A female friend has been suffering this problem on and off for a month and is reluctant to see a doctor so I said I'd post here for advice.
She's aged 55, size 18-20 overall but bigger around abdomen. She's had a stitch pain in lower left abdomen, increasing to a sharp pain, a feeling like pulled muscles under her breasts, nagging back ache, sometimes other aches and pains around stomach. Comes and goes. It mainly hurts when she's walking outdoors and gets worse the more she walks but is better when she first wakes up in the mornings and relieved by sitting or standing still. After 2 weeks the symptoms completely disappeared but a few days later she twisted awkwardly to reach something and felt like she'd twisted her stomach in the same place that previously caused a stitch or sharp pain (left hand side) and the next day the pain was back but not as bad. There's no lump where it hurts.
We've looked up hernias, appendicitis, ulcers. She has no other symptoms, no sickness or constipation. Do people suffer that kind of pain simply due to being overweight? Yes I know she needs to go to the doctor's but she thinks they'll simply tell her to lose weight. Any advice please?