I currently have pleurisy. It started with a sinus infection and earache and progressed to the chest and back pain with breathing. I have had it about four times in the past 10 years, so I knew what it was. Went to the doctor on Monday and she prescribed an antibiotic and an inhaler. I am taking that and using the inhaler 2x/day plus the heating pad. Hopefully everything will clear up within the next 10 days.

Started with a head cold, which went into my lungs. I'm sure I've been through a dozen boxes of Kleenex. The muck coming out of my sinus and then my phlegm was unbelievable. I'm a non smoker, always have been. The symtoms seem to be getting better till I awoke this morning with what feels like a pulled muscle under my shoulder blade. The pain radiated down my arm. Uh oh! Off to the doctor. Pleurisy. I was prescribed a medication that was $72 for 10 pills. Ouch! I don't know which pain was worse!

I began with sharp stabbing pain in the lower part of my shoulder blade a couple of nights ago. I had also developed a slight congestion. I took ibuprofen and slept for about couple of hours then I woke up with the sharp stabbing pain in the middle of my back on the left-hand side. The next morning, I went to the doctor, and he listened to my lungs and said they were clear. He sent me home saying I had shingles, but I didn't have any blisters or indication of skin discoloration. He said he didn't want to prescribe anything until he could confirm it was shingles, and call him the next morning to report. Again that evening I took more ibuprofen before going to bed and was able to sleep for a couple of hours and then woke up to terrible sharp and burning pain. This never occurred in my chest and it didn't hurt to breathe. I called the doctor the next day and said I still didn't have any blisters, but the pain was still there. He prescribed valacyclovir and pain medication. I took one dose of valacyclovir and pain medication that day before going to bed and slept all night. I called the doctor the next day and reported that still didn't have blisters and pain and subsided. Now he thinks it was a touch of pleurisy.

I currently am having a bout of pleurisy. I know because I've had it before. The first time I got it was when I was in the fifth grade. I am now 47 years old and have had it probably twice since. I don't have any health insurance so I am trying to deal with it. It does help to lie on the side where the pain is and to take it easy. But if the pain gets like it has in the past I will have to go the doctor and get something. I am hoping that it will just go away on its own.

I woke up two nights ago with a stabbing pain on the top of my rib cage that radiated into my left shoulder. I went back to sleep but the pain kept coming and by the next afternoon I decided to get it checked out just in case. It really hurt when I took a deep breath. The ER did an EKG, blood tests and a chest X-ray and decided it was pleurisy and sent me home and told me to take 400mg of Ibuprofen every 6 hours. They didn't have an answer as to why I had it and said it would go away in about a week. We'll see!

Like all of the stories I've read I too am experiencing sharp stabbing pains when I breathe and feel it in my shoulder. It really hurts! I've had pleurisy every winter for the past 10 yrs. I go to the clinic where it's documented and begin to explain I know for a fact I have pleurisy I know what it feels like. The doctor gives me Tylenol and sends me on my way. I'm so pissed off and in pain. I'm a nursing student so it ticks me off more to know doctors are treating people like this. I hope I never work with him! FYI been reading up on pleurisy says that you may have an underlying disease that causes pleurisy to re-occur such has diabetes, lupus heart disease. I urge u people to stay on top of these uneducated doctors and take care I feel your pain.

During an office exam, my doctor heard the noise that he described as "two pieces of leather rubbing against each other" as pleurisy. He said that only 1 in 10 people with pleurisy have this "noise" and it was fortunate that I did as it helped support his diagnosis.

I just got back from the ER to find out I have pleurisy. I thought it was panic/anxiety attacks for the last 4 weeks, so I took my Xanax, normally one would make the pain stop. Last night, the Xanax wouldn't work and I couldn't breathe, walk, or sit. It was off to the ER for 6 hours of, Chest X-rays, an EKG, and every blood test known to man. The doctor came back to say I have Pleurisy. I was prescribed 800mg Ibuprofen and another pain medicine. The doctor told me it will take a week to feel better and to just take it easy.