Pain for 6 months.. Gull stones?

I am a healthy, active 19 year old female.

I have been in and out of the emergency room over the past six months and no one can seem to figure out what is wrong. I have had one scope, a CT scan, and two ultrasounds. Every time I go in it is for stomach pain. Originally the pain was in my lower left side, would stop, I would get nauseous then it would move to my right side. After about two months the pain moved and was more in the middle of my stomach. When they did my CT scan they found that the lymph nodes in my stomach were inflamed and couldn't find a reason for it.. so they sent me home. But just two weeks ago I was in emergency again in excruciating pain. The pain was right under my breast bone, all across and up my right side and right under my armpit. I was so nauseous I was vomiting and had horrible diarrhea. They figured gull stones so they did an ultrasound and found nothing. However, the doctor told me that my billirubin was high. He now thinks that there is a gull stone stuck in one of my ducts. I am getting another scope soon to see if they find a stone.. it is all getting very frustrating and I feel like they are doing random tests now because they can't figure out what's wrong..

does anyone have any suggestions??

Thanks!

Also, last time I was in the hospital I lost ten pounds in 24 hours and still have not gained them back.. I get stabbing pains approx every two hours. varying in location.. help!! this is so frustrating!

Also I was on the birth control pill for five years and just went off of it because my doc said it can cause gull stones after a certain amount of time..

A couple more things.. It seems to get worse when exercising and after eating fatty meals.. and only seems to really get bad at night..

:(

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Ultrasounds and CT scans will help detect any abnormalities in the structure of the gall bladder. To study the functioning tests like HIDA scan need to be done. Gall bladder dysfunction can cause intolerance to fatty food. Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction is a rare condition. It can cause an obstruction in the common bile duct and consequent symptoms of abdominal pain and jaundice. The other causes could be due to gastroenteritis, malabsorption syndromes, diverticulitis, Chron's disease, ulcerative colitis and parasitic infections. In addition you seem to be having vomiting, it could also be due to chronic appendicitis. Discuss these options with your doctor when you happen to meet him next time.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[salbs]

Thank you so much,

Nothing has yet been found out. My doctor has "given up" on me I feel like. I had to find my own surgeon in a different city to get an ERCP scope to see if there is a gull stone stuck. Very frustrating. I asked my doctor if it could be a parasite because I was in Mexico in May of last year and he said they can't last that long... can they?

Thanks so much for your help, I will be sure to discuss these ideas with him. I am going on a two month vacation out of the country soon so I am trying to do this all as fast as possible!

[Christopher R Watters, MD]

An MRCP would be preferable to an ERCP in this situation.  This is merely a specialized MRI scan which doesn't require any scopes be inserted or tubes placed up the bile duct.