Question Title: Pain in upper right under rib cage

I am a normally healthy female, age 37, weight 158, height 6 ft.
For the past three months I have experienced a very sharp intense pain
immediately under my rib cage on the right side of my abdomen. My
doctor has checked for everything from gallstones, diverticulitis,
pancreas, etc. I have had normal blood tests, a normal ultrasound
(with the exception of a cavernous hemo______ in my right hepatic lobe
of the liver), a normal cat scan and normal upper GI. After keeping
careful records of what is happening, it hurts most intensely when
I first get up in the morning. Sometimes it will wake me up anywhere
from 2:30 until 6:00 a.m. It will be extremely painful when I get up
to empty my bladder and seems to lessen after my bladder is emptied. I
also seem to have lots of gas. It does not matter what I eat or drink,
I always have gas when I get up in the morning. Occassionally, the
pain will last throughout the day and stay as a dull ache under my
rib cage. Pressing on it sends a sharp pain across to the middle of
my rib cage where I have a hernia that has been there since I was born.
I have an appt. with a Gastro doctor in November, but I am losing
my patience and getting really tired of the pain. The doctor has put
me on several medications, all for abdominal pain, but none have helped.
He also asked me to take Metimucil twice a day, but that didn't help,
and made my otherwise normal bowel patterns erratic. Any advice you
can offer would be most appreciated.
__
Dear Jana,
Your physician has done a very complete evaluation. I am certain that the gastroenterologist will perform some additional tests e.g. endoscopy. You should ask the gastroenterologist whether delayed gastric emptying could be contributing to your symptoms and if a gastric emptying study would provide useful information.

This material is provided for educational purposes only. Always consult your personal physician for specific medical questions.

HFHSM.D.-rf
*keywords: abdominal pain
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