Hi ive recently been diagnosed with titze syndrom which as i understand is very similar to costo im almost 30 and have been having these pains daily for months seen several docs and specialists had ecgs and bloods and finally given a diagnosis around 6 weeks ago i suffer with very high anxiety due to the pains and also suffer with acid reflux which causes really bad heart burn which adds to the anxiety. My pain seems pretty localised to left side of my chest just above the breast and under the collerbone although sometimes its under my breast and in my shoulder as well. I work in a busy resturant which is quite stressful and prob doesnt help with my anxiety levels but i cannot change jobs right now im just wondering if i could get any advice on hiw to manage my anxiety i try breathing techniques but deep breathing makes pains worse i also feel like i have to remind myself to breath as it feels like i am holding my breath was tushed to hospital pre diagnosis due to panic attack and try my best not to get myself that worked up anymore but the anxiety is really hard to manage dont want to resort to medication as i already take medication for an underactive thyroid and dont wanna have to rely on pills to get me thru the day im just desperate to lead a normal life again and any advice would be gratefully recieved x
The breathing must soft and gentle into belly. Lie on your back and keep 2 pillows under knees. Small pillow under head. Hands on belly. You want to be ultra relaxed. Try not to tense up your body. Put hands on tummy. Learn how to fill up your belly with air. Breath in and feel the belly rise.. ( like dough under a cloth).. breathe in SLOWLY to the count of 3 or 4 and let the air sip out through your lips to the count of 8 or 10. The more you stay relaxed and let the belly relax, the more beneficial. You dont want to to do lateral breathing as this sort of breath expands the ribcage. The belly must rise up..NOT your chest. Practise practise..Do this kind of breathing for abput 10 min per day.
Good luck.
I asked a naturalpathic doctor about Costochroditis and he told me to take neproxin and Castor Oil Packs. I've been taking Neproxin and it does help but doesn't really cure it. It always comes back. I haven't tried the Castor Oil Packs yet, but bought all the stuff and when I have another painly attack I'm going to give it a try. You can find the instructions on the web. Hope this helps
This is my story you wrote.. mine definitely arose from anxiety and felt exactly like yours.. traveled down my left arm and of course I thought it was a heart attack... I'm still struggling with it at the same time trying to gety anxiety under control.. I'm interested to learn how you are doing, I know this was wrote a few months ago
Here's my 5 cents - I have had costo for a few years.
There seems to be a thread of rib cage rotation. I have a sort of protruding left side that rotates forward and clockwise ... and this causes strain on the ligaments of the floating ribs.
Second thing and related is a sense of crushing on the left side. This affect the region near the shoulder and armpit and presses those ribs into the sternum - and also affects behind the shoulder.
What is useful ?
If you stand under a doorframe and use it to twist your rib cage back the other way, that can help (recommended by a chiro). You have to hold it for a good long time though.
Neck relieving exercises a well as eye exercises are also good. Why ? Because they lead your stress ... so if you relax your neck or eyes, it's like you unlock the tip of the iceberg of your stress. Eye exercises are like look left (hold 2 secs), look right (hold 2 secs) ... do the 8 directions, repeat.
Exercise. In general I think it is very important to continue some form of exercise, perhaps walking is the most low intensity, or perhaps tai chi something like that. If you stop exercising your body will get more stressed ... exercise relaxes you. So there is obviously a fine balance between re-injuring yourself, but do not become stationary. Walk for half an hour.
Relaxation. Much feeling now is that there is a psychological subconscious thing going on under the covers. My postures, rib cage twisting etc... is caused subconsciously ... it is the way I tense up under stress. And life is very stressful these days.
So relaxing, hot baths, sauna, relaxation music ... all good. You could treat the whole illness as an opportunity to change your life. Your body is telling you that carrying on is not gonna work !
Because a calmer person.
Situps / pilates. Very good of course if you can do it. Gently though, don't hurt yourself. But even if you can do 3 gentle situps then it will help. As you get slowly better you can add it more.
On a good day I try to do 100 : 25 straight, 25 crunches, 25 to the left (left foot resting on right knee) 25 to the right.
Yoga is how I damaged myself, a deep bend to the side and sudden giving way. That was 2 years ago. I did yoga gain last month and pulled it again; and it had been good for months.
So, I am never doing yoga again.
Sauna, or heat / cold therapy also good.
But in general you have to treat the root cause which may be postural / psychological / stress.
And whatever you do, try to keep moving. It feels very bad to come to a complete stop.
If you can't do anything, then just watch re-runs of Blackadder, that'll make you laugh !!!
Hi Kelly,
My name is Carly. I'm 18 and have had the exact same pains and anxiety! I have been to several doctors about the pains and they all agreed that I'm okay and can't really find anything, but knowing me and my anxiety, I was absolutely mortified about what the pain was and was convinced that I had a serious lung problem going on. I went to see a pulmonologist and he also mentioned costochondritis as to why I am having pains like these and the more I read about people's experiences, the more it fits into what I've been enduring! I wasn't 100% diagnosed with it, but if I go back to the pulmonologist, I'm sure that's what he'll diagnose me with and when he mentioned it the first time, he told me to take some pain killers like Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
I've had pains in almost all of the exact places you stated. I've had pains in my ribs and my sides under my arms, in my chest near my boobs, all in my upper back, and they have been coming and going for almost 4 months now! It all started with getting a random sharp pain in my ribs in my left side (most of my pain was on the left side at first), and I just kept getting more and more anxious about it since then since this pain seemed to come out of thin air! And the anxiety has only made it worse. The pains are not too bad, but enough to always be on my mind and always getting some sort of pain throughout the day. I'm so glad I found this discussion and have all of these people who I can relate to! Stay well, everyone ❤
Kelly you are not alone what you wrote is basically my life.My Costo was caused by my anxiety and it has been a nightmare.I've pretty much tried everything and some days are better than others.Its scary and no matter how much i try to rationalize its still scary.Every symptom you are describing is what i go through on a daily basis.I never ran across anyone whose Costo was caused by Anxiety and i'm so happy i can talk to others about what they are going through and what'm going through as well.How are you doing?
Thanks for beinging this up Kelly!
Exactly the same symptoms as discussed. Been having weird pains and pins and needles type feelings in my left side and chest since about April (when about 1000 really heavy, stressful things happened at once)
Was prescribed Pregabalin for it but don't know how much this is helping! Chiropractor also said I had a trapped nerve in my back. Are there any other little stretches or exercises I could do to help things? Thanks for all the cool advice on this thread because, like everyone else, it's been bugging me too! 
Hi. I've found this thread really useful as my Costo was brought on by a traumatic event and then made worse by anxiety.
Just wondering if anyone else's pain goes all the way up to the collarbone and neck. I get strange pain/sensation when I breathe in deeply? Appreciate any advice or reassurance about symptoms. Cheers
I have had some tendernes which comes and goes near sturnum, i also get a ache across the fron chest right side around 2 or 3rd rib, worse when doing exercise which i think may have started this, but have so many other symptoms, neck pain, tingles in back, back pain, anxiety from this, tight throat anxiety too, does this still sound like costo as not painful, just tender or aches,
I have recently somehow managed to get costo with no history of this type of thing before, felt a niggle inside my left peck for a few weeks thought nothing of it then boom, burning chest pain, random small panic attacks which I never had before, and heavy anxiety when it flares up, thinking I'm basicly going to die, only had for 2 months but sick already!
Great notes Tony,
I just recently brought on a second bout of costochondritis from panic attacks so I really enjoyed your notes on relaxation and the possible subconscious effects of stress being at the root cause of it all.
I hope I can find Blackadder in Canada
Hello kelly1981
I too suffer from chostochondritis and also acid reflux. I was diagnosed with both when I was 18 years old, and I to this day still suffer from it and I am 26 now. What I have learned that is if I eat healthier and tend not to upset my acid reflux than I don't have problems. But every now and than I tend to stress and when the stressing gets to bad the pain comes and lasts for two weeks or until I calm myself down again. When the pain comes though I normally take an ibuprofen and that helps it. At night in order to get sleep I sleep on my stomach and place a pillow under my chest and that seems to stop the pain so I can get some rest.
Hi Kelly,
I've had costo since February and it has caused me stress as well. I get frightened everytime I feel a jolt of pain although I've been trying to tell myself it's just a little pain, not life threatening. I've been taking: Coral Calcium, Fish Oil, and turmeric/curcumin pills. They help for the most part but after reading the experiences of others here, I'm going to go see a chiropractor. I sit 8 hours a day for work and then I go home and play video games so I'm sure my back is playing a large part in this whole thing. Try to steer clear of night shade food and red meat. Goodbye Jimmy John's Roast Beef! You were my first love 
Also try not to overheat. I had an "episode" in the kitchen 2 weeks ago that had me down for the count. The worst part is really just trying to get yourself to fall asleep after that. I press on my chest when it hurts really bad and that kind of helps. I'm 28 and hoping to get myself in check before the end of this year. I wish you and all our fellow costo warriors the best of luck!
If you're a regular coffee drinker you must quit drinking coffee immediately! ... I didn't want to believe it at first as I love my morning coffee too much but after about a week of quitting cold turkey the symptoms went away like magic!
I was afraid to even look at coffee for 3 months but since I was pain free I slowly started getting back to my old coffee drinking routine and before I knew it I was back to drinking 3+ coffees per day ... little did I know my troubles were just around the corner ... I was at work at my desk one day and after my 4th coffee of the day I thought I was getting a heart attack!
Long story short I quit coffee again for a while, the pain went away and nowadays I only have one small coffee per day and not everyday ... I also try to buy it from the same vendor or just brew my own to make sure the caffeine content is under control
I hope my experience helps someone
Good luck!
I don't know if anybody is still on this page but I have been dealing with costochondritis since 8th grade. They had me on a heart monitor for 2 months because they couldn't find anything wrong and they also didn't know what I had until 10th grade when I got diagnosed. When I had an eating disorder from anxiety that's when I really had bad costochondritis it was controlling my life it felt like I was getting stabbed by thousands of needles and I couldn't breathe it made me want to hold my breath because it hurts so bad. I defeated my eating disorder and the pain from costochondritis sort of went away but everytime I do a little bit too much exercise or if I'm stressing too much then that's when it comes back and it's usually not as bad pain wise as it used to be but I'm at work right now and my chest just started hurting really bad in the middle of nowhere and I can't even recall being stressed out the past week or anything so I don't know what's going on but it's painful. Mine feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest and I'm getting stabbed with needles and hurts so bad to take deep breaths. The biggest discomfort right now isn't the stabbing or the pressure if it's more of the bruising feeling from the inside out on my whole rib cage.
I know how that feels ...it always comes out of nowhere! Every time there is an recurrence I try to write down anything that may be significant ... first I always concentrate on what could have caused it then what I did to try getting rid of the pain ... I look at my old notes only after the episode is gone ... here is something new I've discovered recently: apparently (according to my notes) every time my costo comes back I have this small cough that is phlegmy but hard to cough out and every time I cough it hurts like hell right where the inflammation is in my sternum ... I decided to take a cough medication called Benylin Mucous and Phlegm plus cough control and after two days my cough and costo pain went away! Maybe it's a coincidence but worth trying if you're experiencing similar cough symptoms
Just wondering because I've recently been diagnosed with costochondritis, does it affect your whole left side as in make it seem to feel kind of weak I know this discussion was a year ago and your symptoms are probably gone but if you can remember it would be a huge help I too have anxiety as well
I hope when you say you were diagnosed you mean by an actual MD and not Dr. Google :-) The MD should have discussed this with you in a little more detail ... from what I've read every person has slightly different symptoms however over time pattern does emerge: thinking it's a heart attack, anxiety, pain which does not respond to standard pain killers, cracking sound/sensation in your chest/sternum etc ... however I've never come across a costochondritis symptom where patient's entire side feels weak .... that does however sound like something I've come across when reading about pre symptoms of a heart attack. ... that feeling you describe could be due to arteries being obstructed and not enough blood/oxygen gets delivered to your muscles ... there is also a possibility of a neurological issue ... but again I'm just hypothesizeing and I'm not a Dr. you best discuss this with your physician
Yes I was actually diagnosed with costochondritis, been to the Dr er etc countless times, had the whole work up done chest X-ray's CT scans blood work you name it. I'm currently seeing a chiropractor as well, who has told me that this is common in people who have costochondritis it will cause the arm to feel weak not exactly my whole left side meant to say my left arm as it sometimes does feel weak or maybe heavy, just haven't seen anyone post that symptom up here just wanted to see if I was alone please please please don't speak of heart attack to anyone dealing with costochondritis and anxiety, for It will not sit well with them