Mid Upper Abdominal Pain

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2003
Mid Upper Abdominal Pain
13
Thu, 07-01-2004 - 1:40pm
I posted a couple months ago about the pain and I am still having it. I have had many tests done since then. It is almost like a tightening feeling in the upper mid abdominal region. It helps when I lie down or sit back- worst when I am standing. I have had an endoscopy, upper GI, blood work and am so fustrated. My doctor put me on Robinul Forte(2mg) twice a day which really helped for 2 1/2 weeks. All of a sudden a couple days ago the pain started coming back. Started out mild and increased over a few days. Medicine now does nothing. I do have IBS but I would imagine that the pain wouldn't be that high up and wouldn't last for days. I sleep great, wake up without pain and then it starts up right away. Sometimes I wonder if it is in my head! Could it be stress. Doctor seems to think that if meds don't help I will just have to live with the pain. Sounds terrible to me!! Anyone else ever had this? Any help would be greatly appreciated. This has been going on for almost 4 months. Thanks, Adrienne

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-13-2004
Fri, 07-02-2004 - 12:07pm
Dear Adrienne, Have you considered the possibility of gallbladder problems? I had mine removed in February. An ultrasound showed an enlarged gallbladder filled with thick, dark bile. I wish, now, I had asked them to check out why the bile would be so thick and dark. I imagine the answer would be that my gall bladder wasn't moving it along . However now I wonder if we couldn't have tried some things to get the bile to thin out so it wouldn't get stuck in the gallbladder. Trouble is, I have the exact same symptoms I had before, burning in my esophagus that goes on up into my shoulder, attacks that make me think I might be having a heart attack, but tests prove I am not. I also have ibs. I have just had blood tests to see if this might be celiac disease. Got the results back yesterday, all four negative. I am still planning on going on a gluten free diet eliminating wheat rye and barley and anything that might contain trace amounts of these grains. Perhaps the tests were false negatives or perhaps I am simply allergic to some or any of these foods. I also am lactose intolerant, have ibs, and Gerd. Hope this may give you some clues. Cheers! Ruth
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2003
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 2:13pm
Thanks for your reply Ruth. I actually had my gallbladder removed 2 years ago. I do have IBS but this is totally different. Adrienne
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 11:53pm

Hi Adrienne,

I am sorry to say that I know your pain all to well. I had it before my gallbladder was removed back in Jan of this year. The pain went away for about two weeks after the surgery, but it did return much to the dismay of my Doctors.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Sun, 07-18-2004 - 3:05pm

Hi Adrienne!


Welcome to the board!!

 
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2003
Mon, 07-19-2004 - 11:59pm
Thanks to all of you for your posts. I did have the barium swallow test and the tests for ulcers early on and everything was normal- thats what is so fustrating. Sometimes I wonder about stress. I have 2 small boys (1 & 3) and its always constant with them!! I was on Wellburtin when this all started and didn't seem to affect the pain either way. I had been on it for a year and decided to stop taking it when I started on all the other medications for my stomach. Currently I am on Robinal Forte 2x a day. Sometimes it seems to work but other times if doesn't. I am going to my specialist at NOrthwestern soon to followups on my liver( when I had my gallbladder out they found hemangiomas and a hepatic adenoma) This will be my second opinion. He is supposed to be top in his field so hopefully he will have some input. I'm just afraid I will have to go through all the darn tests again!! Thanks again everyone and I will take all of your advice. I definetly won't hurt to try. Adrienne
Community Leader
Registered: 10-01-2002
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 12:07pm

Stress is one thing

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 8:04pm

Adrienne,


When do you go see the doctor at Northwestern??

 
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2003
Sun, 07-25-2004 - 10:47am
Good morning, I'm Diane. My body get that way to can I ask you in the morning when you get up do you have coffee and something to eat before it happens? And does your body get numb at all when it happens. You can email me at lusadiane@hotmail.com and we can see if its the same as mine. My body does the same thing to a point. Take Care Diane
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-25-2003
Mon, 07-26-2004 - 9:19am
I have been experiencing the exact same symptoms for the last five months. I finally made an appointment with my doctor and when the test for ulcers came back negative she decided to have me try taking prevacid once a day for thirty days. If the prevacid doesn't work she is going to run more tests. My pain started when I was 7 months pregnant (baby is now 2 months old) so I hadn't said anything previously because I thought it was just the baby pushing on my stomach, however now it obviously not the baby. The reason I bring that up is that I had horrible heartburn when I was pregnant that would actually wake me up three or more times a night. My doctor "diagnosed" the pain as gastric inflammation, I'm really hoping that the prevacid fixes it because it is a horrible pain. Eating, drinking, laying down, standing up, sitting (sitting is the worst) all seem to have negative effects on the pain. Nothing was helping. I haven't been on the prevacid for very long (today is the third day). So far it isn't helping but I am hoping that that is because it has only been three days now.

Good luck!
Pregnancy ticker
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2003
Mon, 07-26-2004 - 2:06pm

Hi and Welcome


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