I am a 54-year-old woman in good health. Over the weekend I started having pain in the right side of my chest, shoulder, and back--especially when I breathe, cough, sneeze, bend my head, etc. I went to the ER because a nurse friend said it sounded like pleurisy. After a six-hour wait in the ER, they told me they couldn't find any reason for my pain and sent me home with pain medication. An X-ray and blood work came back fine. Six days later, I'm still in severe pain. Any ideas? I don't know what to do to feel better.

For the past 3 weeks I have had a severe cough and last week I got a fever and couldn't get out of bed and to make a long story short, now that I am feeling better I still have a cough and on my left side up high I have been having severe pain for the last 6 days and it has never gone away. It's a very sharp stabbing pain when I move in any direction and it hurts to lay down in any position any way I went to the doctor the other day and he said he thinks it's the "lining around my lung is inflamed." I thought it was a broken rib and I still kind of think it is, the doctor gave me Percocet and it's not even touching the pain.

I am 25 year old female and I, too have pleurisy. It was painful first in my back. I thought maybe I slept wrong...nope...pain got worse and then became to the front of my chest. I thought maybe i was having a heart attack! I felt scared and hopeless. I had to squeeze my left breast to ease the pain. I cried so hard because it was the fear of the unknown. The ER doctor sent me home with 800mg Motrin and Percocet . They gave me morphine and children's Tylenol and Percocet's while in the er after having a ct scan, chest X-ray, blood work, etc. I've had pain since but not as intense. It feels good to know I'm not alone.

My 15 year old son was diagnosed today at the emergency room with Pleurisy. The doctor gave him a steroid and a mild pain killer. I have not read of anyone else being treated for this disease (I use the term loosely but have noticed that some websites refer to this as a disease) through using a steroid and I am concerned. I plan on calling our primary care physician in the morning but was wondering if anyone else was given a steroid and if so, did it work for you? My son is an overall healthy child, rarely sick and very active in sports.

I was also diagnosed with pleurisy last week, I went to my doctor after having a pain in my upper left back and flu/fever symptoms over the weekend, when my doctor checked me out he advised I go to the hospital for a chest X-ray and blood tests of which I did. When I got to hospital I had the X-ray and was admitted to AAU for my bloods and further tests of which came back as pleurisy and a chest infection but was allowed home later that night with Clarithromycin and pain killers as the pain in my back was so bad, never experienced pain like it. I'm glad to say the 5 days later although I still have pain in my back. I feel so much better and my chest is now loosening so the medication is working, the hospital did say it could take 5 to 6 weeks to clear up.

I was told I have pleurisy but my symptoms are nowhere as severe as those who have posted on here. I feel really well, short of breath only a bit, and it's just a dull ache, not a stabbing pain. But this has been happening on and off for almost 3 years. I have been told that if it's viral and since I have never had a fever that it must be there is really no treatment except Advil or Aleve. It hurts when I breath deep, sneeze, cough, yawn or belch. I'm just tired of it and of course there is all the talk about underlying conditions like cancer. I mean you can't stump your toe these days without it being cancer. Sorry, frustration is getting me down.