Severe stomach pain through to back

[Pearlie434]

This year I have been having bouts of severe stomach pain  (center, bottom of ribcage) going straight through to my upper/middle back. I thought it may be food related, but it has happened after eating different types of foods (meat/not meat, various levels of greasiness as well). Also it tends to happen 5-12 hours after I eat, often waking me up at night. It usually lasts about an hour and consists of me curled up on the floor in a fetal position, but kneeling. This is the only position that helps. Also, drinking large amounts of water helps too -1liter at a time. A couple of times it went away after vomiting, while other times it went away after defecating, and sometimes after an hour it goes away by itself, leaving me to urinate often from all the water.  So far it's happened only a handful of times, but lately, it's been occuring  more frequently, and I can have a similar sensation, but a lot less severe. Again, alleviated by drinking much water. This discomfort is not lower-back. It is more between T4 & T6.
I went to the local clinic and basically was charged $150 for having my blood pressure checked and urine analyzed. I really want to know what this could be so I can go to the doctor and say test me for xy and z, since I have no insurance. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.  

[chopster]

it cant be gall bladder symptoms as i have this problem for years getting worse and still having tests i also had my gall bladder removed last year?????? its ruining my life as its most of the time now and doctors dont know what to do????

[Banned1]

Hi there:

I'm so sorry to hear that you are still suffering.  I am, too.  There are so many things it could be including pancreatitis, sphincter of oddi dysfunction and post-cholecystectomy syndrome.  

I wanted to let you know about a free Yahoo! group that I belong to.  Do a web search for yahoo! groups.  Once you are in there, search the groups for "sphincter" - no kidding - and you will see a number of groups dedicated to pancreatitis, sphincter of oddi dysfunction and undiagnosed symptoms.  There are four or five great groups there. Michele's and Madi's groups are well worth joining but it takes a couple of days to get approval.  Many of us are undiagnosed.  I'm glad your pain isn't debilitating and I hope it nevers gets to that point but the members might have some ideas that could help you.  Plus, since it's a specialized group, you are talking to people who are actually living with the same thing.

Good luck and Godspeed!

Sam

[Banned1]

Hi there:

I'm glad you went ahead and had the surgery.  Many people have loose bowel movements post-cholecystectomy and there is medication to treat it.  You can try fibre products like metamucil that will make you regular, they don't make you go.  It just firms things up a bit.  Otherwise, a quick visit to the doctor and you could get on an anti-diarrheal medication.

Good luck and Godspeed!  Keep us posted as to how you are doing?

All the best,

Sam

[crambone]

well,glad to see you found out what was bugging you,,i get similar pains like you did,not so intence,but they have checked my stuff out via ct scans and say nothing is wrong,,,2 times!,,barrium,and iodine used on each,so who am i to argue?
i realy dont know what to think of my "phantom" pain,,,but id kill to know exactly what it is.

[Pearlie434]

two weeks ago, I had the severe pains that lasted almost all day. I went to the ER, and they did all the tests, my liver enzymes ast, and the other one were off the charts! like in the 1000's normal is anything under 34! They set me up for an emergency ultrasound the next morning, and I was told it was gallstones. I decided to keep the gallbladder, since they didn't give me any other details. The next week, I ate ribs and was predictably in pain that night, despite having supper and an empty stomach afterwards. So, We went to a different hospital, since these pains didn't go away all day either, and they gave me 2 choices: either have the gallbladder taken out laproscopically now, or wait and when it becomes infected, have the big incision and be out of work for 2 months. I was getting tired of the pain, so I agreed to have it taken out after trying to have them take out the stones only and them refusing. I am reading horror stories about all these people who had theirs out a few years ago and have the ***** all the time, weight gain, gerd, acid reflux, and a host of other problems, while the real life (not online) people I talked to have no problems at all. I'm worried. I had it out Sunday, came home Monday, and had 2 bm's. one was normal, the other was soft, but not loose. Normal after eating veggies for the first couple of days. The only side effect I'm experiencing, is that at night I will sometimes wake up and feel like an acidic feeling at the bottom of my stomach. Do these other effects come on after some time? or is it diet/health related? am I going to get diarrhea after the bile cleans out the **** in my intestines like some slow moving drain-o? I really hate diarrhea, and I don't want it. I like my nice little rabbit-pellet like clean butt poop that I've always had. I tend to get paper cuts on my butt if my poo is too messy. Should I not worry about it?

[Banned1]

Sorry to hear that your appointment was a bust.

The University of Maryland Medical Center has a good article on the benefits of licorice root and it's use in the treatment and prevention of stomach ulcers.  If it works for you, right on!
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/licorice-000262.htm

Good luck with your real appointment on the 30th.

All the best,

Sam