Upper right abdominal pain

[Bethlor4]

Starting on Christmas day i began to have horrible stabbing pain under my right ribcage, and when it gets really bad the pain goes up my right shoulder blade and then causes preasure in my stomach and slightly in my chest.  This pain happens when i eat so i have been eating less and less and hense losing weight.  As of now it has been 41 days since that first attack of pain at christmas.  Everyday since  there has been  pain and soreness right under my right ribcage where my gallbladder and liver is located, and i have been able to only have a few more of those horrible attacks by not eating or eating crackers and dry toast for the past month and a half but ive lost 9 lbs now and its getting to me....  Now dont get me wrong, i have been to the doctor... many doctors.... they said it was my gallbladder but then found no stones so they did the hida scan and that came back normal.  They ultrasounded my kidneys and my ovaries and uterus and all came back normal.... they did an endoscopy down my throat and thats normal too... all i know is that something is not normal!  I am weak because i cant eat cause when i do eat im in horrible pain within 30 min of eating.  I have a cat scan of my abdomin set up for monday but if this one comes back normal i dont know what else to do!  Is there any way that a gallbladder can pass the hida scan test but it still needs to be taken out???  Just cause i still think that is the issue... all i know is the last half of the hida scan when they contracted my gallbladder with the injection they give you, the pain i felt from my gallbladder being forced to contract is the same nasty pain i feel everytime i eat something other than crackers or toast... Im at a loss... if anyone has any idead please let me know... its been 41 days now and i cant take this anymore!  Thanks for listening

[cathy_ta]

WOW!!!! There is actually someone out there who is feeling the same think I am feeling.  Beth I am having all the pain you are having and all the time and all the tests I have had have all come back negative.  I have to go for a hyda scan tomorrow and am praying that they find something just so I know that there is something terribly wrong.  The unknowing is what really *****.  I am anxious all the time cause I am afraid to eat and I just don't know what to do.  Beth if you hear anything from the doctors would you let me know?  I hope they get to the bottom of this with you and I will have you in my prayers!!!

Cathy

[MMJKC]

Was wondering if any of you ever had any relief or answers regarding gall bladder symptoms...I am a 35 yo female, had an "attack" back in March like nothing I'd ever experienced. I started out with a stomach bug that my husband & 3 kids had, but soon after getting sick, I had a searing, stabbing pain going through me. It felt like someone was driving a metal stake through me just right of center of my breastbone, and all the way through to my back. The pain was relentless. I've had kindey stones before, and all I can say is that's the kind of pain this was, but worse because I was also vomiting, and also it was in a different location. My husband had to call an ambulance to get me to the ER b/c after 5 hours, I just couldn't stand the pain anymore, and hubby was puking so he couldn't drive me. Anyway, I ended up getting administered morphine, which took the edge off, and 4 bags of fluids overnight in the ER. Then I got admitted for 4 days, because my heart rate was very high. They ran every test imaginable on me and nothing turned up. Then a nurse told me it sounded like a gallbladder attack. So, only after asking the doctor for a gallbladder ultrasound did he give me one. Of course, no gallstones showed up so he said everything was fine. I was discharged 4 days later, and told I was only suffering from a bad case of gastroenteritis. I KNOW it wasn't that. I run a preschool, have 3 kids, and get stomach bugs all the time, and I've NEVER had that kind of pain associated with a stomach bug! So I followed up w/my regular GI doc and was sent for a HIDA scan w/CCK this morning. The test was easy except for when they injected the CCK and I began having bad cramping. Then when I came home I had even MORE cramping, then a bout of horrible diarrahea and more cramping. Then I slept 2 hours and it was gone. We called the hospital where I had the procedure, and they said I was just having a seperate episode of illness, that this procedure should not cause diarrhea. I am furious. The diarrhea was, IMO, directly related to the cramping. The upper abdominal cramping that made me keel over. I've already had a colonoscopy, which was fine, and an endoscopy, which showed a peptic ulcer and gastritis, but all that has healed up by now. I'd love any info or thoughts. I'm having to wait until next Tuesday to get the results and the waiting is killing me.

[Bethlor4]

So your ultrasound showed stones?  I thought if they saw stones they took out the Gallbladder, thats crazy!   I hope you get some answers too cause i know it is no fun at all!  I have an abdominal cat scan on monday so we shall see if that shows anything.  The worst part about all of this is being in so much pain and having appointments being set weeks out... i had to make my doctor give me an emergency referal to a specialist because they said the soonest i would get in was the middle of May!  At the rate im going lord knows if id still be alive in May! Ha, just kidding, i use humor to cope most times!  Good luck and keep me posted

[missfiveday]

I know what youre going through.  I had an ultrasound showing gallstones, but my hida scan came back normal according to my dr's secretary today.  Im always in pain, and don't eat very much causing me to be lightheaded etc.  Im very frustrated as well..Your symptoms sound similar to mine.  Im going to add you as a friend, so we can keep each other updated on our findings.  I have another appt on the 18th of Feb. I won't give up on this, Im going to dig until I find out what it is.

[Daryl34]

I know what you mean anything gastro is so frustrating trying to get diagnosed properly. I went too the ER at least ten times on various days all the way asking the docs if it might be my gall bladder back in 03'. I even asked a gastro doc and he said that it was not my gall bladder. I actually ended up with severe anxiety problems and hypochondrias from the whole experience. I had to work hard for the next three years to combat the mental part of it. So it's imperative that docs make the right diagnosis as quickly as possible cause the mental part of it can cause havoac. If they do another Hida scan on you and it's fine I would say you are probably having major stress issues.

[Bethlor4]

Thanks i was going to bring up perhaps getting another Hida scan to my doctor next time i see her, its just so frustrating because if ya asked me id probably say just take the dang gallbladder and get it over with!  Thanks again!

[Daryl34]

Forgot to add: Bile could be emptying in your belly is the only other possibility I can think of. Then again I am no doctor.

[Daryl34]

I am NO doctor, but it sure sounds like to me that it is indeed your gall bladder. I am speaking from past experience. However, it is unusual for the HIDA scan to come back normal if it really is your gall bladder that is the problem. Endoscopy rules out stomach cancer and host of other problems as well. Could be a possibility that you got a bum HIDA scan and need another one I am guessing?