Is it heartburn or…

[Asking4Advice]

…something else?

Had my flu jab Thursday morning and woke up early hours of Friday morning feeling shit. Took some ibuprofen and after about an hour I had this horrible burning feeling right under my ribs in the centre. Assumed it was heartburn. It got very very painful over the course of Friday and I was sick.

It got better with antacids but it’s still whenever I eat or lie down or bend over. It’s now not even really burning but as if someone has shoved their hand into my stomach and is simultaneously twisting it and trying to pull it out of my body.

Is this just heartburn?

Where is the pain, in the centre or to one side? Is it constant, or colicky/crampy?

Have you eaten anything?

In the centre directly like where my rib cage meets. It’s very intermittent- I guess kind of like cramps but with pressure as well.

I’ve eaten a roll today and some cereal. I have fuck all appetite at the best of times and this isn’t helping but trying to eat.

I got those symptoms when I used to take Ibuprofen.

Well I'm no doctor but I have had a huge gallstone, and it sounded sort of familiar - nauseating pain under the ribs (I was never sick) but slightly to the right, worsens with certain foods (for me it was yoghurt, agony!) and is intermittent.

Central pain definitely more heartburn-like though. I've also had oesophageal spasm, that hurts like a bastard - does the pain go through to your back or up into your throat?

Instead of antacids try a painkiller like paracetamol, see if that eases it. Or buscopan - you could get that over the counter at a supermarket pharmacy, it's an anti spasmodic. Won't do a thing for heartburn but will help biliary colic or oesophageal spasm and won't hurt you.

Anyway what am I doing, I've no business trying to give unqualified medical advice over the internet! It was MN that sent me to my GP with possible gallstones and they were absolutely correct. Relax and put your feet up, don't force food down if you don't fancy it and call GP if no better on Monday?

Yes good point Prampushing, ibuprofen is hard on an empty stomach and can cause ulcer like pain.

@HipHopanonymous thank you so much for taking the time to write your comment!

I was wondering about gallstones but everything I’ve read about them is that it’s very very painful and my pain isn’t THAT bad. It doesn’t really go anywhere, not to my back or my throat. I had a few Rennies about half an hour ago and it’s really helped.

I think I will try the buscopan and phone my GP on Monday if it’s not better. Thank you!

Mine wasn't actually THAT painful, I got off lightly considering the surgeon said the stone was very big! Many people suffer for years and are hospitalised with pain and repeated infections and need morphine - I just had a long spell of knawing, sickening under-rib pain that came and went and was distracting me from work and interfering with life. Had an ultrasound in the July, managed the pain with paracetamol and buscopan until the November when I had it removed. I only had a handful of bad nights with it and I was never sick.

But I hope it eases up anyway!

What struck me first about your post is that it sounds like you took ibuprofen on an empty stomach? Wouldn't expect it to cause an issue as a one off but if you do that frequently then there could be some damage.

@SpamIAm

What struck me first about your post is that it sounds like you took ibuprofen on an empty stomach? Wouldn't expect it to cause an issue as a one off but if you do that frequently then there could be some damage.

I’m coeliac and used to suffer with bad joint pain before I was diagnosed, so I did used to take ibuprofen regularly but not that often on an empty stomach.