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Costochondritis / chest pain

Discussion in 'General Discussion Subforum' started by Macca, Dec 2, 2023.

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  1. Macca

    Macca New Member

    Hi
    Sorry about the long post haha
    3 years ago i was under a lot of stress, i had recently become a Father for the first time and the pandemic had just started.
    I became obsessed with Coronavirus, scared to get it or pass it onto to my family, I couldn’t stop talking, Googling about it and for the first time i had lost confidence in my body to deal with it. The fear was massive
    Throughout the year i had sharp pains in my chest but they went away.
    November 2020 i was watching a press conference from the government, we were just coming out of an another lockdown. I had a massive sharp pain in my chest which made me think i was having an heart attack. I went to the hospital and all tests came back ok.
    But the pain never went and three years later its still here.
    I have been the hospital numerous times and i have been diagnosed with anxiety but for the last 2 years its been Costachonditris because i was tender to touch in places in my chest.
    The pain initially was just my left chest pec and rib under my left armpit but now its both chest pecs and ribs.
    I do believe in the mind body approach but I’m struggling to believe my chest pain is brain related and not structural.
    Whilst looking online about costachonditris i came across a physiotherapist who says Costochonditris is a structural issue. He says it’s because the thoracic spine gets locked up and the rib cage can’t expand properly which causes pain on the front of your chest.
    On reddit which I unfortunately came across, it’s a condition where people don't recover well. The cure is to unlock your thoracic spine and get mobility back.
    I can’t get the fact i have been in discomfort for 3 years out of my head, it consumes my life. I watch videos constantly about tms and have worked on my anxiety.
    I never had anxiety before this pain came and if the pain went i would feel great because i love my life.
    Because costachonditris isn’t talked about much in the tms world and the fact i’m tender to touch in places (inflammation) I’m struggling to believe its brain related.
    I do believe but I’m struggling to commit fully.
    Has anyone else with this condition or stress related chest pain had similar issues.
    Any help would be appreciated
    Thank you
     
    Macca, Dec 2, 2023
    #1
  2. Saffron

    Saffron Peer Supporter

     
    Saffron, Dec 2, 2023
    #2
  3. Saffron

    Saffron Peer Supporter

    Hi

    I know anxiety etc can flare costo. And as it seems to be neuroplastic mind body can help.
    But relief can be from trigger point therapy.
    Trigger points can cause so much trouble.
    Look up Devin Starlanyl. Free website. She's a retired dr. So much help. Also use pain meds. And a creme. Ibuprofen or something. It's nasty. I sympathise.
     
    Saffron, Dec 2, 2023
    #3
    JanAtheCPA likes this.
  4. Macca

    Macca New Member

    Thanks for reply

    the whole thing with costo doesn’t make sense. i see hundreds of people with worse posture than me, hunched over but no pain. My pain is so random, no triggers that i have noticed. The pain is so inconsistent and that’s why i thought it could be tms.
    From someone who lived in the gym and could relax to someone who is constantly second guessing everything and lost.
    I won’t give up because i have to much to live for but it’s hard at times.
     
    Macca, Dec 2, 2023
    #4
  5. Macca

    Macca New Member

    Sorry for all the posts but i just wanted to get the advice of anyone who has suffered with costo.

    before i came across tms i was hooked on the backpod and unlocking my thoracic spine but i still get the discomfort.

    the posts below are the reason why I can’t fully commit and i do have doubt.

    just through these in to see if anyone had any advice, knowledge etc that could help.

    thank you very much
     

    Attached Files:

    Macca, Dec 2, 2023
    #5
  6. Saffron

    Saffron Peer Supporter

     
    Saffron, Dec 2, 2023
    #6
  7. Saffron

    Saffron Peer Supporter

    I am much better no back pod. Saw osteo who understand trigger points. Learned how IBS and costo interact. No longer stress about it. I know what it is. Its harmless. Albeit painful. So no danger. No fear
     
    Saffron, Dec 2, 2023
    #7
    JanAtheCPA likes this.
  8. JanAtheCPA

    JanAtheCPA Beloved Grand Eagle

    @Macca, you already know this is your first big mistake, right? Right. You know this. I'm not going to enable this behavior by looking at your attachments, sorry!

    Of course they don't! That's because costochodritis is a stress-based condition, as @Saffron has already indicated, so there is no treatment other than attempts to mitigate the pain. There is also no known cause, and it is also well known to be a harmless condition. These indicators form the very basis for the definition of a TMS caused condition. In addition you have the randomness and the lack of obvious (to your conscious mind) triggers. All of this is proof of your brain on TMS, my friend.

    I have had costochondritis. When I called Urgent Care late at night some years ago, with agonizing pain in between my ribs just under my heart, which had me doubled over in pain, the consulting nurse asked all of the right questions, explained the condition, and advised me to use ice and ibuprofen and to assume that it could and would go away.

    Which it did. I recognized that I'd had mild episodes of it before that night, and I've probably had a couple of really tiny episodes since then, which of course I don't even think twice about.

    I get that it's a scary type of pain, but we have to ask: what's the difference between your experience and mine?

    The answer I come up with is that when I had this experience I was already a TMS success story. And, like almost everyone else who has achieved recovery, I still have setbacks and I still have to look at what my fearful brain is trying to repress when it comes up with some new stress symptom.

    The difference between you and me is that I accepted the advice of the nurse, I used the ice and the ibuprofen to relieve the immediate crisis of pain, I employed my TMs tools, and I got on with my life.

    This is what you should have been able to do when this first started, but you didn't have the tools at that time. Unfortunately now you're stuck in a cycle of chronic learned pain, and you may need some heavy emotional and psychological work to get yourself out of this hole. It's time to do the work.

    You can recover from this and from probably a number of other TMS symptoms, including anxiety, which is both a symptom and a condition which exacerbates TMS. But you gotta do the hard work. It's that simple. Not easy, mind you - but the answer is right here in front of you.

    If you reply to this post, it needs to be for the purpose of getting advice on next steps to unlearn your TMS. No more discussion of your symptoms!
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2023
    JanAtheCPA, Dec 4, 2023
    #8
  9. Macca

    Macca New Member

    thank you I will look into the trigger points.

    j
    Thank you for your response and I apologise if i have put something on my post that I shouldn’t have.

    it is a horrible condition but reassuring that other people struggled with it and came out of the other side.

    I’m currently reading Alan Gordon’s book so hopefully i’ll gain the knowledge to improve.

    Have you got any advice on what books etc that could help with my recovery.

    thank you so much for your reply
    It’s made me feel more optimistic

    Thank you.
     
    Macca, Dec 4, 2023
    #9
  10. JanAtheCPA

    JanAtheCPA Beloved Grand Eagle

    There are plenty of great books, but it's the "etc" that you need to focus on. You need to engage in and commit to a program of recovery, and that requires doing emotional work. Alan's book doesn't go there, which is ironic because he used to be all about the repressed emotions, and his audio "real time healing" webinar was integral to my recovery.

    We have two free programs with no registration required, both of which can be accessed from the main website at tmswiki.org. The SEP, or the Structured Educational Program, is not curated and does have a few dead links here and there. It's the one that I did back in 2011, and it still holds a massive amount of value and many folks are still doing it.

    Alan Gordon's Recovery Program is less structured, and lots of folks do it after completing the SEP.

    In the paid world, there's the Curable app with an affordable subscription and a program that is structured like the SEP, but up-to-date and curated. Curable also has an excellent series of podcasts called Like Mind Like Body.

    Nicole Sachs, LCSW has a website called The Cure for Chronic Pain , with a number of free resources, more than 3 years of excellent weekly podcast episodes, paid programs, and a membership opportunity.

    There are many others. I also highly recommend that everyone read Hope and Help for Your Nerves by Claire Weekes, for anxiety. Control over your anxiety is a prerequisite to recovery from TMS.

    PS, it's not that we have rules about attachments - it's just that everyone here who is serious about their recovery has completely rejected negative internet content about symptoms, and we need to help you do the same by refusing to acknowledge that it has any validity.
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2023
    JanAtheCPA, Dec 4, 2023
    #10
  11. Bex1111

    Bex1111 Peer Supporter

    I also appreciate your few message as I am a similar case and this chest issue of mine is still here ... although I recognised that it was TMS in May 0f this year... it spread and is taking much time to disappear. I know it will eventually but your words are appreciated.
     
    Bex1111, Dec 4, 2023
    #11
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