u/Any_Pound_3382

Hey everyone, 23M here from sweden

I was given costochondritis as a diagnosis of exclusion by my cardiologist after having chest pain that was initially suspected to be something else. After reading through this subreddit, I started wondering if my problem could be strongly related to my thoracic spine and the rib joints in the back.

I’m studying my 5th and final year in engineering, so I spend a lot of time sitting at a computer/desk. Before all this, most of my training was bodybuilding-style training, with lots of pressing/pulling but very little actual rotation or thoracic mobility work. When I tested my thoracic rotation, I was extremely stiff — I could barely get to around 20 degrees on each side.

About 3 weeks ago I bought a Backpod. I also started sleeping on my back and paying much more attention to my posture. I’ve also been out of the gym for about 1.5 months now.

That’s when I really realized just how incredibly stiff my posterior rib joints were.

The improvement in mobility has been pretty crazy. I started with 3 pillows under my head and could barely tolerate the position. Now, around 2 weeks in, I can use just 1 pillow and it barely hurts at all. My chest pain also improved pretty quickly — I went from having pain basically all the time to only getting it occasionally.

However, about 3 days ago I randomly got another flare-up. I’ve also been doing some very gentle thoracic twists/rotations alongside the Backpod.

So my main question is:
When you get a flare-up early in the Backpod/mobility process, do you pause the Backpod and rotational exercises until things settle down, or do you continue with a reduced intensity?

Part of me is wondering if I’m currently irritating things by trying to improve the mobility too quickly. I don’t want to completely stop because the improvement in mobility has been so obvious, but I also don’t want to keep poking the bear.

For context, I also have chronic migraine, which is currently well controlled with medication, but because of that I’m trying to limit my NSAID use as much as possible. Voltaren gel is fine.

I’ve also bought a peanut ball, a lacrosse ball and a foam roller. I know how to use them, but I’m unsure when I should start incorporating them into my rehab, especially while I’m still getting flare-ups. Would you recommend waiting until things have settled down first?

(Translated using Ai)

Has anyone had a similar experience when starting Ajovy?
I’m a 22-year-old male with chronic migraine. I started Ajovy about 2 weeks ago after failing amitriptyline, candesartan, and metoprolol as migraine preventives (I’m still taking metoprolol, but only for a slightly elevated heart rate).

The first 6–7 days after my first injection were honestly the best I’ve had in over two years, ever since my migraines became chronic. Not only was the pain gone, but the brain fog, fatigue, and light sensitivity almost completely disappeared. I genuinely felt like my old self again.

Then on day 7 we had a thunderstorm (weather changes are a very reliable trigger for me), and I got a migraine as expected. The problem is that the migraine has now been almost nonstop for the past 8 days.

That’s not completely unusual for me with chronic migraine, but some of these days have actually been worse than my typical migraines before starting Ajovy. For some reason it also seems much more resistant to medication. Zomig nasal spray takes the pain away for about 6 hours, but then it’s right back.

I know CGRP monoclonal antibodies can take several months to reach their full effect, so I’m not expecting miracles this early. I’m mainly wondering if anyone else experienced something similar when starting Ajovy—an amazing first week followed by what felt like a prolonged rebound or flare-up before things eventually improved.

Several close relatives of mine are on Ajovy or other CGRP monoclonal antibodies, and none of them experienced anything like this, so I’m curious if this is something others have gone through.

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences.