What is this upper abdominal pain?

[BillyDaveysDaughter]

I've had a lot of abdominal pain, on and off for years, but more recently concentrated behind my sternum and around my ribs - sometimes it goes around to my back, on both sides.

I take omeprazole occasionally for reflux and regurgitation, so I doubt it's heartburn or indigestion and the pain doesn't necessarily correspond with eating. Rennie and Gaviscon don't really help either.

I can relieve it most nights by curling up into a foetal position but it never really goes away completely and my whole chest aches when I take a deep breath.

I'm reluctant to see the GP, I'll only be written off as fat anyway. Is this what gallbladder pain feels like?

I would take the omeprazole consistently for a month and see if that helps. It does take a while to get the sustained symptom relief.
It usually can hurt more when your stomach is empty rather than just after eating. So that's why you might get it during the night or when you haven't eaten for several hours.

Hmm ok will give that a try...I tend to only take one if I think I need it.

Maybe it is just persistent heartburn

Gallstones?

Sounds like gallbladder. Worse pain than childbirth. It can turn into pancreatitis so don't leave it too long befor seeking help.

You need an ultrasound scan

GP told me I was a prime candidate for gallbladder problems being 'forty, female, fertile and fat'. He wasn't wrong

I wondered about gallbladder pain but not sure how that manifests...Dr Google indicates right hand side but it's quite central.

I think it sounds like gallstones too, speak to your GP for advice

Yip! Gallstones here too! That's how mine started!

Ooh, I'm fat female and forty four! Fertile still I think (mirena coil, hard to say).

But isn't gallbladder pain REALLY awful? This is uncomfortable to the point of being distracting, but not as painful as the kidney stone I had a few years back...

My pain was central, then emanating round rib cage to back. Used to drive DH mad if I had an attack during the night because the only way I could get any relief from the pain was by alternating between foetal position and stretching out every few minutes. He used to decamp to the spare room!

Mine was mostky in my back

If it is gallbladder it will get worse........ Do you notice it manifesting itself after eating fatty food? My absolute worst was during a holiday in northern France, eating lots of rich food then being creased up for hours.

I'm a FFF something too. Sometimes I think I am dying with gallbladder probs sometimes it's not as bad and curling up helps. GP will be able to send you for ultrasound

Yikes. That does sound rather similar...

I find I can go a while without noticing it much, then I'll have a few days where it feels painful all the time but particularly when I lie down. Scrunching into a ball feels better!

Its not directly affected by eating exactly...but if my diet is a bit rubbish for a few days (this week my DH is away and I eat badly when he's not here) it flares up.

I'm overweight and a sucker for sugary carby shite.

Read your post, OP, and immediately thought gallstones. I had mine whipped out pretty promptly. Best thing I ever did!

Oh, dammit.

It got really quite bad when we first moved and I tried to book in to see a new GP, but they wouldn't see me until I'd completed all the forms to have my notes sent from my old surgery. I said, "So if it's urgent I have to drive back to my old GP?"

And she said yes!

It was a Friday and by the time Monday came I felt better so I didn't bother.

Can't they break them down with sound waves like they do kidney stones, what does the op involve?

I will go BTW, but will have to be next Thurs now.

It's an op
Keyhole

reading with interest, DD has a "tender" gallbladder (in that when the A&E dr was prodding around to check if kidney stones were the answer to pain she'd been having, it made her "oww!" a bit), she's trying to get a GP appointment to refer her for a scan, but the receptionists keep telling her it's not an urgent same-day appointment situation, so try again tomorrow for a non-urgent same day appointment. Should we be more pushy?

A&E couldn't scan her gallbladder as she wasn't in enough pain for the surgical team to be interested, and when they'd scanned her kidneys the previous week, they hadn't looked at the gallbladder, annoyingly (her pain at that point was classic kidney stone pain).

If she's not in actual pain, other than it being a bit sore if you poke at it, is that likely to be OK for the time being? Is it one of those things that can rumble on quietly for ages, without causing any problems?

Oh keyhole, okay...not too awful then.

Thanks for your insights everyone, very helpful.

Dont leave it
Pancreatitis is hideous and can mean NG feeding

Sorry cross post Visions. Interesting that I have had suspected kidney stones too...classic loin pain, x-ray was inconclusive although kidney was enlarged. They treated it as an infection and sent me home on co-codamol and trimethropin!

Does anyone have any tips on how to ease the pain a bit?

Not really
Painkillers and rocking back and forth helped me a bit

Peppermint tea eases mine a bit but TBH nothing makes it go away, last time I was popping every tablet I could find and swigging Alcazeltzer (sp) to try and make me burp .....

Ha, rocking certainly helpful. Maybe I'll try paracetamol.

I have tons of mint and like peppermint tea made in a pot. Works a treat for IBS as well. Ooh I'm a martyr to my intestines...