Stomach spasms

  : : I am a 35 yr old white female I had my gallbladder removed 9 months ago, The day after the surgery I started having severe spasms in my upper abdomen between the rib cage slightly toward the right side this usually happens early in the morning but has happened at other times of the day, The pain is extremely severe it last from 1 to 4 minutes and then goes away completely sometimes i feel exausted after the pain, It happens in my sleep alot and the pain always wakes me up. It happens on an empty stomach so I cant imagine it being something I ate.
  : : I went back to surgeon he said it was the gas from surgery.
  : : Went to family doc he did upper GI and ultrasound and said everything was in the realms of normal?? Now Im at an HMO andd he seems to think its spastic colon he gaveme Levsin it dosnt seem to be helping. I also have chronic Hepatitis C was dx in may 98. Please help me Im very tired of being in pain.
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  : Dear Leila,
  : It is difficult to identify the cause of symptoms that occur for only a short period o ftime (minutes).  Although your problem is temporally related to the surgery, I am umcertain that the surgery is the cause of your symptoms.  Additional information such as other medical conditions that you have, your medications and the factors that improve the pain would be very helpful.  The list of possible causes includes esophageal reflux, gastritis, gastroparesis and functional bowel disease.  Before initiating a series of tests, you should ask your doctor to try a course of therapy with an H2 receptor antagonist ( assuming that you do not have any alrm symtoms (symptoms) e.g. weight loss, vomiting, bleeding, trouble swallowing).  If symptoms persist after several weeks of treatment additional testing is nneded.  Workup would include an upper endoscopy, gastric emptying study, bariumenma and possibly small intestine barium study.
  : This information is presented for educational purposes.  Always consult your personal physician for specific medical questions.
  : HFHSM.D.-rf
  : *keywords: abdominal pain, gall bladder surgery
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  Thank you for your reply,as far as other medical conditions I'm about 40 lbs overweight and I have Hepatitis C thats about it the only medications I have taken for this are prevacid which did nothing and levsin didnt stop the pains but gave me a bowel movement more often, nothing improves the pains I just have to wait for it to go away on its own sometimes I can feel them coming through stomach pain.Do you think it could have anything to do with the Liver since I've had gallbladder removed and I have Hep-C?
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Dear leila,
It is unlikey that the liver is the cause of your pain.  You do, however, reuire liver evaluation because of the risk of cirrhosis due to your hepatitis c infection.
HFHSM.D.-rf