r/costochondritis•
SquidwardB

Costo + Health Anxiety? Unsure...

Need advice

Hi! It is my first post on reddit so forgive me if there is an error, or the formatting looks weird.

So....where do I even begin? Well, I was diagnosed with costo on Aug 1st after I thought I was having a heart attack. I had a full blown panic attack on the way to the ER (numb face, arms, thinking I was going to die) and yeah, its gone downhill from there.

I believe I got this injury from riding roller-coasters over and over and over and over....(im a roller-coaster maniac 🫠) (I went to the ER before my Aug 1st trip for severe deydration and heat exaustion)

However, since then, so many other symptoms have made themselves present. For instance:

- Dizziness

-Severe Nausea (throat burning, tongue swelling (not really, just feels like it) and bad acid reflux)

- Left Arm really hurts sometimes

- The nerves in my head feel like they have a deep twitch and bother me

I've been checked by my Primary Care doctor, had an EKG, a CT scan, and a stomach X-Ray. All tests have come back normal!

As for my costo, it comes and goes. It will feel good for a couple of days, like a very dull ache, but other days it will REALLY flare up again and annoy me. I use the backpod sometimes, but I feel it doesn't do much....maybe I just haven't used it enough?

For almost 2 months now I've been TERRIFIED that there is seriously something wrong with me, and I haven't had much motivation to do anything since I don't want to be in pain. I'm glad the serious costo pain has gone away, but those aches and flare ups scare me!

My first question is, Will I EVER be able to ride roller-coasters again?

My second question is, Could all of these symptoms be a result of my health anxiety? Could it be all my costo? Or something underlying?

I apologize for the length of my post, I've just kept this bottled up! Any response or advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Posted Sep 25, 2026, 10:57 PM UTC

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