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Chest wall pain and fatigue

jpcv

Senior Member
Messages
386
Location
SE coast, Brazil
Since the begining of my disease I feel extreme chest wall ( intercostal muscle) fatigue and pain whenever I get worse or crash.
Does anyone feel the same?
 

lansbergen

Senior Member
Messages
2,512
Since the begining of my disease I feel extreme chest wall ( intercostal muscle) fatigue and pain whenever I get worse or crash.
Does anyone feel the same?

I had very severe pain. Almost gone now but took an awfull long time to heal

My lower lunglobs did not work and the upper ones barely worked.
 

jpcv

Senior Member
Messages
386
Location
SE coast, Brazil
Chest wall pain /fatigue is The first signal that I´m going to crash ´it´s like a thermometer.
And as soon as I begin to recover, it disapears !
 

jpcv

Senior Member
Messages
386
Location
SE coast, Brazil
I had very severe pain. Almost gone now but took an awfull long time to heal

My lower lunglobs did not work and the upper ones barely worked.
Good to hear that you have recovered .
I have this odd feeling that resembles air hunger but I know it has nothing to do with my lungs, it´s just my intercostal muscles not working properly.
 

MEPatient345

Guest
Messages
479
Yes, it was my first major symptom and comes back now only if I overdo it or on certain meds (LDN). It was an awful tight ache in chest wall.
 
Messages
66
I have an ache in upper left side of chest. Doesn’t seem to be associated with exertion or heart rate. Worse if I breathe in deeply, I feel like this part of my chest is constricted, like I can’t fully inflate that part of my lung, worse with URT infections, possibly more noticeable when lying down. Physio examination of musculoskeletal system was normal, chest X-ray also normal. Any ideas?

Not sure it’s worth bothering my GP about again at the moment. I’ll wait to see if it gets any worse.

Might have been worse when on LDN, now you mention it, as this dried out my mucous membranes somewhat.
 
Last edited:

lansbergen

Senior Member
Messages
2,512
Good to hear that you have recovered .
I have this odd feeling that resembles air hunger but I know it has nothing to do with my lungs, it´s just my intercostal muscles not working properly.

And that does not effect the lungs? These muscles are not for breathing in?
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
Since the begining of my disease I feel extreme chest wall ( intercostal muscle) fatigue and pain whenever I get worse or crash.
Does anyone feel the same?

I wonder if it has any relation to pleurisy, inflammation of the tissue lining the lungs and inner chest wall? This can be quite painful and makes it hurt to breathe. It is commonly associated with coxsackie B virus. My son (who does not have ME/CFS) recently had this and the doctors gave him inflammatories. I've had it also, I never went to the doctor, it took a couple of months to resolve.
 

ljimbo423

Senior Member
Messages
4,705
Location
United States, New Hampshire
Since the begining of my disease I feel extreme chest wall ( intercostal muscle) fatigue and pain whenever I get worse or crash.
Does anyone feel the same?

I used to have it very often, it was often very painful. As I remember mine used to get much worse with flares also. I remember it was so painful at times I would rub my chest trying to help sooth the pain.

My hunch is the same as mary's, probably inflammation? I rarely have it now since my health has improved but I still get some minor symptoms from time to time.

Jim
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,824
Since the begining of my disease I feel extreme chest wall ( intercostal muscle) fatigue and pain whenever I get worse or crash.

I wonder if that chest pain might be a recurrent version of Bornholm disease (pleurodynia)?

Bornholm disease is an acute viral condition lasting for about a week, involving sharp pain in the lower ribs, due to inflammation of the intercostal muscles. It is usually caused by coxsackievirus B, a virus linked to ME/CFS.

In the early British research on ME/CFS, muscle biopsies found that ME/CFS patients' muscles were often chronically infected with coxsackievirus B.
 

jpcv

Senior Member
Messages
386
Location
SE coast, Brazil
I wonder if it has any relation to pleurisy, inflammation of the tissue lining the lungs and inner chest wall? This can be quite painful and makes it hurt to breathe. It is commonly associated with coxsackie B virus. My son (who does not have ME/CFS) recently had this and the doctors gave him inflammatories. I've had it also, I never went to the doctor, it took a couple of months to resolve.

Pleurisy is quite painful, but I don't have this kind of pain.
Lungs and chest wall are ok, I have a normal ct scan, it seems that my chest wall muscles are the main target of my ME relapses.
 

jpcv

Senior Member
Messages
386
Location
SE coast, Brazil
I wonder if that chest pain might be a recurrent version of Bornholm disease (pleurodynia)?

Bornholm disease is an acute viral condition lasting for about a week, involving sharp pain in the lower ribs, due to inflammation of the intercostal muscles. It is usually caused by coxsackievirus B, a virus linked to ME/CFS.

In the early British research on ME/CFS, muscle biopsies found that ME/CFS patients' muscles were often chronically infected with coxsackievirus B.

Very interesting this information about Coxsackie B. I'll read more about it, thanks, Hip!
 

jpcv

Senior Member
Messages
386
Location
SE coast, Brazil
Now, some interesting background information:
I'been a good swimmer since childhood and also a good surfer since 13 yearold.
Sometimes, when I was not in top shape or my trainning was too hard, I would develop this kind of symptoms that I have just described in my posts above: Chest wall fatigue, intercostal pain and fatigue.
It's like I had PEM that would last a couple of hours and then everything would go back to the normal and symptoms would disapear. This kind of thing happened decades before I developed ME

I 'm not able to explain this , coincidence? i don't think so...
 

Rossy191276

Senior Member
Messages
145
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Yes I get severe chest wall pain during my worst crashes where i can only breathe very shallowly for days and a couple of times weeks... chest wall weakness is one of my biggest general symptoms and I have just had a period of 6 months where I was unable to talk because of it... the explanation I've read that makes most sense to me is that the muscles that move the lungs have to work constantly so fatigue more and I assume these same muscles are responsible for pushing air in and out for talking
 

Horizon

Senior Member
Messages
239
I get severe chest pain thinking im having a heart attack. Heating pads, voltaren gel help and lately I have been trying a device called the Backpod to see if it can help longterm.
 

1gooddog

Senior Member
Messages
201
Location
Olympic Peninsula, WA
Since the begining of my disease I feel extreme chest wall ( intercostal muscle) fatigue and pain whenever I get worse or crash.
Does anyone feel the same?
I just started a thread listing my experiences and long history with this pain. I fear it is returning with my recent severe crash. I would lose consciousness from the pain. I cannot go through that again and I am scared.
 

1gooddog

Senior Member
Messages
201
Location
Olympic Peninsula, WA
Now, some interesting background information:
I'been a good swimmer since childhood and also a good surfer since 13 yearold.
Sometimes, when I was not in top shape or my trainning was too hard, I would develop this kind of symptoms that I have just described in my posts above: Chest wall fatigue, intercostal pain and fatigue.
It's like I had PEM that would last a couple of hours and then everything would go back to the normal and symptoms would disapear. This kind of thing happened decades before I developed ME

I 'm not able to explain this , coincidence? i don't think so...

I am just researching this on site. I had a minor recurrence early this a.m. I had forgotten all about it and only associated it in early years with the MS hug. I posted a lengthy post of my history. It actually dates further than I recalled.

I was physically active, a swimmer, lived on a farm, always outdoors climbing trees and barns, running and cycling. A normal kid for my generation.

I experienced this pain after a couple hours of jumping on my first trampoline as a young teen. I think at that time it could have been pleurisy, but involved my whole chest. Pain!

If you read my post, mine was so severe in recent years that I passed out. Hospitalized, heart checked.

I was reminded of all this just this morning when I felt a twinge. I am thinking NOOOOOO! I cannot go through that again.

I hope you are better.