Skip to main content
Skip to main navigation
Skip to talk navigation

Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

General health

Please help - so fed up and been ill for months - is it an ulcer/ibs/gallstones or what?

186 replies

kuckingfunt · 15/04/2011 21:47

I am waiting to see gastro specialist after 6 months of hell.

These are my symptoms:

dizzy/lightheaded
pain that I get under both ribs (just under boobs)
vomitting
pain goes into back
2 stone weight loss
occasional pain in chest towards right breastbone
constipated a lot

I can't see a pattern with it being worse after eating anything in particular, it just seems to be anything can set it off. It also isnt horrendous every minute of the day, it comes and goes.

I am getting desparate now though, had every blood test you can think of, had brain scan, had ultra sound for gallstones. My next step is to see the gastro specialist.

I have thought it could be a peptic ulcer, a duodenal ulcer, gallstones, ibs.

Anyone any idea and can any of the above make you feel dizzy?

I'm really getting down about this now - I can't plan anything as I never know how I will feel, I can't work as I am ill almost everyday. I had to cancel a holiday as I wasn't well enough to go, I can't even plan to even go and see friends as I just don't feel up to it. I feel like my life is on hold until I find out what is wrong. Today has been a bad day, pain and vomitting and I have spent most of it in tears to my DF - it has been going on 6 months now and I am so fed up of it.

OP posts:

Report

BachAroundTheChoc · 15/04/2011 21:48

You know I have absolutely no advice at all - but wanted to give you a big (virtual) hug {{{{{}}}}}}}}

(now I'm going to run away before the hard nosed MNer shout at me)

kuckingfunt · 15/04/2011 21:54

Thank you Bach - they are much appreciated tonight, although don't set me off again, DF is fed up of me blubbing today! I like your easter name too!

OP posts:

AimingForSerenity · 15/04/2011 21:57

The pain, vomiting, etc does sound a lot like gallstones, have you had an MRI scan? I had examinations and an ultrasound scan which showed nothing at all but a slightly enlarged spleen but an MRI showed stones, one of which was in a difficult place so I had the op very quickly afterwards. Like you I could never pin it down to any food, etc.

One of the key things that helped diagnose mine was (TMI coming up now!) that after each bad attack of pain and vomiting my wee was darker then usual and my poo lighter than usual. May be worth watching out for.

Hope you feel better soon

BachAroundTheChoc · 15/04/2011 21:59

well I'm going to have to come back because of course I meant hard nosed MNers .

I'll try not to set you off

kuckingfunt · 15/04/2011 22:00

Thank you AFS. I don't get typical gallstone attacks even though I have thought it could be gallstones. I read how people are crawling in agony with the attacks and I don't have this pain, just really sore pain under ribs.

I haven't had an mri yet for it, I am waiting to see gastro man in a couple of weeks.

OP posts:

kuckingfunt · 15/04/2011 22:00

Bach

OP posts:

BachAroundTheChoc · 15/04/2011 22:10

vintageteacups · 15/04/2011 22:12

I second the crippling gallstone pain. It was the worst pain of my life and I honestly thought I might die (before I knew what it was).

Try cutting out all sat fat and see if it stops attacks.

During an attack, it's common to throw up and shiver alongside the actual pain. I stopped having attacks when I realised that sat fats triggered the pain. So once I knew I had 15 small stones, I stopped eating sat fats and only had one small attack between then and having GB removed.

herbietea · 15/04/2011 22:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

CantSleepWontSleep · 15/04/2011 22:22

I had my gallbladder removed last month due to lots of large gallstones. My symptoms were very different from yours, although the near constant pain for months is the common factor. I presume that the ultrasound didn't find any stones?

WillYouStewTheLambShankOh · 15/04/2011 22:27

Not sure about the dizziness etc, but I went in for scans years ago CONVINCED that I had either gallstones or liver trouble and it turned out to be costochondritis, which sounds like the pain you are describing.

Feel free to google it, it's a painful but harmless inflammation of tissues around the diaphragm/intercostal muscles. I was mighty relieved. Whatever it is, I hope you get some answers soon - undiganosed abdo pain is a miserable thing.

kuckingfunt · 15/04/2011 22:28

No, the ultrasound didn't show anything up, neither have any of my blood tests.

I just don't get 'attacks' as such, I just get this pain a lot. It doesn't make me crawl around the floor or bend double, but it is really uncomfortable and sore as though something is trapped under my ribs.

herbie - that's interesting to hear - I hope your mum is ok now.

Do any of these things cause dizziness though?

OP posts:

kuckingfunt · 15/04/2011 22:30

I have wondered about that too WillYouStew, and early on the doctor did mention that but didn't pursue it. Were you vomitting with it? Someone on MN told me that if it was that I would be screaming in pain if I pressed my ribs - mine are not painful enough for me to be screaming with it if I touch them.

OP posts:

EverSoLagom · 15/04/2011 22:33

Could it be giardia? It's a parasite you can pick up from drinking bad water. I had it and as well as constipation and vomiting i also felt really run down and had back ache and pain under my armpits (lymphnodes), kidneys, and period-type pain for months before i worked out what it was. I really thought it was something serious, lost a lot of weight from being sick every day. I also got back head rushes and dizziness.

Anyway a dose of metranidazole sorted me out.

Really hope you feel better soon.

AimingForSerenity · 15/04/2011 22:36

KF I didn't have "typical" attacks of gallbladder pain either. Over the time I suffered I had maybe 2 spells of typical pain, a lot of mine was more diffuse around my lower ribs (still bloody painful though!) and sometimes it was round my back.

vintageteacups · 15/04/2011 22:36

My sister had similar pain and symptoms to you OP and it turned out to be helicobacter pylori.

After antibiotics for a while, the symptoms reduced and eventually, subsided.

There are many things it could be so best to get everything checked for.

Hope it turns out to be okay and something which can be easily treated for you.

kuckingfunt · 15/04/2011 22:37

Would that not show up in a blood test Eversolagom? I have had every blood test you can think of and they all came back clear.

Also tested negative for H Pylori.

OP posts:

WillYouStewTheLambShankOh · 15/04/2011 22:37

No, I never screamed in pain, although sometimes it would give a pang of pain and take my breath away. It felt just as you described, like a feeling of fullness under my right ribs. More of a very tender bruised feeling. It also moved up and down, from my sternum to my side. It did make me feel nauseous, but no vomiting - mind you I have a concrete stomach and have been known to catch raging D&V bugs without being sick!

I took ibuprofen around the clock for a week and it calmed down. Has flared up again here and there over the years. I am a bit assymmetrial due to some broken ribs from my youth, so I think I'm prone to it. Please don't experiment with ibuprofen though without asking your doctor, as it can irritate all sorts of gastro issues.

kuckingfunt · 15/04/2011 22:40

Sounds familiar Aiming. I am getting desperate for a diagnosis now and almost want them to find something wrong so that they can fix it quickly.

I am also worried its been 6 months now and worrying it could be something serious.

OP posts:

kuckingfunt · 15/04/2011 22:42

How was it diagnosed WillYouStew? Did you have all the gastro tests first to rule anything else out?

No, I am staying away from ibuprofen at the moment as I know it can irritate any gastro problem.

OP posts:

EverSoLagom · 15/04/2011 23:11

I had a blood test which didn't show anything - i think it ought to have shown a high count of something... high electophile count maybe. But a stool sample confirmed and then i had two courses of antibiotics to get rid of it.

WillYouStewTheLambShankOh · 15/04/2011 23:18

I had blood tests and a thorough abdo ultrasound of gall bladder, liver, spleen and pancreas. It was reassuring to have the lot looked at as I couldn't then go home and ruminate "Okay, so my liver is fine... but what about my pancreas?!" etc

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Email address

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

kuckingfunt · 16/04/2011 21:07

I suspect gastro man will book me in for endoscopy - not sure if that will show everything up though or not - maybe I need to ask for a scan of abdo

OP posts:

moggiek · 16/04/2011 22:23

IMO this is a problem with your pancreas. Pancreatitis is an extremely painful and debilitating condition. Has your doc ever suggested it might be the problem?

kuckingfunt · 16/04/2011 23:35

no they haven't mentioned pancreastitis, although I would've thought this would show up on a blood test wouldn't it?

OP posts:

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.