout. I read on the internet, that if you want to gain some muscles and lose some fat, you have to eat a lot of proteins and lift such weights that you only can repeate the excercise for max. 12 times, because if you nac lift something 40 times, your muscles will not grow. SO I DID IT. There was a maschine for torso swinging for the side abs and i lifted 25 KG for 20 times in the left side and the same to the right side + i did 3 series by reducing the liftings to 23 and 20 KG. Later on i did 100 crunches and a few series Butterfly for the breasts. Afterward I streched!

After the first two days at the gym, i was feeling great! But after the third, when i came home, IT STRUCKED SOOOOO HARD between the 6th and 7th rib, that i thought i would DIE!!!!! It was the day before my 24th birth's day and i couldn't move, breath. I had so much pain!!! It was around midnight, when it happened and i was soo00 tired, but couldn't sleep, becouse of the pain. I was in my bed in a vertical position next to the wall!!! It lasted for about 5-6 hours and it scared the shit out of me, because it everytime lastet for only 30 minutes or 1 hour.

The next day the pain was gone and i went to work. Later on i went with my colleges to smoke a cigarrette and than it struck AGAIN. This time it was just a PICK, but it felt like electroshock! In the next 2 days it fully dissapered, i went to the gym again and repeated my exercises. The second time i went there it strucked me on an eliptic cardio maschine after two minutes on it - i was breathing very fast and deep. I went home immidiately. And it dissapered.

3 days later i CATCHED A COLD from my co-worker and then it suddenly started to hit me continuously. I couldn't work anymore (marketing), so I stayed at home.

I WENT TO THE personal DOCTOR:

Blood test: OK!
ECG: OK!
RTG: OK!
Pulmologist: A little possitive astma test - but i never have breathing problems!
ULTRA SOUND of the stomack: OK!

Diagnosis: Tietze's syndrome.
Treatment: MY dr. gave me Diclofenac 75 mg (very low again, when you ask me).

Because it did not work, my dr. said, that it is not tietze!

Because i had electricity like pain, my dr. suspected it could be intercostal neuralgia and of course, all the symptoms were there and i believed it.

My pain was getting stronger every day, but my ribs did not hurt!!! The only tenderness i felt, was between the 6th and 7th rib on the cartillage near the sternium! When i pressed my finger in this cartillage hole on a wessel-like thing in there it HURT BADLY!!!

So my doctor send me to a pain clinic, where i was crying becouse of the pain and they didn't give me anything, because a haven't had any test results carrying with me. They said i should strech. I did it and it got worse!

A doctor friend gave me Ibuprofen 400 mg + vitamins b-Complex. Didn't work!!!
I called another friend - he gave me Neurontin. I was totaly droged because of it, but my pain dissapered. After 5 days taking it 3 times a day, it stopped to work and i quited taking it.

I went to a acupuncturist, who i told all my problems and that i think i have intercostal neuralgia. First she needled my heart meridian and i almost went unconscinous - she took the needle out and said that i have a sensitive heart (nothing wrong with it) and that's why I had to start slowly with everything (and in fact i was doing everything in my life VERY FAST!!!). Than she said, that such a pain between the ribs in chinese medicine indicate a liver and gallbladder energy Depression or a stagnation of blood there:
http://www.tcmadvisory.com/2008/1-10/2008110115032.html.


Then she needled me in the liver and gallbladder meridians, so that the energy started to flow again. After the first session (the affects takes place after 1-2 days) my pain went away for 25%. After the second acupuncture she took another 50%. I went back to work. After the 3 acupuncture i didn't feel that well, it was cold outside and my ribs were shaking becouse of the coldness, everything started to hurt again. The next morning i woke up, wanted to cought a little and I HAD AGAIN AN ATTACK! When it went away i went for a walk with a friend. I had 6 attacks during the walk, so she took me to the ER. They gave me an intravenous analgetic and while i was getting it, I HAD 2 MORE ATTACKS, this time - FOR THE FIRST TIME - between the 4th an 5th rib.

They tested my blood in the ER and found out, that there are signs of an inflammation! Gave me Antibiotics . The pain didn't go away.

The next day i went to acupuncture and she needled me 1 mm over the spot, were i get the attacks, and i couldn't breathe anymore - it was like someone whould sit on my lunge!!! Then she needled another point and i said AUUU out loud - she said this is the ALARM point for a gallbladder problem. The gallbladder is a very sensitive organ, which takes damage, when you're emotional in ass. And i endeed was in the last time very depressed for actually no reason, ok i was working to much and was unsatisfied with my life!!! And everytime i had something to worry about i felt it in my stomack and sometimes even vomited green gallbladder stuff.

In the next days i went to see a doctor in a neighbour coutry. She said, i would have an injury and gave me Diclofenac gel and pills and told me to see an accident chirurg. DIDN'T WORK!

And here we are! 3 days ago I was comming home from the neighbour country with a train and my whole cartillage next to the spine was hurting on the left and the right and it was swollen.

Went to the RTG again to see if maybe something is broken - Nothing broken! The traumathologist said I have tietze!! My dr. said thats it, send me to the thorax chirurg if he can help me. I have it in 3 days, but i doubt that he will figure out something.

I'm taking Ibuprofen 400 mg since i came home, my torso stopped to hurt, but the attack don't stop, so i'm laying in my bed on the back, occasinaly go for a walk, where it strikes again and so on! I'm going crazy.

I'm starting to do naturals now. I'm rubing my ribs every 4 hours with Jointace gel (Glucosamine + Chondroitin, ginger, eucalyptus, clove, lavender, menthol). It cools, but attacks don't stop!

I cleansed my colon yesterday, today i'm starting a liver flush.

I hope it will help, because i have to go to work soon. I was about 5 weeks at home now, i do not want to loose my job!!!!!!

HEEEELLLLPPPP ME!

Thank you, D!