Question
Hello Karen: The other day I went to a specialist not for arthritis , for something else but he said I had arthritis of the breast bone, which he called the sterum , don't know if the spelling is right , anyways he said it meant the breat bone, and he also said I had arthritis of the rib cage.  This has been hurting for a long time and I said I thought that was natural to be that way because I got hurt at work a while back, and got two other injures out of it , I got a herniated disc. and a hital hernia, I had two operations well and just thought the hurting was natural and was suppose to pain like that, well the special told me no, thats when he said you have arthritus of the breast bone and rib cage, well anyways he pressed on it hard, well to me it was real hard because that is very sore to the touch and I mean soft touch, because I remember laying down after getting hurt at home on the couch, and our little kitten jumped on top of me and landed on my chest, oh that hurt, so all this time I thougt that was natural and was suppose to be that way. Well anyways he pressed and I actually said to him please please don't do that again it is so painful, and did it hurt, well for 5 night in a row laying down my chest has always hurt and I have always gotten this feeling of weakness and lifeless in the chest sometimes, almost lifeless like I have no control and it feels so weak like Iam going pass away, so lifeless, well since he pressed on it it has been like that for 5 nights in a row, can you tell me can I get something for this pain and burning and weak feeling, I mean do they have some type of medicine for this so I won't be in pain no more, and does the pain and weakness and burning are they all associated with arthritus, and can this be serious.  Do you think my Dr. will give me something for this now that I have this.            thanks so much.  Diana age 50  

Answer
Dear Diana,   First of all I do not know what TYPE of arthritis this doctor says you have....  The only way to diagnose Rheumatoid Arthritis is by doing a blood test called the Rheumatoid Factor and to do ct-scans...  So if you have NOT had these tests done, then this specialist is just "blowing in the wind" with this diagnosis....  Secondly, if it is Osteoarthritis, this can ONLY be diagnosed by giving you an MRI....  So, my question to you is,  "did the doctor do ANY TESTS before he made this arthritis diagnosis and if he did, what type of arthritis do you have?".....

As for the pain, arthritis of either kind causes inflamation and you should take either an over-the counter medication that has Ibuprophen in it like Advil, Motrin etc to relieve the inflammation and this reducing the pain...  If the over the counter medication does not work, then the doctor needs to prescribe you a prescription drug for pain and inflammation....

Let me know the answer to my questions and we will go from there....    Karen