What is this pain?

[sleepysue22]

For the past 3 days I've had a horrible gnawing pain in my stomach. Sort of in the centre of my torso just beneath my rib cage. The pain comes and goes almost like contractions but higher up. It makes me feel physically sick and I retch but nothing comes up. Sometimes it's eased by eating light meals like toast. I experienced the exact same thing a few months back and it just disappeared but I'm wondering why it's come back again and what it could be. Dh says potential acid?

I know the obvious answer is see a GP but it's basically impossible in my area and I've lost all faith in mine anyway. They just fob you off or tell you to go to a&e. I can't identify any triggers for this but it's really awful while it lasts. Any ideas?

Does sound like acid reflux. I get it and its an awful pain

Please see a doctor however you can. I don’t want to worry you but I have a serious problem that was picked up when I went to the GP with exactly those symptoms. Yours is probably something different but it’s best to be checked.

It could just be acid indigestion. It could be acid that’s caused an ulcer. Could be something else but noone on the internet is really going to know.

The area you describe is where your stomach drains through (disclaimer: I’m not medical so I’ve forgotten the official term for this). So any problems are often felt there.

Try omeprazole. Can buy OTC. Take regularly. Still try GP but something to do while waiting

Have u taken painkillers or other meds on an empty stomach?
Also, I started getting reflux when my menopause started

I will try the OTC medication. It comes and goes very sporadically and not often but when it does come it makes me feel rotten. I know I ought to see a Gp but it's almost impossible at the minute where I live

Phone 111 and explain that you are concerned about the symptoms but unable to get a GP appointment.

Acid which is causing wind, nausea and pain. You need anti acid medication to give your stomach time to settle and recover. You could try Gaviscon. They prescribed me lansoprazole as a more long term treatment.

@Dammitthisisshit may I ask what condition you were diagnosed with? I have this sort of pain and have been told it’s just acid, but clearly it can be something more serious.

Same. Wasn’t offered any testing or anything, just told to take anti acid.

@Corah5 @SBHon

I have cancer - non Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I’m not for a second saying any time anyone feels a pain in that area then it’s cancer but just that it’s an area where you can feel pain that can be because of other issues.

In my case I had secondary tumours in my small intestine and a large tumour in my upper colon but they weren’t actually causing pain - what they were doing is pushing on my internal organs that in turn were squashing other areas and I felt the pain very centrally just below my rib cage even though that wasn’t where my main tumours were.

Looking back I did have other symptoms but it’s the pain that took me to the doctors so if it’s a pain that you never used to have and haven’t had it checked it’s not a bad thing to flag to a GP.

@Dammitthisisshit that's really shit, I'm sorry. I hope you're getting good treatment. Was your pain continuous or did it come and go? I've not felt like this for a few months but when it happens it's so unpleasant.

My pain seems to be moving downwards into my lower stomach/bowel now. Also had one quite severe episode of diarrhoea. And heartburn.

I'm hoping this is a bug. Or acid. I keep thinking it's improved, yesterday I even managed a meal! And today I feel crap again. Agree if it doesn't get better I will need to see the GP as it's really not normal for me.

Ulcer. Omeprazole brings immediate relief

Think you might be right, one omeprazole seems to have fixed me.

I know you say it's difficult to get an appointment but have you actually tried for this episode of pain?

There's loads of things it could be, reflux, gall stones... Recurrent abdominal pain over a few months which doesn't have a known cause should absolutely be reviewed by a GP. If it was just the 3 days epigastric pain then you might think a gastritis or something but as you say it's reoccurring so more likely a physical cause.

Is it more to the right hand side?
If you press on the spot does it feel like pushing on a bruise?
Do you have any back pain in the same general area but on the back?
Do you have pale stools or any yellowing of your skin/eyes?
So you notice the pain starts a few hours after fatty/greasy meals?

Look up gallstone symptoms, gallbladder attacks tend to come on quickly be intense for a few hours then dull but can last a couple of days then disappear and recur again suddenly.

Does sound like gallbladder related (but it could be a variety of things).

Be careful with omeprazole - it stops you producing stomach acid but there are a variety of things that cause such symptoms (not enough stomach acid is another), and your gut being forced to process food not already being digested by stomach acid... it will not be happy about it!

Sounds like gastritis or indigestion/dyspepsia. It can really hurt and make you feel so sick. I suffer with it on and off but when it flares up it can last days. I had a camera down into my stomach to have a look in 2018 when it first started and they said nothing to see, no ulcer or anything. I manage it with diet and lansoprazole and Rennie's.

One tip: I recently quit caffeine which seems to have improved things!

It has happened before but maybe once or twice more over a year, not often. However if it happens again I will try to get seen. I do think it's acid related. Dh suffers with acid (hence the supply of omeprazole ) and said a lot of my symptoms resonate.

I have tried getting dc GP appointments lately and every time it's been a battle. I just don't see them doing anything about this even if I can manage to get an appointment. They are useless.