Pain on the left side of stomach under the ribs

I have pain on left side of stomach. If i starve I will decrease the pain and if I eat will increase the pain. The pain will only be activated when I am supposed to go to sleep and decreases when I am supposed to wake up. When the pain is activated, I urinate a lot but in only just a few drops. Can you explain what is going on with this pain. Thank You!

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Pain on the left side can be caused by the pancreas, spleen, and diseases of the upper digestive tract.  This can include an ulcer, GERD, or inflammation.  

I would consider an upper endoscopy, or upper GI series to evaluate further.  Blood tests looking for H Pylori can be done as well.  

If negative, imaging studies, like a CT scan, would rule out pancreatic or splenic causes.  

Regarding the urine issues, I would obtain a urinalysis as well as a urine culture to rule out infection.

These options can be discussed with your personal physician.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
kevinmd_

[linxz]

I have been experiencing a similar condition  for 12 months now. Had CT scans, endoscopy, colonoscopy, echocardiogram, 5-HIAA urine test etc - all were negative. The doctor suspects carcinoid and has requested a blood serotonin test.

Symptoms.

Pain on upper left abdomen
Burning of skin on back, shoulders and neck. Worse after meals.
Taste perversion accompanying pain
Severe headaches and weakness


I need some answers!!!

[rosie46]

I seem to have all the symptoms you have. i am schedule an mrcp.   the pain and nausea are so bad  i rarely leave the house.
I Had ever test under the sun. all the dr have to offer is pain be and nausea meds. if any one has any comments or help!!!  Everthing

[karat1]

probably an ulcer stay away from eating fried food and pastry. try getting lansoprazole or omeprazole form your gp, to reduce acid.

[too many docs]

I have had this pain for going on 4 yrs now. I do not have it constantly , it comes and goes but can get very severe to where i have no choice but to lean over to help dull the pain some.Sometimes I have to just lay down and I can't do anything because the more i move the worse it gets. I started having it when i was pregnant with my son. He was a 12 and half pounder and 24 inches long at the time i was convinced that it was his size that was causing it. After i had him I went several yrs with pain that was constant. Last november i finally convinced a surgent to take out my gallbladder. All tests, and I mean ALL , that would indicate that I had a gallbladder problem kept coming back normal. After removing it ,the labs came back that i had bad gallbladder disease and stones but the reason the stones did not show up on any test was because they were translusent. Now before everyone thinks that this is some isolated case . I have now meant three other people that had the same thing with all the test being normal but still had bad gallbladder. Having it removed help the nausea and a lot of the pain and cut my guerd (acid reflux) in half. For some time I did not have the rib pain so again I was then convinced that it was related to the gallbladder. A few months later the pain is back , and its exactly the same . left upper part of abdominal , feels like it is under my rib cage. I want to rip it out. I went to yet another doctor and he told me it was a broken rib , so i went with that ...but its been 6 months and that supposed broken rib has apparently never healed because that pain is there. So much for that theory .The pain gets worse when i eat but it is not caused by eating. I have had both upper and lower endoscopes , I have had a colonoscopy , I have been tested for an ulcer , I have had several abdominal ct's ,Several ultra sounds, I think I might have even had an MRI at one time. They have all come up empty handed. Which of course your glad to hear that they don't see anything but then again you get to a point where you just want to know what it is because you know that severe pain like this is no gas pain. I have often wondered if it was my spleen or liver. I would love some imput.

[too many docs]

I have had this pain for going on 4 yrs now. I do not have it constantly , it comes and goes but can get very severe to where i have no choice but to lean over to help dull the pain some.Sometimes I have to just lay down and I can't do anything because the more i move the worse it gets. I started having it when i was pregnant with my son. He was a 12 and half pounder and 24 inches long at the time i was convinced that it was his size that was causing it. After i had him I went several yrs with pain that was constant. Last november i finally convinced a surgent to take out my gallbladder. All tests, and I mean ALL , that would indicate that I had a gallbladder problem kept coming back normal. After removing it ,the labs came back that i had bad gallbladder disease and stones but the reason the stones did not show up on any test was because they were translusent. Now before everyone thinks that this is some isolated case . I have now meant three other people that had the same thing with all the test being normal but still had bad gallbladder. Having it removed help the nausea and a lot of the pain and cut my guerd (acid reflux) in half. For some time I did not have the rib pain so again I was then convinced that it was related to the gallbladder. A few months later the pain is back , and its exactly the same . left upper part of abdominal , feels like it is under my rib cage. I want to rip it out. I went to yet another doctor and he told me it was a broken rib , so i went with that ...but its been 6 months and that supposed broken rib has apparently never healed because that pain is there. So much for that theory .The pain gets worse when i eat but it is not caused by eating. I have had both upper and lower endoscopes , I have had a colonoscopy , I have been tested for an ulcer , I have had several abdominal ct's ,Several ultra sounds, I think I might have even had an MRI at one time. They have all come up empty handed. Which of course your glad to hear that they don't see anything but then again you get to a point where you just want to know what it is because you know that severe pain like this is no gas pain. I have often wondered if it was my spleen or liver. I would love some imput.

[too many docs]

I have had this pain for going on 4 yrs now. I do not have it constantly , it comes and goes but can get very severe to where i have no choice but to lean over to help dull the pain some.Sometimes I have to just lay down and I can't do anything because the more i move the worse it gets. I started having it when i was pregnant with my son. He was a 12 and half pounder and 24 inches long at the time i was convinced that it was his size that was causing it. After i had him I went several yrs with pain that was constant. Last november i finally convinced a surgent to take out my gallbladder. All tests, and I mean ALL , that would indicate that I had a gallbladder problem kept coming back normal. After removing it ,the labs came back that i had bad gallbladder disease and stones but the reason the stones did not show up on any test was because they were translusent. Now before everyone thinks that this is some isolated case . I have now meant three other people that had the same thing with all the test being normal but still had bad gallbladder. Having it removed help the nausea and a lot of the pain and cut my guerd (acid reflux) in half. For some time I did not have the rib pain so again I was then convinced that it was related to the gallbladder. A few months later the pain is back , and its exactly the same . left upper part of abdominal , feels like it is under my rib cage. I want to rip it out. I went to yet another doctor and he told me it was a broken rib , so i went with that ...but its been 6 months and that supposed broken rib has apparently never healed because that pain is there. So much for that theory .The pain gets worse when i eat but it is not caused by eating. I have had both upper and lower endoscopes , I have had a colonoscopy , I have been tested for an ulcer , I have had several abdominal ct's ,Several ultra sounds, I think I might have even had an MRI at one time. They have all come up empty handed. Which of course your glad to hear that they don't see anything but then again you get to a point where you just want to know what it is because you know that severe pain like this is no gas pain. I have often wondered if it was my spleen or liver. I would love some imput.

[helenna]

HELLO?  i have ben hurting in my left side right under my rib cage i wish i knew what make the pain it just will not go away i have had test ex-ray done and they said that everything was fine but i wish i knew what this was could it be my liveror spleen or do you know if you do please help me i would lie to know if you have any idear what it could be,so i'm going to see my lung doctor in jackson next month so i hope he will let me know what he thank it could be because i have a lung disease i had fallen down some stairs threee months ago and i was just woundering if it could be from that but i had caught myself before i went on down the stairs my foot went out from under me so i was going down the stairs at my daughhters house one night but before i went down i caught myself and got a hold of the handle but my left side hit the stairsso if you have any ideal what it could be will you please let me know,because i can not get to much sleep if i lay on my leftside it sure does hurt alot,so i have to sleep on my right side,


                                                                            helenna

[KentuckyBeMommaw]

I have crohns colitis and I was diagnosed in March of 2005. I have all kinds of different pains in different areas. But the one that really worries me is the pain under my "right" side under the ribs. Have you been diagnosed? I'm wondering if you might have a mass of some kind or something. I am no doctor at all and I'm curious to know what is causing you so much pain also! I do hope you get to feeling better.

God bless,

KentuckyBeMommaw/Christina

[Marc Guvenc]

I had a pain in my left side towards my back for a number of years. I went to a few doctors and one said it was common. I had tests done and doctors still couldn't figure it out. The pain never went away and hurt on different times of the day. I was the size of a baseball and it even felt serious. From all the tests done and my opinion I figured that it was some type of stomach problem maybe a pre-ulcer of some type based on me knowing it's common stomach problems for stressed out people. I read an article one day that yogurt was good for the stomach and regions of the world where they consume a lot of yogurt, the people have good stomachs. I started expertimenting with this idea since I had no other good choice and no one was able to help me.

Remedy: About a year ago I started to eat one cup of yogurt a day (with fruit) every morning and I noticed the pain in my side went away. I then stopped eating yogurt in the morning for breakfast and the pain start up again but I ignored it.

then last week I annoyed my side was hurting me (even though I got used to it) and I remembered about my yogurt diet. I started to eat yogurt again every day this week and again the pain in my side went away again, it's almost down to nothing. I haven't had a pain all week!

The yogurt helped. Don't technically don't know why since I'm not a doctor (I'm a programmer) and I don't need to know, I just want to stop being in pain every day so I'm passing on my discovery.

A yogurt a day keeps the pain in my side away.

[GetWellSoon2008]

A related discussion, Stomach Saga- Pain Left Ribs was started.

[democrazy]

A related discussion, Stomach discomfort(pain in the left side) was started.