Pain under right armpit radiating down side ribs,chest and back. Costochondritis?

Hello!

I am 24 years old, I don't smoke or drink.

I have been dealing with pain since early May, it is all located on the right side and also central.
I have been getting horrible pain under my right armpit which goes into the breast bone area and down the right side of my ribs. I also get pain in the chest more so right sided too.
I also have very bad pain on the right side in my back in between the shoulder blades and also central upper back pain.

The pain is constant, it hurts a lot when i inhale too. I tend to hold the pain i.e press on the areas and hold the areas as it hurts so much and to try to convince myself its more in the muscle or cartilage/bone than deep inside. But I am freaking out about cancer and what not, seeing both my parents have cancer it is a huge fear of mine.

I am agoraphobic and have been housebound for over 6 years.

I have had a chest X-ray (I hadn't left the house in years so had to take loads of valium to get to the hospital which was luckily very close) which showed nothing abnormal.

I have been clinging to a hot water bottle for the past 5 months! I place it under my right arm, on my chest or on my upper back depending on where i am hurting most at the time.

The drs (who i talk to via telephone appointments and have come out for a home visit a couple of times) have said it sounds like costo, but id like a more definite answer from them to be honest than its probably this or that. My mind is going crazy having been in pain every day for months now.

Does this sound similar to anyone else's experience with costochondritis?

Hello and welcome to the forum. Sorry for the pain issues and I can understand your your concern about underlying conditions when you are predisposed by family but the odds of that being related is low. Your symptoms are worrisome enough to warrant a better look at as well as the constant ongoing pain thrown in making it more important to try to find the cause.

Are you under the care of a therapist for your mental health condition? Have you discussed this with them if you are?

I'm not sure where you live but the newest rage in some of the larger cities are mobile Drs or clinics and some are staffed with NPs and PAs making them less expensive. The one here I am familiar with is a large RV that contains portable xray,lab,ekg and ultrasound abilities,pretty much what any clinical setting would start with to rule out some of the things that could be life threatening to you. I would check in your area.

Costo is certainly painful but treatable as well.

Hopefully you can get a better diagnosis then Google has to offer so you can eliminate your fears of what it could be.