Abdominal upper right quadrant pain, just below ribs

[Mark M.]

Hi,
I too have upper right quad pain just below my ribs. I am a male, 46yrs old 6ft and weigh 175 lbs. My pain comes and goes and has for about 6 months. It is not severe pain, but at times is more annoying than anything. It feels like there is something in there pinching me. I went to an internal med MD in July. He ran blood tests that all came back fine. He sent me to have an abdominal ultrasound which showed only "healthy" organs. No dilated bile duct, no gall stones, liver enzymes were in normal range. It is 4 months later and the pain is still happening. When I sit, or bend at the waist, I can feel the pain. It is not a deep, internal pain, but seems close to the surface, just to the right of that little cartlidge/bone that splits the rib cage...just to the right of the stomach. What the heck could it be? My MD put me on Nexium, thinking maybe it is peptic in nature, but 60 days of Nexium and still the pain persists. I am freaking out because my dad passed away this past March due to a rare appendix cancer (pseudomixoma peritonei) that several MD's could not find, nor diagnose properly once they found it, another story in itself...so you know how the paranoia sets in. I don't have a lot of faith in MD's right now. Anyone out there have any input? Can the liver be screwed up for this long and still avoid being detected? Can inflamation be detected by ultrasound? It feels like it's burning, not like heartburn, but a firey sensation...hard to describe. Someone, please help me settle my fly away brain...thanks.

[sodiumchloride]

Just to let the guys know - look up Epididymitis on Wiki if you ever have sore testicles combined with pain radiating into the abdomen - the vas deferens can get infected when the little check valve that is supposed to stay shut when urine passes through fails slightly - I had this happen during a hockey game - I am in my 40s and thought I either had a groin pull or hernia - it suffered for a couple years with that on again off again dull pain - turns out the only "doctor" that could figure it out was the PA at work (former military) that suggested an infection - it took the second treatment of antibiotics to cure it but it worked -

[The_Purple_Pixie]

I had the same thing for many years all test kept coming back fine, turned out I had been throwing gall stones but they were small enough to be able to work there way out of the Bile duct and into intestines. That's why the pain was intermittent and the intensity depended on how large the stone was when it was forced thru. Eventually I ended up with a complete blockage and had to have emergency gallbladder surgery but it took around 10yrs for the tests and docs to finally figure it out. Stay on top of it and if u have an attack that last more then 1hrs with intense pain go to ER. Good luck

[Percyfaith]

It is Aug of 2012 as I write this and I have now been pain free eight months from the Upper Right Quadrant pain that I had had for 1 1/2 years prior.

I am still studying my health and believe that I reacted to Nightshade Foods (some of nightshades are Potato, Eggplant, Tomatoes and Peppers).  I had become a vegetarian 6 months before my pain began and I had been eating a lot of these. And I was taking a bunch of herbals that had cayenne pepper in them. I believe I developed an ulcer from the peppers and the tomatoes. I was on a protocol to heal my ulcer for about 6 months and I know that was a big healing factor, but I was also helped when I gave up gluten and  when I did Egoscue body work.  If you go though my posts you will see all the things I tried.

I hope my experience with this pain helps someone else. I was one of the worst pains I have ever had and I cried myself to sleep many nights.

On the plus side my health quest has yielded many great lifestyle changes    and most importantly my spiritual life excelled.

[NCJD]

Thanks for this idea:  very similar symptoms!  And, I am lactose intolerant, so this makes a lot of sense.  I've had all sorts of tests, all sorts of meds, nothing helps much.  Will check it out - NAN

[Jim_Dandy]

Somewhere below in these comments, someone posted something about Flaxseed Oil and boiling it and taking a few swigs of the stuff each day. I didn''t have the time yesterday to do that, so I bought a bottle of Flaxseed Oil Gel Caps. I took 2 caps 3 times yesterday and I already noticed a difference this morning. Dr's don't know diddly - just read these postings about how many people have had procedures that did nothing !

[jackie01333]

In the 90s I had blood transfusions and 6 months later was told I had Hep C.  I have pain in my upper right quadrant where my liver is located.  I did a year of interferon for the Hep C, cuz my liver counts started rising, the treatments were successful.  I'm having the pains again so I am wondering if my Hep C is back.  I will have liver function test ran in Augsust.

[Percyfaith]

Wow, you shared a bunch  of good things to consider.
BTW I am almost 60 female and into menopause 2 years.

I was at 56 on my last Vit D test- last year.  But alternative doctors want folks at 70 or 80. I know it is important to ask for the 25 Hydroxy+25OH-D2 Test (Dr. Mercola has lots of good information on this on the web) I was as low as 27 in '08. I supplement and also get little bits of sunlight and like taking cod liver oil in wintertime. I would like to get my levels up!
  Hi rathycodes,

My URQ pain got better at once with Pepcid but help wore off  after a while Plus I think Pepcid and similar OTC or prescription drugs are not healthy and they can cause other problems.

I was finally helped (over 1 year) with remedies for ulcer, Egoscue Method bodywork, Chiropractor and massage visit and physical therapy.

Will talk to my "Alternative" friendly Endocrinologist- I am hypothyroid and am wondering about the thoughts you shared...