Ache below Left ribs. HELP
Find a Conversation
Ache below Left ribs. HELP
| Sun, 03-25-2007 - 4:26pm |
For the last 4 months Off and On i've been getting this Ache ( Kinda like a stitch in my side feeling) right below my left ribs toward the Center of my stomach area. It doesn't hurt when I breath deeply and I have Already Had my Gallbladder taken out so I know it's not that. Anyone have any ideas? It's starting to ache more and more frequently. Thanks

Pages
Wow, quite a busy week for you indeed! - AND you have kids, right? ;)
Well, that's really great to hear your pain is less frequent. I know, watching the diet is important - I do very poorly with that. I eat anything and I should be staying away from the greasy foods, especially.
Anyway, my back pain is mostly on the left side behind my shoulder blade. Although, It can be sore all over at times...like now. On top of that, today i had some bad pelvic pain on my left side (in the crease where the leg connects) and that ran down my thigh to my knee. It just doesn't seem to end! My gosh, I feel like I'm falling apart. I almost posted a comment about that on the Gynecology board. The more I read the more I think it could be a cyst of some kind.
We'll see what tomorrow brings. Hope it's much better! I have a 17 month old son, and i just want to be my best and feel my best for him.
Okay, it's certainly comforting to have someone relate to some of my issues. My friends and family that I have tried to explain this to just think I have a lot of stress in my life, or they don't seem to really want to talk about it. So, of course I keep evertything bottled up because I don't want to sound like a complainer.
I'm wondering if I have Fibromyalgia. How were you diagnosed with that? Also, the Costochondritis. I'm curious what symptoms you had to bring on each diagnosis. I am 33 years old and I feel like i've aged 10 years (or more) since the birth of my son. That is when all of these symptoms began.
Now, as for the cyst...I went to my OBGYN office a few months ago for a pap. I expressed that I was concerned about the pain. The Dr. at that visit prescribed a drug for pms...I can't even remember the name. I don't feel comfortable taking anything until I have had more testing. All I know is that it treats PMDD and depression. She told me to go for an abdominal ultrasound but it had to be a week after the first day of my next period. Well, I couldn't go that month (Feb.) because I was on a cruise during that time. Just before I left for the cruise, I received a letter in the mail stating that I had to go for a repeat pap smear. The test did not collect enough cells. I went for the second pap smear a few weeks later and that Dr. (you can see any of six doctors at this center) told me I did not need to go for the ultrasound one week after my period....she looked at me like I was crazy. I told her it was made clear to me that that's the best time to go to detect the cysts. She said you can go any time for that. What?? So, of course I just went along with her instructions to make the appt. anytime. I went and apparently the results were normal. Once again, I feel like I am not getting the right information and attention I need to find out the problem(s) I'm having. At this point, I'm going to call them again the day of my next period and tell them to schedule me an ultrasound a week from then. What else could this pain be? I don't feel it should be ignored. I'm just pretty disgusted in how my doctors are responding.
I have an appt. with my regular physician this thursday and I have quite a list of questions for her. She'll probably be her usual self and interrupt me and tell me I'm under a lot of stress. I just might lose it on her!!
Wow, I'm sorry to ramble on like that. I needed to vent, I guess!
I'm going to ask her why she won't prescribe the nexium. Maybe that will help??? At least one of my conditions, I suppose. Were you experiencing the pain frequently on a daily basis?
You asked what my doctor said about my back pain....the answer is nothing. She just thinks it's all related to the GERD. She also thinks I'm under a lot of pressure with my job, being a new mom (not so new anymore), and that it could be from carrying my son around with my smaller frame. That is just not cutting it anymore. I have been carrying him around for 17 mos. now (plus the pregnancy mos.). I'm not that small. Enough already with the lame reasons.
You aren't kidding about the housework. I wish I was a stay at home mom. Working 45+ hrs a week just isn't helping things. When I am home, I just want to spend that time with my son, so of course the laundry and cleaning just piles up!
Whoa...I thought I was finished about four paragraphs ago! So sorry. I am on a roll tonight. You'd think I was writing a letter to a long lost friend. :)
Don't worry about how long it was. It Is nice to be able to tell someone how you're feeling and not worry about how they react. I tell my husband and he's Great but I started feeling like All I was doing was complaining so I shut up. Have you ever had your thyroid tested?
Here's a link to checking Those symptoms
http://www.healthrecipes.com/thyroid_symptoms.htm
I have Hypothyroid too among everything else I have lol.
I do have Fibromylgia but the Dr I saw about that says that it's a Milder cause then she usually sees. I guess some with it can be Totally dibilitated with it.
This is a Very informative site to check for that
http://www.fibromyalgia-symptoms.org/
With that And the Costochrondritis I had been having some Pain in the Center of my chest. On my breast bone and I got a Swollen place Right below my Collarbone and was concerned about it. So I went to my Dr and he told me Immediatly what it was, But because my bloodwork came back with a High S.E.D rate he was concerned about Arthritis, Lupus etc.. So he sent me to a Specialist. She had more blood work done and then sent me for a Bone scan. Talk about Scary! It didn't hurt or anything but my mind just Swirled with all the things that Could be wrong with me. It came back with the Same thing my Original Dr told me. Costochrondritis. ( i'm probably spelling that wrong) Mostly I get Pain in my back especially my shoulder blades, my Collarbones, Chest, shoulders and neck. And down my arms. It is Ok most of the time but like with Arthritis it gets worse when the weather changes like a storm coming etc. But some days it Hurts!
Right now on top of All this Crud I have "Female Problems" too. I'm Trying to get That under control and it's been a Long haul on that too. I Honestly feel like i'm Falling apart at times. lol.
The cysts i've had in the past tend to go away pretty fast but i've had a few that hang on and get painful. You might make an appt to get the U/S next time you feel like you have one. Just a suggestion lol. :)
I hope your DR appt goes Great thursday. I know what you mean about Drs. Running you out the door and interupting you. It stinks! They're always in a Big hurry. But I hope you can get her to help you this time. So far today I feel pretty good and i'm praying it stays that way.
Have a Good day. Talk to you soon. lol.
Have you been tested for a hiatal hernia by chance? Hiatal hernias are found underneath your left breast above the rib cage. All the symptoms you are describing fit. To be diagnosed properly, they must do an endoscope (down the throat). Unfortunately, doctors tend to fluff off symptoms of hiatal hernia - back pain, shortness of breath, heaviness at the top of the abdomen, etc. and even researching it will only turn up symptoms such as heartburn. When I have a bad "attack" it is BAD, but when I mention it to a doctor, they look at me like I am crazy. Right now I am having some bad gastro symptoms that developed, it seemed, at the same time as I noticed pain near my ovaries - I have a history of ovarian cysts and I think I have them again. The last time they were large, I had a lot of digestive problems as well. What scares me is that they say you can have digestive problems when you have ovarian cancer. So, of course, I am freaking out once again. I have to wait until May 9th to see my GYN. However, as my gastro problems are getting so bad, I am calling my internist on Monday. She is fairly new to me, so she does not know my past history. I am hoping she will send me for an abdominal CT scan as a start. That sees all your major organs in that area.
Anyway, sorry I got off track! I would inquire about being tested for the hiatal hernia. The bad news is, there's not much they can do to help you. I've been taking Prevacid for it for several years and it goes in streaks whether it helps or not. Going on a bland diet may help to get it under control; it's worth a try.
Good luck & keep us posted!
Thanks for your reply. No my Dr didn't even suggest anything other then acid reflux. But then I only got to see him for about 5 min! Won't be going back to him! But I guess he was pretty right. I started taking the nexxium that day and it's been working great. No more stomach pains except 1 day when I forgot to take the med.
I've had Ovarian cysts too. Not fun! I hope they can find out why you keep getting them.
Pages