pain in left-upper abdomen: pancreas or gallbladder (or something else) ?

[Jerzy]

I have a long history of "stomach" problems for last 7 years - now I am 33. Most of the problems went away when bacteria was discovered and treated with antibiotics.
However for last 10 months I am feeling pain/pressure in my left upper abdomen. Initially it was an occasional feeling of pressure that came and go (there could be whole week of feeling ok). In last 3-4 months the pressure changed into pain and the pain is almost all the time there.

I will list my symptoms:
- pain/pressure in left upper abdomen. There is hardly an hour when I do not feel it. Sometimes it lasts for minutes, sometimes for hours. On 1 to 10 scale I would say it is around 2-3.
- the pain may go to my back (left side mainly) or to be close to my left shoulder
- in last 2 months the pain is more intense - I wake up during the night several times
- my stool is loose and a little bit yellow. I am mostly on vegeteranian diet, but when I eat meat the stool floats. I rather tend to have constipation, but anyway the stool is loose.
- I am not sure if my pain is related to eating - maybe a little bit, but I am feeling it so often that maybe I do not notice the regularity
- from total of about 10 hours pain per day I may have one or two minutes pain on my right side (under ribs or under right shoulder)
- sometimes in the evening I feel itching
- about 2 years ago I had very strong attack of pain (I would say 8 in 1-10 scale) on left side of my abdomen, that went to the middle. However in ER the doctor did not diagnose it as pancreatitis - he said gastritis. I never had that strong pain again.

Tests that were performed in last 6 months:
-gastrocopy: normal
-colonoscopy: normal
-ultrasound: sludge-like deposits in gallbladder
-gallbladder contraction test: contracts in 32%
-CT scan: normal
-MRI scan: normal
-endoscopic ultrasound: normal, however the doctor said that my pancreas consistency is more solid than usually in my age
-some blood tests showed bilirubin 1.9, but another one showed 0.4
-any other blood test was normal

My first gastroenterologist (did only gastroscopy and X-ray) said it was irritable bowel syndrome caused by my spine that is not perfectly straight.
My second doctor was telling me that it was gallbladder problem and sent me to a surgeon.
Surgeron said that my symptoms can not be explained by gallbladder and sent me for additional test.
Now I wait for appointment with the 4th doctor.

I was taking stool softeners and citrucel, but it did not help. I also was takin hyocamine (against spasms), but it neither helped. Taking advil (9 per day) helps, but without it I can hardly focus on my job.

I have following questions:
- should I remove gallbladder or not ?
- can a gallbladder cause stool to be loose, clay-like in color and make it float ?
- are there any other tests that should be done ?
- what do you suspect to be the most probable cause of problems ?

Sincerely,
Jerzy B.

[Teena]

I can't believe I stumbled upon this site through the Internet.  I have spent the last half hour reading all your comments and it is nice to know I am not the only one suffering from these symptoms. I have exactly what all of you are explaining here. I have had left upper quadrant pain radiating around to under my should blade with ocassional nausea and palpations. I mostly experience the pain though on a daily basis varying in the sharpness.  I, too, have had every test in the book. I had a CT Scan a few days ago and tonite when I got home I had a message from my doctor saying they want to see me to discuss my test and order further testing.  I can't image what it could be but I am scared and anxious to find out. I have had these symptoms for the last 13 months. I am 33 years old and do not drink or smoke. I am in good health but am really tired of living with this pain and to be told my test are normal when I still do not feel like myself. I, too, have been placed on Prilosec with no relief. Not only do I have the left sided pain but terrible gas and bloating on a daily basis no matter what I eat.  I hope to talk to my doctor tomorrow and I will definitely let all of you know what I find out. Who knows - it may be something that could help all of you too.

[TomP]

Well I assumed I had a peptic ulcer for years. The pain used to go with Zantac, for a while. But now I have a pain that moves from the left ribs to the left upper back. Sometimes it feels like there is something in my left sholuder area or back, something that catches, even a bit spiky. I have been horified it could be radiating from some kind of pancreas cancer (with no evidence for that of course), and have not felt able to write it off just as IBS or something. But this forum is reassuring- at least none of us have reported back with any nasty diagnoses. If I ever find out anything I'll let you know.

[Winn]

I cannot believe how many people are suffering from the same pain and there isn't any clear answer as to why. Stress could be a contributing factor, but PAIN is real. I am a 46 yr old female who has had stomach problems in the past. I recently was diagnosed with GERD which I do not experience heart burn, but acute acid larangitis; a hital hernia (which I am told does not cause the pain in the upper left abdomen). I have had the upper GI; upper endoscopy; sonogram and now my gastro spec wants me to have a small bowell series & if this is negative as all the others, go to a surgeon. He advised me that the surgeon would do an exploratory to try to figure out what may be going on. Surgery is pretty serious if you ask me - has anyone been given this advice from their doctor? Sorry, but glad to read that I am not along with this mysterious pain. Thanks

[artist]

I am a 21 yr. old female and i am somewhat overweight.  the other night, after eating dinner, i experienced a strange pain.  at first the pain was mild, but irritating, then the pain got worse and i told my boyfriend that i thought i have food poisoning and to call my mom immediately.  by the time she got there, the pain had become so bad, that i thought i was having a heart attack.  i was experiencing pain under my sternum(right under and in line with my breasts)as well did it feel on the left and kinda the right.  i began to get short of breath along with the stabbing pain and pressure.  because i was short of breath, i became really upset and started to hyperventalate.  my parents rushed me to the ER.  when i got there, the tiog nurse took my BP(144/80...normal for me) and i was running a fever of 100.2(extremely rare for me b/c i always run below normal) when the pain went away, it seemed to slowly ease off and the nausea set in more than it was before.  of coarse, i couldn't vomit.  the doc said my urine test was fine, but some of my liver counts were abnormal.  he felt sure it was gall stones.  i had an ultrasound the next day which showed nothing.....  well, the hepatitis tests were negative too.....i'm going to the doc today and feeling really discouraged about it b/c of responces i have had from him in the past...as i see some of you are too!  i'm the kind of person who has constipation all the time, but lately....i have been having loose stools( light or yellow-brown in color)in fact during my "attack" i was upset on my stomach and having loose stools.  i know how it is to go to the doc and have him think you are crazy.  off and on, for over a year, i have been having UTI symptoms 1 or 2 times a month.  only, nothing shows up on tests or cultures. out of this year, i had been 5 times and NOTHING, no bacteria, NOTHING...yeah right!  i guess the burning and pain was all in my head! i went to a urologist and he scoped my bladder, diagnosing me with chronic cystitis....(from having an infection for a year) FRUSTRATING!!!  anyone have any idea or wanna chat with me, IM me or e-mail me with ideas.
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[Jessie]

I am sitting here in awe that someone has the same symptoms as my self, I have been dealing with Pain on my left side below my rib cage for almost 2 years, the pain circles around my rib cage under my arm, radiating into the back, I also experience pain in my left arm and center of my chest almost all the time. There is however a variation in severity. I left work today after having a spell which has the symptoms of a Heart Attack. I am a 26 Yr old Female. I have had all sorts of tests. My doctor thinks I am a Hypocondriac. Today I am also experiencing horrible gas pains. I am currently seeing a chiropractor who says that the pain is due to a rib slipping out of place and since I already have digestive problems inflamation of the stomach and other areas push on the rib causing this pain, the pain has lessened itself until today. I would love to put a name to this....PLEASE HELP!

[Shelly J]

Hi all  hopefully i wont feel so crazy knowing all you people have the same problems.  1ST OF ALL JERZEY gall bladder is on the right so if your pain is left sided  look for other answers.  I'm 32  have suffered stomach problems my whole life. Stay awake most  nights in so much pain. Had my gall bladder removed at 22 (which i'm told is young for those kinds of problems- gall stones) but syptoms never really improved  severe abdominal pain  left sided near ribs mostly but sometimes it seems to be right in the middle by belly button. My bowels are never right either i'm constipated or i have diarherra.I suffer from nausea  daily. @ yrs ago with through  upper & lower gi series  lots of bloodwork and finally an endoscopy. The endoscopy showed what the dr called acute chronic gastritis and explained that my stomach doesnt empty properly also said  the problem with bowels "could be"irritable bowel syndrome. Been taking Prilosec and varying doses of reglan for 2 yrs with little to no relief ( although reglan only med that helps nausea even a little ) back in Feb  so bad ended up in er had been vomitting for hrs tried to explain my history with my stomach they told me it was the flu and sent me home. saw my internist later that same week and he ordered an abdominal catscan and more bloodwork. They came back normal so he stuck with original diagnosis. So i finally went for 2nd opinion. This doctor seems to think i have gastroparesis and ordered a stomach emptying test.I'll have the results in a few days. In the meantime i cant find  any info that explains the difference between the 2 (gastritis & gastroparesis) They are both stomach ailments which have to do with the stomach emptying and they are both treated with reglan  so i'm at my wits end.