AIBU to wonder how much longer I have to suffer like this?

[BarelySurviving]

For 9 months I've been experiencing crushing pains in my chest. It feels like my whole ribcage is being crushed, or like a steamroller is going over it. It's honestly worse than labour, and would happen a few times a week, usually waking me up in my sleep. It was initially misdiagnosed as a blood clot, then the doctors tried to fob me off by claiming it might just be heartburn, then I was told it was just my body adjusting after pregnancy and childbirth, then it was said to possibly be caused by me straining by carrying a baby all the time. And just been having blood test after blood test for months with no answers. It started just after I gave birth and I've spent the entirety of my mat leave just barely surviving on cocodamol.

Well, I had an ultrasound scan over a week ago. Never got the results and had been chasing doctors for them to no avail, told by GP it's only routine not urgent and told to make appointment for mid December. My health has rapidly declined recently and the pain is now near-constant, for example I will have crushing pain in chest for 20 hours straight then I will have discomfort/tightness for a couple hours, then back to crushing pain. I have been vomiting uncontrollably (sometimes struggle to make it to toilet and vomit on the floor), I'm going jaundiced, my wee is brown (and tissue looks neon orange when I wipe myself). I went to A&E on Friday at the end of my tether and the hospital staff were pissed off with me because they said it's not urgent as I've been dealing with this for 9 months already. But I can't cope with it any longer. I was then told that the previous scan showed I had a badly inflamed gallbladder and large gallstones. I was sent home with prescription for morphine and told that I will be referred for surgery.

I have no idea how much longer I have to wait. I'm not well at all now and feel like I'm barely functioning. I feel like I won't be able to work because of my pain and health. I searched online and I'm sure it said 49 weeks was the average wait for gallbladder removal at my hospital. How can I possibly suffer like this for another year? It seems so inhumane.

Does anyone else have experience of going through similar? I just feel at a loss and not taken seriously about my pain.

[quote julieca]@SpringCrocus But the test for gallstones is not carried out by a consultant. Its just an ultra sound scan. I waited 3 weeks.[/quote]
She's had an ultrasound which showed an issued with the gallbladder already, the concern is her symptoms could also indicate a blockage, which can't always be detected by just an ultrasound.

[quote julieca]@oakleaffy an MRi is not what you need for gallstones. An ultrasound scan is what is used.[/quote]
You are sprouting so much incorrect information. Please educate yourself further by reading this NHS page. I had an ultrasound that showed my gallbladder had stones and then two days later I had an MRI which showed I had a 3mm stone that had managed to completely block my bile duct. It couldn't be seen on the ultrasound and caused all the symptoms the OP has.

"Gallstones in the bile duct are sometimes seen during an ultrasound scan. If they're not visible but your tests suggest the bile duct may be affected, you may need an MRI scan or a cholangiography."

www.nhs.uk/conditions/gallstones/diagnosis/

I had ultrasound and MRI too - the ops liver symptoms could indicate blockage which might not be visible on ultrasound.

I had ultrasound and MRI before surgery. This sounds quite common.

I had an mri and ultrasound before surgery. My gallbladder burst just before surgery and my surgeon said it was one of the first she had ever seen.

I did say my experience was 20 years ago!

Ask your GP to do a choose & book referral to your nearest private hospital, the NHS buy up all their spare theatre time, you get your op done in a private hospital,the only difference to the private patients is you don't get a free newspaper.

How are you doing OP?

[quote BarelySurviving]@DrNo007 I cannot afford to go private, it's sadly not an option for me. I've just been getting by on statutory mat pay and universal credit and now my mat pay has stopped and UC doesn't even cover the basics.[/quote]
What about family/friends etc? Anyone that can help you financially?

I had an emergency operation for this back in 1994 on holiday in Spain — thank god for travel insurance!!! I had been having upper back pain and what felt like indigestion for about 2 months and kind of dismissed at as was early 30s. Anyway on holiday suddenly started being sick, couldn’t stop, horrendous pain and the orange wee, called ambulance and in theatre within 3 hours. Blocked bike duct and a ton of stones, started off as keyhole, ended up as full cut open surgery followed by8 days in hospital . I am totally disgusted OP at your treatment, if we move back to UK I’m not moving unless we can afford private health as things are

I too have had my gall bladder removed. After years of pain and continually being fobbed off I paid for my own scan. Only got taken seriously when this scan showed up my gallstones.
On another note: I got some measure of relief by drinking full sugar drinks, so a can of cola, mug of hot water loaded half way full with sugar. Sounds yuk I know, but do try it as it really did help.

Meant to say too that co-codamol affected me really badly, and reff so resulted in horrific pain. Sounds as though you are the same.

It sounds like gallstones

Sounds like pancretitis, you need to be in hospital with an antibiotic drip until they find the cause and stop the jaundice (might be a blocked bile duct).

This is so awful op!
My experience with gallstones is quite different. I've had bouts of the horrendous pain, but they've eased off and my GP gave me omeprazole which oddly seemed to help.
Ended up in A&E almost two weeks ago as the pain was way worse and I just had this feeling that something was wrong and couldn't be ignored. A&E was a wait, but they took me seriously as neither codeine nor oramorph would touch the pain. Got a referral to ultrasound then the surgical assessment unit less than 48 hours later. Consultant looked at my scan and told me I needed my gallbladder out and admitted me then an there. Slight delay due to an emergency case, but my surgery was done less than 5 days from presenting at A&E.
I was clearly not as ill as you. Is this the NHS postcode lottery at work or was I just lucky? If it is, I'll tell you where I live so you can come for a "visit" and stop off in A&E while you're here.

Maybe go to A&E everyday with unbearable pain, tell them you're feeling suicidal too and make a big deal - since all of this is true I can't see they won't finally take you seriously. This is a serious issue that needs dealing with ASAP. Good luck OP.

@CeratopsofthePharoahs

This is so awful op! My experience with gallstones is quite different. I've had bouts of the horrendous pain, but they've eased off and my GP gave me omeprazole which oddly seemed to help. Ended up in A&E almost two weeks ago as the pain was way worse and I just had this feeling that something was wrong and couldn't be ignored. A&E was a wait, but they took me seriously as neither codeine nor oramorph would touch the pain. Got a referral to ultrasound then the surgical assessment unit less than 48 hours later. Consultant looked at my scan and told me I needed my gallbladder out and admitted me then an there. Slight delay due to an emergency case, but my surgery was done less than 5 days from presenting at A&E. I was clearly not as ill as you. Is this the NHS postcode lottery at work or was I just lucky? If it is, I'll tell you where I live so you can come for a "visit" and stop off in A&E while you're here.

Actually that's not a bad idea!! Could you try another hospital A&E OP? Care can definitely differ from place to place.

Actually when asked to describe the pain I remarked that if someone had offered to shoot me in the head I'd have agreed just to make it end.

I rarely say this , but go back to AE , ask to see a surgeon. Tell them you can no longer tolerate the pain.

Sorry for the late response here. I had GP appointment on Monday and was asked to come in after telephone consultation. Basically the GP would not take me seriously and thought I was lying/exaggerating about my symptoms, including off-white poo which I noticed on Saturday. It almost looks like bird shit. When she was acting in disbelief about my wee, I showed her a photo of it, then she was trying to accuse me of being dehydrated, I'm someone who drinks a lot of water throughout the day and always have clear urine. This all then resulted in questions down the line of mental health and struggling to cope as a new mum, really trying to paint me as having postnatal depression because I was not accepting what the doctor is accusing me of, rather than being a good little patient. She isn't "sure" if this is just my natural colouring, I was always very pale with pinkish colouring, now I'm much darker and yellow and my eyes are yellow. My skin used to look very pink next to my partner's, who is mixed race and has an olive undertone, now I make him look pink and I am much darker than him. He says I look like a Simpson next to him now. I have been extremely distraught and felt helpless. I don't drive and currently not working because of my health so it's expensive to just pop down to A&E all the time to prove a point, and there isn't another nearby A&E nearby I can go to, and I thought they could just refer me back to my own A&E anyway. All the doctor would do for me is book a blood test at a community centre on the 17th, to see if I actually have jaundice. There is no sense of urgency at all. Her main point was that, well the A&E didn't do any blood tests or check your urine while you were there, so they clearly didn't think it was urgent enough. A&E's point was that this is chronic not acute so needs to be handled by GP. All so confusing. I'm quite angry to be honest. I was considering calling 111 today but don't know if they will just refer me back to GP or say I already have blood test scheduled so there's no need to do anything else.

I've been struggling to eat because of nausea and vomiting. I have been very careful to check fat content of everything, but can only manage one meal a day at the moment due to my nausea, and sometimes I'm rushing off to the toilet to be sick mid-meal. I don't have much of an appetite at the moment but I just want to keep the hunger pains at bay and make sure I don't make myself more ill by not eating at all.

Oh I also ordered a tens machine on amazon for just under £30 which arrived yesterday. It helps with the milder pain but seems to make the pain worse when I'm having that crushing feeling. Otherwise I have been enjoying it, so thank you for that suggestion.

Speak with 111 , they can take you in a less urgent ambulance
I went to a&e twice via 111 and ambulance as I have a 3 year old so my partner had to stay with him

Whichever nhs trust this is you need to make a complaint this care is appalling

All of your symptoms make it urgent
Especially the jaundice , dark urine and white poo

Ring 999 and say you're stuck on the floor

I should also add that since yesterday I have been itching like crazy, especially on my feet, which I saw is also a symptom of jaundice.