Mild Burning Pain on Right Side Upper Abdomen

[DeeleighNC]

What can cause mild burning pain in the area of right hepatic flexure of the colon?

[patient915]

A blood test should always be done first for hypothyroidism before medications are tried.  I think it is irresponsible for your doctor not to do this.

[DeeleighNC]

No, my doctor did not give me any blood tests to check my thyroid levels. I found this kind of funny too. However, to be fair, I have heard of many cases where someone's doctor put them on thyroid medicine without blood tests. I think their reasoning is that if you are hypothyroid, then your symptoms should improve, and if you're not, then no harm done and they'll just take you off of it.

I have a followup appointment with him in a month-presumably so he can see if the Synthroid has helped me. Many people think that Synthroid is not the best hypothyroid drug, because it has only one part of the thyroid hormone, whereas Armour thyroid has all the components of thyroid hormone and is supposed to work better. I'll have to talk to the doctor about that at my followup appointment.

[patient915]

I would say that with your testing, you don't have a problem with your gallbladder.  I think seeing a gastroenterologist would be a good idea.  Stress can definitely make your symptoms worse.  Did you doctor check your thyroid with a blood test before starting you on medications?  If not, that's crazy and I would highly recommend it be done ASAP.

[DeeleighNC]

Yes. I have had an ultrasound, which showed nothing detectably wrong with the gallbladder and some fatty liver infiltration. Next, I had a HIDA scan with Ejection Fraction test, and my ejection fraction was 46%. I felt no additional pain during the test, but for some reason, the lady who did my test said that I told her I felt pain during the test. She asked me "Did you feel any pain or discomfort", and I said "No, not really anything different."

After seeing my doctor who ordered the test (Internal Medicine doctor), she said if I didn't have any pain during the test, then my gallbladder was okay. After I told her I sometimes have a burning feeling on the right side going towards the middle of my stomach, she thought maybe you have an ulcer, so she gave me a month's worth of Nexium pills to try to see if those helped, and told me to come back in a month.

My symptoms started in the lower right abdomen. I felt a dull ache, along with some burning and sometimes slightly throbbing for a little while, then it would go away and return later. I had bloating around my midsection (stomach) for a while but that soon got better. I first went to my gynecologist about these symptoms because I thought I might have an ovarian cyst or something. He just gave me a manual exam and said he didn't think I had an ovarian cyst. I thought he might give me a trans-vaginal ultrasound but he didn't. He thought I might be constipated (I was a little), so told me to take milk of magnesia (2Tbsp.) every night for a while. He also put me on Synthroid -(gave me 3 months worth of samples) because he thought I might be hypothyroid-hence the constipation.My temperature when I get up in the morning is always low (97.0 to 97.5) and it doesn't ever get to 98.6 during the day unless I have a fever. Also I have dry skin and dry hair. But so far after about 2 months, my symptoms are still here. The dose of Synthroid is low (67 mg.).

After that went on for a while, the lower  abdomen pain got better, but then I started feeling a dull ache in the area of my right ribcage and underneath around my waistline area (right side). Every now and then I would jabbing pains (moderate, not super intense) on the right side just underneath my right rib area, but they would only last for a few minutes then go away. This only happened 4 or 5 times. The rest of the time it just felt like a dull ache under the right ribcage and below that, it also feels sore sometimes like someone punched me in the ribs or something. And there is sometimes a burning sensation on the inside below my right ribcage area which occasionally goes over to the middle of my stomach (above my navel).

I am concerned about one thing I learned. I have been drinking coffee (have a Keurig machine) 2-3 cups a day for the past 2 years or so, and I always drink it with heavy cream or half-and-half. On the label of the cream it says one of the ingredients is carrageenan. I read on the internet that in animal studies carrageenan caused ulcerations and/or  tumor growths on the inside of the intestinal tract. I'm wondering if my drinking this has caused my problems.  I have recently been buying a half-and-half that supposedly doesn't have carrageenan in it (it's not listed on the label-but I think the manufacturers sometimes get away with hiding some of the ingredients).

I'm still wondering if my gallbladder could be bad even though my ejection fraction is 46% and supposedly in the normal range.

I don't suppose a fatty liver could cause these symptoms?

I'm wondering if I should go to a gastroenterologist. I'm trying to hold down medical bills as much as possible since I'm unemployed and don't have insurance. My ex-husband has been paying my medical bills since we got divorced, but I haven't really been going to the doctor very often. Also, my 86 year old mother with a lot of health problems has been living with me for a long time now (she just had a hysterectomy for uterine cancer a few months ago) and it's very stressful dealing with her health issues. I wonder if stress could have anything to do with all this.

[patient915]

Welcome to the gastroenterology community!  Have you seen a doctor about this?  Do you have any other symptoms?