left side pain

[Joelle07]

I have really bad sharp stabbing pains in my Left side just below my rib cage that goes to my back.  Doctor's seem to think it's my kidneys but every test comes back normail but the pains still there.  It can last up to a week or as little as an hour.  It feels like I'm being stabbed with a knife and when it's really bad i start to shake and hyperventolate and throw up too.

[CCFHeartMD11]

This actually does sound like renal colic, which is probably what your doctor is considering, though colic lasting a week is a little atypical. It is usually caused by kidney stones. Tests for kidney stones include urinalysis (to look for microscopic blood in the urine that is not visible to the naked eye, as well as to look for crystals that suggest certain types of stones), Xray to look for certain radio-opaque stones, and sometimes a CT scan to look for non-radio-opaque stones. If you haven't had all of these tests, you probably should.

Another thing that should be considered is ovarian torsion, which can have similar symptoms. This is hard to diagnose, but the best way is to get an pelvic ultrasound while you are actually having the symptoms.

[Diego-Biom]

Well... if all lab tests came back normal as well as proper imaging studies, you may have to start thinking about exclusion diagnosis such as Painful Lower Rib Syndrome, a disorder of your subcostal or intercostal nerve.  People with this disease are usually extensive evaluated for abdominal causes and everything come back normal. The treatment is nerve block with local anesthesia or surgery of nerve roots (rhizotomy).

However, as I mentioned before, you need an extensive evaluation to rule out other causes before considering this diagnosis.

Good luck!

[Joelle07]

I've had every test you can think of from blood work to cat scans to mri's and x-rays even the tests with the dye in them everything comes back normal.  I've had this problem going on 14 years and no one nows what it is.  One doctor thought it was all in my head and sent me to get hypnotized and it didn't work. Another doctor said i was lactose and lollerate.  If someone grabs my side or hits me in my left side i almost imediatly go into shock and start to shake from the pain.  Another doctor said it could be in my nerves but where the pain is they couldn't test the nerves down there they tested they up near my spin which was normal.  I don't know where to go from here.

[Diego-Biom]

I see. Testing the spine was interesting, but the nerve entrapment may be elsewhere in the ribcage or within muscle membranes (fascia). Sometimes you can't really pinpoint where the lesion actually is but you may treat it according to the symptoms. If nerve is being affected, you may also benefit from low dose tricyclic antidepressants or drugs such as gabapentin, if you don't have any contraindication for that.
. They are usually helpful for pain or neurologic origin such as nerve entrapment syndromes.

I think you should definitely benefit from an evaluation for Painful Lower Rib Syndrome, Intercostal Neuralgia or Abdominal Cutaneous Nerve Entrapment Syndrome. I don't really know which would be the best specialist for that. I guess an orthopedist  may give you the best recommendation.

Mental problems can cause all sorts of pain, and decrease your threshold to few pain. Therefore, if you have any sort of mood or anxiety disorder you may benefit from treatment of that as well.

A quick search brought me some open articles that may be helpful for you:

http://xnet.kp.org/permanentejournal/sum02/acnes.pdf
http://www.nativeremedies.com/articles/treatment-for-intercostal-neuralgia.html

I wish you good luck. Let me know if you get evaluated or treatment for one of these conditions.