Pain in Chest and Ribs - Osteoporosis Message Board

mary09 · 03-31-2007, 07:22 PM

Hi,
New to this particular board and have a question about my mom......
She has recently been having really bad pain in her chest and all around her ribs.....
We have been assuming that the pain in her rib area is coming from radiation that she had after having breast cancer.... And more recently she's been having very strong pains in her chest that go right through to her back.....they get worse when she lies down...
She's had her heart checked out and everything is fine there......
Her doctor thinks it may be coming from her osteoporosis or potentially her stomach (as she also suffers from reflux problems).
Has anyone ever had these kinds of pain? Would greatly appreciate some input.

Thanks, ******

montesflus · 03-31-2007, 08:45 PM

It's hard to pinpoint an exact cause. Probably the best thing would be to go over all the med's she's taking. Is she on any bisphosphonates? (these are the osteoporosis drugs, Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva). These HAVE been known to cause all sorts of body pains and acid reflux problems. I'm NOT saying that these would be the cause, but best to check out all the meds your mother is on and discuss them with the doctor, plus the possibility of further testing, as he/she thinks fit.

Hope you find the source of the problem

DesertBloom · 04-01-2007, 02:27 PM

Hi ******: Has your mom had an x-ray or mri of the ribs? I'm not familiar with pain that would originate in that area from stomach probs, but I'm sure there are others here who are. Also, if they think it is osteoporosis related, have they checked for fractures of that portion of her spine or ribs? Thoracic/lumbar/rib fractures can cause chest pain, and breathing probs.

It's not unusual to have rib pain after cancer treatment, but they would have to do either an x-ray or imaging scan to see what's going on with her ribs, to make sure that nothing has spread.

Good luck finding out what's going on...