Chronic Left Sided Pain

Question

I have had this ongoing chronic pain around the area where your heart is for years. It sometimes feels like a knife going all the way through to my back, and sometimes the pain radiates to my left arm. Sometimes it is real severe, and sometimes it may be just a dull nagging pain that is just so uncomfortable. It used to come and go, but lately it has become a constant daily persistant part of my life that is there every waking minute. It may not be as painful all the time, but it is there never leaving me to the point I am about to lose my mind. I can't get comfortable in the bed sometimes because of it. I have gone to doctor after doctor with no definitive answers. I have been treated for pleurisy, been told it was costochondritis, just plain "chest wall pain"...whatever that is supposed to mean, but nothing has relieved the pain. Just since April I have been in the hospital in the ER with severe chest pain thinking I was having a heart attack 3 different times. I did have an endoscopy done back in April and was told that I had esophagitis and have been taking prevacid everyday for those symptoms. The left sided pain is something totally different, but when I have GI problems the pain is so much more severe. My GI doctor tells me they are not related, but I also have been having diarrhea for a month, very bad stomach cramps, and loss of appetite this time. I seem to think they are associated. I know I am not the doctor, but I know my body and how it reacts. I have seen a cardiologist for precation and had EKG and ECHO and all tests were normal. The only thing a little off were the CPK enzyme levels in my blood. I had these tested three days in a row. They were elevated 2 days, but the third day they were normal. The cardiologist said these can be elevated for othere reasons besides heart related problems. I have seen my general doctor, a cardiologist, a rheumatologist, and GI doctor for this left sided rib pain. I don't know if they are taking me serious about it, or if they think I am just crazy. The last meds they gave me were Xanax. That made me feel like they thought I was crazy and it was all in my head. Yes, I have gotten depressed, but it is the pain that has depressed me. I didn't start out depressed and then the pain start from there. Can anyone give me any answers to what this may be, or where I should go next? Oh, by the way...my gallbladder is gone...so that is not an option. thanks so much!

This discussion is related to Chest/Back Pain.

lynn6280 · Answer

Thanks so much for your concern.  I did not mention that they did do a CT scan of my complete abdominal area.  They said that everything looked fine.  I am allergic to the the contrast dye.  They could not use that of course and said that things did show up much better with it, but still said they didn't think there was anything there.  They did all kinds of blood work.  Through the blood work they said the pancrease was fine, liver fine, no diabetes.  The only things they said was white blood count a little low, B12 a little low, and the CPK levels elevated.

Yvette BG · Answer

Sorry you have not been feeling well. My first inclination was to ask if you've had your gallbladder checked, but then reading further, learned that you had it removed. How long ago?

I am not a doctor, but from what I understand, the gall bladder usually is the organ that makes the stomes, but sometimes, like 5 or more years after their gallbladder is removed, people can get stones in the bile duct, with symptoms a lot like gall stones. 

Also, there is a bile duct problem called the "sphincter of Oddi dysfunction." Because of a problem with the sphincter, bile enters the intestines (which it's not supposed to do.) It might be a good idea to ask for an ultrasound of your gallbladder/abdominal area to make sure everything is OK. I'm assuming they've checked out your kidneys and everything is OK there?