Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Costochondritis- Tests Before Diagnoses

Alright, ladies and gents. I had a great question asked in the comment section of another post, "what tests and diseases did you get done and ruled out before you were confident in the Costo diagnoses?"

These are the tests performed previous to my diagnoses.
And although I've had tons of other tests and a rough ride like many of you, these were the ones I found most informative:

  1. Cardiologists- ruled out all heart problems
  2. Chest X-RAYs
  3. Head MRI (I get tension headaches- ruled out tumors since I had one when I was 16)
  4. Allergy Testing
  5. BACK MRIs (I was having LOTS of referred pain to my back from my chest...it was important to rule out that the bulging disks in my back were not causing my chest pain.)
  6. Bone Scan- to rule out any strange bone diseases
  7. Ultrasound of chest area, stomach, liver, gall bladder
  8. OBGYN - you may want a mammogram. I did not have one since I knew my pain was related to working out. But my mom did have pain in her arm before her breast cancer diagnoses. Don't let this scare you, just let it be a piece of your puzzle.
  9. Rheumatologist- Full Blood work up (took 5 biles of blood) -she tested:
  • Thyroid level
  • Ana Nuc. Antibodies
  • Protein electorphonoresis
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • HLA-B-27 (this gene and Costo are associated with ankylosing Spondyltis and several other diseases)
  • Glucose
  • Complete Blood count (important test)
  • Cholesterol
  • Sedimentation rate
With you receive tests results, get copies from your doctor asap (and keep it filed away)- to take with you from doctor to doctor. Don't be shy in getting copies, these are your results!

If I had it to do all over again and was trying to get diagnosed, I would hit up:

  1. Cardiologist- rule out heart problems
  2. Rheumotologist -rule out major diseases
  3. General Practitioner- to order ultrasound of area
  4. MRI of spine - make sure no back problems are causing the chest pain
  5. Then call around to every pain management specialist, cardiologist, and general practitioner in my area and I would ask if the physician was confident in diagnosing Costochondritis. And if I found one that was, I would march into his/her office asap. When I was diagnosed, my physician was extremely confident- which helped immensely. Remember, if you can recreate your pain by pushing on the area near the sternum or lifting objects and the pain returns- it's a good sign it's costo. Just a thought...

If there are any tests you found helpful, let me know and I'll add them.

2010....here we come.

9 comments:

  1. HAPPY NEW YEAR LUCY!

    I am believing for a year of breakthrough in healing for both of us!
    He who dwells in the secret place of the Most Hight shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (Psa. 91) A favorite! Read the whole thing! Let's position our hearts in the secret place - He is wonderful who gave His life for us!
    Love,
    Jenni

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  2. wow i think I did the exact same tests you did. Im still seeing my cardiologist and rheumatologist. since its been 5 years ive done cortisone injections my rheumy asked me if I would wanted to try again. I figured its worth a shot since its been so long anyways. After the injection my pain was almost all gone. I would say a 0.5 on 10. Today 4 days later it feels good but some pain has returned but not like before. I actually took a jog for 20 minutes and felt great that i did so.

    I received my oxy powder last week and will be starting tomorrow night. Ill keep you informed. thanks lucy your situation makes me feel like im not the only one with this dreadful condition
    cheers
    Danny

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  3. JENNI,

    Sweet friend, I will totaly read this Psalm during my study time tonight. Thank you for sharing this with me. You are so right, this is the year for healing for us!! Woo HOO!!! It is so happening this year!! That thought was on my heart and in and in my prayers as the clock turned to a new year for all of us. So funny, I use to dream about what guy I was going to smooch at midnight...now I'm like chanting "COSTO FREE YEAR!!" at midnight...LOL. =) We are going to heal this year!! I believe it!

    Hugs to you and Happy new Year!
    Lucy


    DANNY,
    Thank you so much for sharing with me how you are doing! I know it's nuts all the tests we all do- What craziness, huh?! What a journey...

    Glad you got some relief from the shots. What a joy to run a little, huh? That's so great. Danny, I so hope the pain stays away. I'm putting you on my prayer list for this week.

    So you are starting the oxy powder? Danny, that is GREAT! Keep me posted! Remember not to be like me (eating junk during the cleanse-haha!!) and eat as healthy as you can- and drink the raw apple cider vinager and honey like the website suggests. Sorry, I'm so bossy!! =) I just want all of us to be healed so bad!

    And yes, you are soooo not alone...I'm so sorry you are going through this....

    I look forward to hearing how you are doing after the colon cleanse.

    Hugs to you,
    Lucy

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  4. Hi Lucy,

    I hope you had a good day today! I have on some kind of NSAID patch on my ribs today that my rheumy gave me and I must say it seems pretty good.? But I mainly wanted to share another encouraging Psalm full of promises and truth! Psalm 103:1-22. My sweet Daddy emailed it to me saying he was praying it for me! I am praying it for you!
    Have a great week! I have yet another test on Thurs. get this...Auditory Brain Stem Response test. That's a new one and I can't imagine what it has to do with chest pain!
    Love,
    Jenni

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  5. Hi Jenni!

    I read the other Psalm you suggested- beautiful! Will read this one tongight. Thanks for sharing this with me. So sweet! Your Dad is a good man.

    So keep me posted on the test on Thurs? I've never heard of that before...I'm very curious!

    So I'm on the kidney cleanse (day 6) part of the cleanse and started feeling some relief a few days ago....I'm also doing the oxy powder every few days with it and really trying to sleep on my back.

    Anyway...I'm so tankful for the relief I'm getting so far! Taking one day at time. Excited and apprehensive...we shall see!!

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  6. I meant tonight, not tongight...and THANKFUL...not tankful. I'm a mess. =)

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  7. hey lucy how's it going? me not to bad at all. ive been running 20 mins everyday and my pain is still there but minimal. 3 days left on my colon cleane and was wondering where did you buy your cleanses from? I want to follow hulda clarks receipes but i seem to find many sites with products linking to her. let me know since i want to order them soon to start the parasite cleanse. let me know thanks in advance and talk to you soon.

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  8. Hey Danny!

    So glad to hear that you are having a little less pain and able to move a little more these days. That's awesome.

    Okay, so great question about the products I used for the Hulda Clark Cleanse. Can't believe I haven't added that yet- lol.

    Okay, so I added links to all the products I used. You can find them on the parasite cleanse post. Scroll down and you'll see all the links below the pic of all the products I used.

    Another option is to go to your local health food store that sells mostly organic products -and ask them for the most potent products they have.

    Hugs,

    Lucy

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  9. Hi Lucy
    Its been sometime since this post, so I hope you are recovering well. Can you please advise exactly what tests the cardiologist performed to rule out any heart conditions? Many thanks. Julie

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