Gallbladder? Stomach Pain? PLEASE HELP!

[mecheng33]

I have missed over 2 months of work and my life is being ruined because of my symptoms, please help!  I’m a 23 year old fit male, over the past 3 months I have been to the ER 4 times for chest pain, chest pain, and palpitations.  During one of my visits I had extreme pain shoot up my chest, back, and down my arm.  I have had chest x-rays, a chest ct scan, EKGs, a stress test and saw a pulmonologist; everything came back normal.  I’ve had numerous blood tests and everything came back normal.  Over the past month I have developed symptoms of gerd and upper abdominal pain.  My stomach activity is constant and makes gurgling noises and I feel somewhat nauseated.  I also get pains in the middle abdomen area as well as pain on my left and right sides.  The most debilitating symptoms I now have, however, are that I feel very shaking, tense breathing, and my heart starts to pound every time I try to exercise (I’m not hypoglycemic by the way).  I also have difficulty concentrating, and sometimes feel dizzy with occasional head aches.  My stool tends to break up and dissolve in the toilet (I wouldn’t call it diarrhea because its not very watery).  I constantly have a bitter taste in my mouth.  Last week I had an ultra sound and an endoscopy; everything was normal.  I am also developing insomnia because of my discomfort.  I also get bloodshot eyes that will be red one minute and clear up when my other symptoms subside.  I have a family history of diverticulitis, but I have a high fiber diet.  Today I had an abdominal ct scan and am still waiting on the results.  I am suspicious that this could be my gallbladder, as my cousin had similar problems, and a hida scan showed a low function for him (he also had an ultra sound and endoscopy which showed normal results).  Does anyone have any ideas what this could be?  Exercise worsens my symptoms, and I never had any of these symptoms until August this year.

[mnkyluvr68]

I am so sorry you are going through this. I had similar symptoms...severe chest pain, back pain, rt shoulder blade, difficulty concentrating, headaches, dizziness, upper abdominal discomfort, not the typical abdominal pain. My hida showed an ejection rate of 18%. It can definitely be your gallbladder, I also had normal stress tests, ultrasounds etc... I had my gallbladder out two weeks ago, unfortunately it did not relieve all of my symptoms but some are much better. I am also told that it can take several weeks after the surgery for a person to start feeling better.

I had to eventually go to a very low fat diet, no dairy or sugar either. At the end it was clear liquids and crackers for 3 weeks, but it helped relieve some of the pain. Also, try to avoid very cold beverages,caffeine and carbonated drinks. Try to relax, believe me I know it's hard but I found the more I stress the worse it gets. Do you suffer from any type of anxiety disorder? If you do it can certainly exacerbate symptoms and fears, happens to me frequently. Just a thought :-)

If your CT scan is normal I would suggest asking for a hida scan, that is the only way they can tel if your gallbladder is functioning. The good thing is that it sounds like your docs are being very thorough.

[mecheng33]

Thanks.  My ct scan was normal.  My doc wants me to get blood drawn when I'm sick, but I get sick at night.  I tried to eat some greasy foods and caffeine yesterday.  I didn't have stomach pain, but developed chest tightness and dizziness much later at night when all the labs are closed.  I think I'm going to skip the blood test and ask for the hida scan.

[flasheldon]

Your Dr, must have by now checked your bilirubin levels.  Bilirubin is produced by the GB and fed into the liver and intestines.If the GB ducts are blocked with stones the bilirubin will feed into your bloodstream causing a lot of serious problems. The unit of measure for an adult is bilirubin below 20 (whatever). Anything above that should be investigated.

[mecheng33]

Yes, bilirubin is one of the things he wants to check for when I am experiencing abdominal pain; he gave me a script to get blood drawn when it occurs.  I'm not sure what else could be going on with me if this is not my gallbladder.  I would say the thing that gives me the worst symptoms is caffeine.  I drank a soda to try and induce abdominal pain, but instead experienced chest pain.  However, I've read that caffeine can be a gallbladder trigger.

[mecheng33]

So I had my HIDA scan today with an ejection fraction of 24%.  I haven't heard from my doctor yet, but based on my symptoms and ejection fraction, I would guess surgery is an option.  I'm not sure if this will relieve all my symptoms or not, but I suppose its worth a shot.  Also, I think I've experienced a few hypoglycemic attacks; has anyone else had such a thing while having gall bladder issues that were fixed after surgery.  Loosing weight wouldn't really help because I am 5 foot 10 inches, 160 pounds, and pretty fit.