Pain Upper Left Quadrant - have had every test - DOC stumped as usual ..

[Rob]

Same old story gang---recently had ABDOMINAL
SCAN, endoscope down the throat, didn't have colonoscopy this time...ahhhhh  lets see anything else.... DOC is stumped---constant pain in upper left side,,,,, everything looks ok I keep hearing.....pain is always there and sometimes gets REALLLLLLLLLLL  uncomfy...
On the prilosec which I guess is OK for heartburn etc;;; not really a problem with that anymore.... but not this mysterious pain..... ahhh about 5 years of frustration now----with no end in sight-----kinda like  gurgling, pulled muscle, twitching feeling inside that drives me crazy....I'd like to reach in & grab it out if I could....
something is being missed.... some pancreas inflammation type thing ?? spleen ???  scan says all is fine and blood readings OK...
hmmmmm  DOCTORS   you are missing something...
arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  !!
frustrated Rob ....take care all.....
someday  maybe someday I just wanna double over real bad & not get up & say SEE DOCTORS  I told you there was something wrong---ya just couldn't find it....!!!!!!!

take care

[delores]

Thanks for having this website....I myself have chest pains, burning on the leftside of my arm...I've had my heart checked many times and even had an angio gram...Everything is fine..Whatever I have it's really annoying..Maybe it's shingles.
I've taken xanx and it releives the pain...And now I'm taking Kava Kava for relaxation.  Also, my pains are sometimes so severe that I cry.  I don't trust Dr.'s and I think they just guess.  It's good to know that I'm not going crazy. I've had blood test, everything is fine, I've had a physical and I'm fine....The burning pain is terrible on my left shoulder.  It's always on the leftside..Sometimes my left arm hurts...It's terrible...Delores

[Joyce Daniels]

Hi, I would like to add to this list. My mother is in a lot of pain they (docs) did an ultrasound, blood work and Friday she has to drink some chalky stuff. She hurts under and around her left side of here back. In her ultrasound they found some cysts in her liver. They changed her diet and put her on proslacte. My mother is 68 years old. Is there a solution besides an operation?

[Susan J.]

I want to thank all of you so much who have contributed to this web site, especially those of you who have provided information about elavil.  This drug really has put a stop to what for me was unbearable suffering.  My story is as follows:

On August 2, I got what I thought was food poisoning.  The severe cramping and nausea lasted for about 10 days, and then disappeared for about 2 weeks.

On Sept. 4, the pain returned.  Anytime I ate practically anything my stomach would cramp for hours and I would become very nauseous.  The nausea sometimes lasted for days.  Eventually not eating anything became preferable to eating.  In one week I lost ten pounds.

In addition to the nausea and stomach cramping, I also had a constant pain in the upper left quadrant of my chest.  It was clearly centered in the epigastric region.  It burned through to the center of my back and extented up to my left shoulder.  In the front, it radiated up to the area at the base of my throat (at the notch in the collar bone) and downward just under the rib line.  It stopped an inch or so above my waist.  This was not a sharp pain, but more of a gnawing one.  By far, the worst symptoms were the cramping and nausea that occurred after eating.  My stomach also was very acidic. I had no lower abdominal symptoms.

My week of not eating occurred toward the end of September and caused me to realize that I needed to find something I could consume.  I began experimenting with different foods and found  that I could eat overcooked potatoes in chicken broth and also oatmeal without the usual stomach cramps and nausea.  I ate only these two foods for the next two weeks.  However not eating protein left me very weak.  I experimented a little more and discovered I could also eat poached fish and rice without the dreaded after effects.  These four foods were my total diet for the next month.

During the first two weeks of October I had all the stomach tests done: ultrasound, upper GI series, chest x-ray, CT scan, blood work, and finally a sigmoidoscopy and an endoscopy on Oct 15. The results of all of them, of course, were normal.  However, by this time I had already found this web site so, when my GI doc declared that what I had was IBS and gastroparesis (his only prescription was for reglan) I knew to go the next day to my GP and ask for a prescription for elavil.  Again you all, thank you, thank you, thank you.

I began taking elavil on Oct 16 starting with 10 mg.  I reacted so badly to this initial low dosage that I was certain I would never be able to take higher dosages without having unbearable side effects.  I was tremendously groggy and worse - tremendously dizzy.  But after 8 days the side effects
eased significantly and I gradually increased the dosage over time -10 mg, 20mg, 25 mg, 35 mg, to 50 mg.  After each increase the side effects returned and I just tolerated the dizzness and hoped that it would soon go away.  It always did.  But had I not been so desparate I would have given up on elavil a long time ago.

I have been taking 50 mg for 5 days now and all of my symptoms are completely gone.  I discovered I could eat practically everything after taking 25 mg of elavil for four days or so. However, I decided to continue trying to up the dosage because I could still feel an unpleasant-but-not-painful sensation in my stomach and I wanted to get rid of it if I could.  The only major noticable side effect that I still experience is constipation.  I have an appetite for sweets but I always have.  My mouth's a little dry but cough drops take care of it.  I'm just so grateful to be able to eat again.

I hope this can be of help to someone.  Again, to all, my thanks.

[Emily]

I am a 21 y/o female with normal health other than the problem I am about to mention. I have had right upper gastric pain for 4 months now and have had every test done in the book (CT scan, x-rays, upper gi, ERCP).  All came back normal.  I was originally diagnosed with pancreatitis (severe pain, clay stools, vomiting), but when I got it a second time and my lipase only peaked at 275, they looked to something else for the cause.  They then thought I had delayed gastric emptying and it came back as a mild delay but nothing to point to why I had this horrible pain in my right side.  I have been hospitalized 3 times since first have the "pancreatitis" like symptoms.  My lipase has elevated to 275 at it's peak, but my amylase has never been elevated, so they said it could not be pancreas or gallbladder related.  The definitive diagnosis I received was I had gastroparesis and dyspepsia.  I have still been sick even while taking reglan and elavil (for chronic pain).  I am out of options because I am withering away into nothing.  I weighed 123 in July and now in November, I am down to 108.  I look and feel very unhealthy and I sometimes cannot go on with daily life because I feel so bad.  I feel that maybe there is something the docs are missing.  Could anyone help me with this?

[debbieg]

To Emily,
    How much Elavil are you taking? Maybe this could be the shingles virus and resulting nerve inflammation. If you're on a small dose of Elavil, maybe they should try upping it...I have to take 50mg. each night to control my pain.

[debbieg]

Dear Susan,
    You described exactly what I went through. All the GI docs could tell me my stomach was inflamed, but could never give me the reason.  I, too, found only a handful of foods that I could keep down, and became so weak.  I lost 27 pounds during my illness.  I am so glad that my illness and its eventual diagnosis has helped others.  Four month of a living hell for me, but worth it all if it can help others!