To ask you what is this that doctors don't know?

[VanillaIce1]

As long as I can remember I've had a sort of stitch feeling in my lower left rib cage. Some times it flares up and is like a dull ache for days on end. Other times it goes away for a few weeks and months.

for the last 3 years it's been on and off and the doctors just can't seem to find the issue.
I've been scanned on it twice and all they saw was some small fatty lumps.
I've been referred to muscoskeletal who said I do have a slight curved spine.
I've now been given a pot to do a stool sample and omeprazle as I do get heart burn sometimes.

I just want the pain to go now. It affects me a lot and gets me down and no one seems to have any answers!
I've had 3 kids and that seems to of made it worse I'm now pregnant again very early around 7.5 weeks and it's been daily since I found out.
Surely someone has to know??.

It used to terrify me that it was something serious but it's been so long now.

If doctors don't know i'm not sure mumsnetters would so you could end up with a massive range of answers and be none the wiser. Have you had blood tests? Could be an issue with your spleen or possible pancreatitis? (ps i'm not a doctor)

@concernedalot I assumed someone else must have had this before and would relay their own experience. As surely I'm not the only person to ever suffer from this

Costochondritis or Tietze's syndrome? I don’t know what you mean by stitch like pain but you might fit the symptoms if you look them up.

Is it on your Le'fay or right? Are the fatty lumps in your liver? My sister has this and has the start of non alcoholic fatty liver disease. Comes and goes but she really struggles with it . She really hates the heartburn too and is on ommeprazole.

@LibertineCapsAndCowboyChaps It's on my left side and I'm going to google it now and see if I match any symptoms. It's just so frustrating that after all this time no one knows!

This is a fascinating post.

My Mum had something that sounds extremely similar when I was a child. It lasted maybe 5-10 years when she was in her 40’s. She went to the doctor a lot for it, and definitely had scans and tests and was sometimes very very badly in pain. But they never got to the bottom of it. She ended up “growing out of it” for want of a better expression. I’d almost completely forgotten about it until I just read your post but it’s brought it back to me.

I used to have this. It was at its worst when I woke up or went to bed. I felt it for many years and eventually other symptoms crept in and it's ulcerative colitis, for me.

I was going to suggest gallstones but I think that's the right side of the body. They can feel like indigestion, though. My MIL, who is terrible at explaining the pain, has had it for about 4-5 years, various scans etc, and they've only just found the gallstones this year.

My mum has a pain like this on her left side and, like yours, it comes and goes. She’s had all sorts of tests. One test revealed a big hemangioma in her spine and the most recent test shows fatty lumps in her kidneys, apparently neither are the cause of any of her pains or symptoms.
She has many other ailments that can’t be explained, doctors are clueless. My mum is such a strong person but is now quite a shadow of her former self.
Now it’s all just being put down to anxiety and depression 🙄y’know typical women complaints. We’ve all but given up asking for help, we’re at a loss.

I second the idea of looking into Costochondritis or Tietze's syndrome. I had it and it lasted for about 15ish years on and off but eventually stopped. It can be very painful at times and is often triggered (the first time) by a virus.

A lot of the accounts online talk about it feeling like a heart attack but that wasn't my experience as mine was in the lower ribs.

It's so strange! I can remember rubbing my ribs about ten years ago when I was about 17 and thinking ouch but it's only sort of got this bad in the last 3 years!.
It just feels like a dull ache, the only thing I can describe it as, is like when you are pregnant and the bum or head is under your ribs. It used to be more to the actual rib cage now it seems more to the side and sort of front a little to the abdomen. Very weird.

A third for Costochondritis I had this after my first, still have flare ups now... I first noticed after laying on my back with baby on my chest, when he pushed up it was excruciating, mine was slightly higher as I thought it was breast pain at first but it's been all over my ribs now!

It's really getting bad these last few days. I want the doctors to take this seriously instead of just prescribing stuff for heartburn. I get heartburn here and there maybe once every 2 months. That has never bothered me but this side pain is starting to worry me. It just constantly feels like a baby's head stuck in my ribs. It went away for months and I don't know what triggers it but I can't cope with it anymore. It's so irritating.

I have this in my right ribs and it's Tietze syndrome. It takes my breath away it can be that painful! I've had it for nearly a year

I second this

Texadors twinge/precordial catch?

@Suspiciously I've just read up on what you mentioned and for many years, being aware of it in my 20s, I'm in my 50s now, I've had a short lived stabbing pain in my chest which takes my breath away. I've guessed it's not cardiac as I'm sure I would have needed some medical intervention in the last 30 years.

I haven't been to a GP because I've never noted when it occurs to find out if there is some sort of pattern. It goes as quick as it comes and staying still and deep breaths help.

Rib tip syndrome?