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Upper LEFT quadrant pain
I am 31 years old. This past May I had severe left sided upper quadrant pain. It felt like it was just under my ribs, usually in the front but sometimes in my side and when most severe, in my back. It lasted for about 3 weeks and I just let it go, confident that it would just go away.
In the first week of August the exact same pain came back. It was so severe that I called my MD after only 3 days. I had chest x-rays, abd sonogram and blood work. The only abnormality was my amylase which was 397. My lipase was somewhat elevated also. I had an abd CT which showed a slightly enlarged pancreas but was told that was probably normal for my age. I was but on prevacid and told to see what happens. I still complained of severe pain do I had an EGD. All was normal. I then had an ERCP done and while no obstruction was noted I did end up with pancreatitis and was in the hospital for 5 days. The 'pancreatitis' pain has now resolved but my original pain remains. I can now relate some of the pain to after meals but that pain usually occurs on the right side. The left sided pain is ALWAYS there. It gets bad and then eases up but is always there. I do become nauseated at times but I am not vomiting. I lost 10 pounds in the hospital but put 6 back on. No further weight loss has been noted. My GI physician is stumped. He did mention sphincter manometry but is hesitant due to my pancreatitis.
What I want to know is this: Is there a profile of patients who have sphincter dysfunction? Are there certain things that cause it or is the cause unknown? Would that cause LEFT sided pain. With the tests I have had done, would CA be ruled out or would that still be a possibility?
Thank you,
Elizabeth
In the first week of August the exact same pain came back. It was so severe that I called my MD after only 3 days. I had chest x-rays, abd sonogram and blood work. The only abnormality was my amylase which was 397. My lipase was somewhat elevated also. I had an abd CT which showed a slightly enlarged pancreas but was told that was probably normal for my age. I was but on prevacid and told to see what happens. I still complained of severe pain do I had an EGD. All was normal. I then had an ERCP done and while no obstruction was noted I did end up with pancreatitis and was in the hospital for 5 days. The 'pancreatitis' pain has now resolved but my original pain remains. I can now relate some of the pain to after meals but that pain usually occurs on the right side. The left sided pain is ALWAYS there. It gets bad and then eases up but is always there. I do become nauseated at times but I am not vomiting. I lost 10 pounds in the hospital but put 6 back on. No further weight loss has been noted. My GI physician is stumped. He did mention sphincter manometry but is hesitant due to my pancreatitis.
What I want to know is this: Is there a profile of patients who have sphincter dysfunction? Are there certain things that cause it or is the cause unknown? Would that cause LEFT sided pain. With the tests I have had done, would CA be ruled out or would that still be a possibility?
Thank you,
Elizabeth
Oh my Stars! I can't believe I found a web site where people suffer from the same symptoms of Left Upper quadrant pain. I too have been through all of the gross and disgusting tests that all came back normal. It desperately affects my life and stops me in my tracks. I was sent to a pain specialist who put me on all of these strong narcotics that snowed me to the point that I couldn't work effectively so I stopped taking them. I felt that they didn't help that much, snowed me, and why should I take such strong narcotics everyday for a pain that I wasn't having every day? Go figure. I have lupus which alot of Dr.'s use as a dumping ground diagnosis, and the last thing my Gastro doc said in regards to the pain is that it could just be related to my lupus, as if to excuse himself from having to truely find out what is causing the debilitating pain. Thank you to each one of you who have posted here for sharing your intimate stories. I feel as if each of you have already personally written a portion of my own story. Not a fun journey, but at least we have each other to discuss it with, as family and other friends could care less about our bowel habits and our disgusting and painful barium enemas. God Bless Each one of you, and someday, hopefully we'll have a diagnosis and most of all a cure from this mysterious pain in our sides.
I have been having left upper qudrant pain also very bloated.
Loose bowels. etc taking Axid not helping. comments please
Loose bowels. etc taking Axid not helping. comments please
yeah guys see exactly where you are coming from.
I was very sick in London after eating a "dodgy" beef meal, & my stools where heavily laden with blood.
After getting over the sickness that was defined as gastroenterietis, I have had pains in my luq on & off roaming arround the area for about 4 yrs, docs dont seem overly concerned with it, but stools etc have never been right since the sickness, a general feeling of tiredness often accompanies the pains & dull aches.. had all the tests & not getting any answers......
seems like we can only deal with it & get on with life, I tend to get the worst pains pre meals, yet after this experience bloating & frequent bowel movement ....
be well..
I was very sick in London after eating a "dodgy" beef meal, & my stools where heavily laden with blood.
After getting over the sickness that was defined as gastroenterietis, I have had pains in my luq on & off roaming arround the area for about 4 yrs, docs dont seem overly concerned with it, but stools etc have never been right since the sickness, a general feeling of tiredness often accompanies the pains & dull aches.. had all the tests & not getting any answers......
seems like we can only deal with it & get on with life, I tend to get the worst pains pre meals, yet after this experience bloating & frequent bowel movement ....
be well..
i also have had this pain and have had cat scans and still nothing. if any one knows what to do ill try anything im ready to just cut myself open to find out whats rong
I too have suffered from this dasterdly Upper Left Quadrant Pain. However, I am feeling about 90% better than I have before.
I am a 45 year old female. I weigh about 109 and I am in pretty descent physical shape. My problems began this past December 1999, right after Christmas. My husband and I are avid runners, so I thought it was due to over-exertion. The pain would begin under the left rib cage and radiate both up to the left flank and down to the left groin. I had a slight fever every so ofter(no more than 100). The pain seemed to be worse when I ran. I could not stand the pain anymore, so I contacted my primary. He said that the symptoms sounded like a kidney infection, and he put me on an antiobiotic for a week. Perhaps I had a slight kidney infection, but I really did not feel much better after taking the antibiotic. My primary sent me for every test you could think of in order to determine what I might have--x-rays, bone scans, a colonoscopy, and cat scans. Even my Gyn got involved, thinking it might be ovary or uterine related. The Gyn also sent me for several female tests. Every test I went for put me into an emotional hole until results came back showing nothing was wrong. The colonoscopy almost put me over the edge. Knowing that my Dad died of colon cancer, and that I have had IBS since my college years, I was convinced that I had colon cancer. The results came back negative for that, thank GOD!! It was also frustating, though, not knowing what the problem was. I discontinued my running, assuming the pain might have been due to over exertion. Discontinuing my workouts, however, did not help my emotional or mental health out at all, but I did what I thought I should do.
My Mom suggested that I try taking tums before and after each meal that perhaps I have trapped gas. I did that and it seemed to alleviate some of the pain. My primary did a few more tests and concluded that I have Costochondritis (inflammation of the cartilidge between the ribs) and colonic splenic flexture distention (trapped gas in the colon on the left side of the body where the colon makes a turn under the rib cage--thus pushing up against the ribs and causing pain and discomfort).
I am feeling much better now. I have continued my workouts, but instead of just running, I now cross-train--run, bike and some light weight lifting. When I get the pain, it is usually very mild and goes away quickly just by me taking the tums more often and by increasing my intake of roughage (broccoli and salads made with romaine lettuce). I also drink much more water than I used to and started drinking cranberry juice too.
Just thought I would share my experience with you. Hope it helps. Keep in touch!!
I am a 45 year old female. I weigh about 109 and I am in pretty descent physical shape. My problems began this past December 1999, right after Christmas. My husband and I are avid runners, so I thought it was due to over-exertion. The pain would begin under the left rib cage and radiate both up to the left flank and down to the left groin. I had a slight fever every so ofter(no more than 100). The pain seemed to be worse when I ran. I could not stand the pain anymore, so I contacted my primary. He said that the symptoms sounded like a kidney infection, and he put me on an antiobiotic for a week. Perhaps I had a slight kidney infection, but I really did not feel much better after taking the antibiotic. My primary sent me for every test you could think of in order to determine what I might have--x-rays, bone scans, a colonoscopy, and cat scans. Even my Gyn got involved, thinking it might be ovary or uterine related. The Gyn also sent me for several female tests. Every test I went for put me into an emotional hole until results came back showing nothing was wrong. The colonoscopy almost put me over the edge. Knowing that my Dad died of colon cancer, and that I have had IBS since my college years, I was convinced that I had colon cancer. The results came back negative for that, thank GOD!! It was also frustating, though, not knowing what the problem was. I discontinued my running, assuming the pain might have been due to over exertion. Discontinuing my workouts, however, did not help my emotional or mental health out at all, but I did what I thought I should do.
My Mom suggested that I try taking tums before and after each meal that perhaps I have trapped gas. I did that and it seemed to alleviate some of the pain. My primary did a few more tests and concluded that I have Costochondritis (inflammation of the cartilidge between the ribs) and colonic splenic flexture distention (trapped gas in the colon on the left side of the body where the colon makes a turn under the rib cage--thus pushing up against the ribs and causing pain and discomfort).
I am feeling much better now. I have continued my workouts, but instead of just running, I now cross-train--run, bike and some light weight lifting. When I get the pain, it is usually very mild and goes away quickly just by me taking the tums more often and by increasing my intake of roughage (broccoli and salads made with romaine lettuce). I also drink much more water than I used to and started drinking cranberry juice too.
Just thought I would share my experience with you. Hope it helps. Keep in touch!!
I have been having the same symptoms as many of you - ulq pain that radiates to my back - much worse after eating ESPECIALLY if I eat too much! I have had ultrasounds of pancreas, gallbladder, liver, etc. showing nothing. Had sigmoidoscopy (painful experience!) with biopsy - showed nothing. Had several EKG's - perfectly normal. Upper GI showed Reflux and they are attributing the pain to that - BULL! It's clear down under my ribs and is very different from heartburn! I have found one thing that seems to improve it, Yoga. This stumped me at first because the pain is nothing like a muscular pain. My naturalist says that yoga is very good for repositioning internal organs - so maybe that has something to do with it. Being that I am not disciplined I have not been doing the yoga regularly. Only use it when I need it. But it does seem to work. I only do 10-15 minutes of it and see a difference. If anyone would want to give it a try, I would be interested in hearing if it helps you too.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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