I forgot to add that my appetite has not gone down at all.
I have actually found myself eating more and I have been having tremendous gas from the bottom end.
Like once every 5 minutes.
Hi Jeff~I have had very similar complaints. I understand that gall bladder pain is usually on the right radiating to the back, but it can be all over the abdomen. I also have a lot of left side pain, especially under the rib cage. I had a HIDA scan last week and am currently awaiting results to see if there is indeed something wrong with my gall bladder. My abdomen is very distended-non-stop for 14 days before I got some relief. I feel very bloated a lot of the time, and this leads to me breathing more shallowly and I am in general very comfortable. I can't say for sure that it's only the gall bladder, but that is what my doctor is looking into right now for me, and my symptoms sound a lot like yours-even the appetite and gas. :-)
the gullbladder is your culprit for the most part,but you can be ecperiencing some pancreatitis from the clogged up gullbladder,and that will hurt on your LEFT side!!!
there are only a few tests that show pancreatitis,and they usualy always have to be done while your in the middle of an attack!!..keep that in mind,,,have them,,,demand they check your amalayes/lipase enzyme levels when your in the middle of the pain ezct.
make sure they check theres no sludge ot small stones caught up in the duct work,or you will still have all the pain you are having now,and then some!!!
80% of people who have the gullbladder removed still have pain,,,exact same kind and sometimes worse sorry to say!!...let us know how everything goes,and dont listen to those docs tell you its in your head,you know what you feel,,they dont!!
Well, heard back from my doctor's office today. HIDA scan was totally normal. They told me to take citrucel (my actual doctor is out of town, this was from the nurse on advice from another dr). I will let you guess what I felt like telling them. Since I can't afford to keep having tests, I am going to wait until I get the severe attack again and go in right away. I tend to wait "one day" and then the really bad part is over. I did have elevated pancreatic enzymes once this summer when my upper left side was in pain-felt like a broken rib. At that time I had a CT with contrast of my abdomen and pelvis-nothing showed up there either...who knows? Good luck with everything and if you have gall stones I would think that getting your gall bladder removed will at least begin to give you some relief.
What you're describing sounds just like the pain I had, except that I couldn't eat and vomited every day for months. I think it's your gallbladder causing all the trouble. Hopefully you'll feel much better after the surgery, but there are those who don't get much improvement, unfortunately. I'm happy to report I'm doing great. I just had to get on a medicine to improve my appetite after surgery, and then I did great.
Thanks so much for your support. I am feeling nauseated today. (probably nerves)
I'm pretty confident, after the surgery, I'll feel much better.
Stress is really working on me right now. Surgery at 11:00 a.m.