costochondritis, fibromyalgia and riding

cammas

Seamstress
Not one to usually one to share my personal stuff online but here it goes.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a couple of years ago and seems to be under control, I do have my bad days, more recently I’ve been having issues with costochondritis. They say it’s from where I snapped my sternum when I was younger plus the fibro making it worse which can cut short my day of riding. I currently only hard tails and have converted my main ride from rigid to suspension, to help reduce the forces on the chest area. I’m not one for big jumps etc as I prefer the long days or multi days in the saddle and this is not helping when I feel I cannot breathe only after a couple of hours.

Just wondering if anyone else has similar problems and how have been able to keep it in check?
 

Norco Maniac

Is back!
Not one to usually one to share my personal stuff online but here it goes.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a couple of years ago and seems to be under control, I do have my bad days, more recently I’ve been having issues with costochondritis. They say it’s from where I snapped my sternum when I was younger plus the fibro making it worse which can cut short my day of riding. I currently only hard tails and have converted my main ride from rigid to suspension, to help reduce the forces on the chest area. I’m not one for big jumps etc as I prefer the long days or multi days in the saddle and this is not helping when I feel I cannot breathe only after a couple of hours.

Just wondering if anyone else has similar problems and how have been able to keep it in check?
I've been living with Fibromyalgia/CMP since 1994. Nutrition (and studying complementary health for six years + working in the field for 18 years) has kept me going.

Depending on your age, your sternum/attachments may still be more cartilage than bone, in which case glucosamine and chondritin supplements may help. I used them to ease the pain of a twice-torn sternoclavicular joint which took two long years to heal as i was working as a remedial therapist at the time. Bone broth (what us oldies call soup stock) is a good source.

Also, have a google for Golden Paste, a turmeric/coconut oil/black pepper mix that you can make yourself that's gaining traction in the mainstream as a mild anti-inflammatory. My Ayurveda teacher got me interested in it back in 2004.

So far even working through post-chemo syndrome I've managed using both of these, mostly without other pharmaceutical meds. *EDITED to add, i'm 56 and working a pretty physical job.
 
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cammas

Seamstress
Thanks @Norco Maniac I will look into chondritin supplements and the paste, I did do physical work up until the hip replacement at 38, now just get mentally screwed as a brew house planner. The fibromyalgia is pretty much under control and I still do a fair bit of work relandscaping the yard and working on the house etc but I did have stop the single speed and endurance racing, as I found I just couldn’t recover properly.
The cartliage may be an issue as it was high speed impact that broke the sternum years ago which caused internal bleeding etc so will look at that, sometimes you can’t see the forest through the trees, also I’m only 46 and was only diagnosed about 3 years ago.
The costochondritis is what gives me the shits though, as it usually flares up when I have something planned like when I went to do the GDT400 a multi day bike packing event last year and it knocked me out after first 100k’s as I just couldn’t get my breathe back, if I can get it under control it will makes things so much easier.
 
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