This pain is NOT my imagination...

[constatlyinpain]

I have been having abdominal pain for about a year and a half now and nobody can seem to find the cause!  I have pain all along my upper abdomen most of the time.  It can get more intense in different areas (usually upper left, just under the ribcage) depending on my dietary intake.  If I drink any alcohol I get a sharp stabbing pain between my shoulder blades.  I am almost always constipated and if I let my stomach get empty I get really nauseated tho I really don't have much of an appetite.  When I had a HIDA scan done last week the pain started shortly after injecting the CCK.  Started on the upper left, then the upper middle joined in, then slightly to the right and then the rest of the day upper left ached pretty bad.  Every once in a while I get a stabbing pain in lower right with nausea and fever (rarely) but each time that happens I go to the ER and they can't find anything.  The last CT (with contrast) I had shows that I have a slightly enlarged spleen, but that is all I know.  They haven't told me the complete results of the HIDA yet and I go to see a general surgeon tomorrow, but I'm so sick of simply being medicated (to alleviate the pain) and made to feel like this is all in my head that I want to just SCREAM!!!  Anyone, anyone, anyone have anything like this or have any ideas as to what is going on with my poor body???  (31 years old, recent hysterectomy--4/9/07, hypothyroidism, recovering alcoholic, smoke 1/2 pack/day or less)

[constatlyinpain]

Have the doctors tested you for gastritis or reflux?  My gallbladder was removed last November and I was still having LOTS of upper abdominal pain.  Finally had an endoscopy and found that my reflux was burning half way up my esophogus and that my entire stomach and small intestine was inflamed due to the overabundance of stomach acid.  I also had extremely low iron levels and have to take Ferrous Sulfate twice a day.  Since starting the iron supplement my headache has just about vanished and I'm not quite as tired all the time.  I've also been taking Prevacid for the stomach acid and have had no abdominal pain or bowel issues since.  Took a while for my diagnosis to come, but it finally did.  I wish you the best and hope that you too will get your diagnosis.

[Puffin30]

Have been having a simular pain problem off and on for about 4 years. It starts in the upper part of my stomache , like under the breasts.It is a continula sharp pain and sometimes is accopanied by sharper stabbing pain. Cannot eat much of anything while this is happening.Had an ultrasound of gall bladder on monday and it came back negative.Havn't seen the docter again yet but am wondering what this could be.Doc said i could have passed a gall stone , so they did some blood tests to see if anything was elevated.Just got the results back but have not been contacted about anything.Would love to no what this is so i can fix the problem, as well as prove to my employer that i am not crazy

[tami126]

i had this same problem that went on sadly to say for approximately five years. The doctors gave me everything from zantac to prevacid, blamed it on post pregnancy, all in my head, etc.  It wasn't until a doctor sent me for a pipida scan that it revelaed my gall bladder was not functioning the way it should.  Had my gall bladder out in 2000 and have never had an episode since. Worth a try. Tami 126

[lovemydaughter]

my daughter is 17 years old and has been going through the same thing. She had an 18% ejection rate on her gallbladder. We are having it taken out in June. She has had every test in the book by a GI doctor and we were convinced she just had really bad IBS. Let's pray that this is the answer for your pain and my daughter's pain.

[constatlyinpain]

Don't know if you saw my earlier post, but doc said thismorning that my gb is not functioning properly and he recommended surgery.  Going in on Nov14 to get this sucker out.  Just hope that it will alleviate my abdominal pain and it won't be a "Mystery Abdominal Pain" anymore.

[constatlyinpain]

Thank you so much for your response.  I will keep this post updated, just incase someone out there is having similar issues but is reluctant to post.  I think I will do some more research on the biliary tree to see what organs and such are involved.  I hate going to the doctor's office and not knowing what to ask or feeling like a complete moron when they try to explain something and I have that dumbfounded buffoon look since I ususally don't have a clue as to what they have just said.  Anyway, thanks again and I will post updates as I get new info.

[Jaybay]

The good news is that you reacted to the CCK injection.  Something is obviously wrong with your gallbladder or somewhere in the biliary tree, and your reaction proves it.  Since you are being referred to a surgeon, it sounds as though the results indicate your gallbladder may need to come out.  Hope this is the end of your search and you get relief soon.  :-)