Pain under left side.

Hi, I am a 21 year old female. I been having nausea off and on since May. Around 6-8 weeks ago I started getting pain in the middle of my stomach more up near my ribs. The past 5 weeks it's been on my left and right side but mainly my left. It's a bad pulsating throbbing pain. When I stretch, turn to the side, or work out it hurts more. Also, when I eat the pain gets greater. When I lay in bed at night I feel it throbbing and pulsating and when I wake up it's still throbbing and pulsating. And sometimes my face feels hot like I have a fever and I checked my temperature and it's 99.7 and it's always around 98.6. My mom thinks it can be from constipation, my dad thinks maybe I pulled something and I really don't know what to think. I just want some answers. I had a Gastric Emptying Test, HIDA Scan, and a CT-Scan within two months which all came back normal. My WBC came up a little high same with my BUN. I don't know what else to try. I dropped out of school this semester. I am not working, and it's affecting my social life and my parents are upset because I am not in school and doctors don't know what other options to try. I just need another opinion or suggestions I can maybe address to my doctor that can maybe finally give me a answer to this throbbing pain. Should I still be seeing a GI doctor or should I maybe see a neurologist? Please get back to me. Thank you.

[Kevin Pho, MD]

I agree with the workup thus far.  

Another consideration would be to further evaluate the upper GI tract.  This can be done with an upper GI series or upper endoscopy, which can detect an ulcer, GERD, or inflammation of the esophgagus and stomach.  

Other potential causes, if the tests remain negative, would be irritable bowel syndrome.  But I would consider the upper endoscopy first before going in that direction.

A GI evaluation would not be unreasonable at this point.

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 Pho, M.D.

KevinMD.com
Twitter.com/kevinmd