Please diagnose me Mumsnet

Treasureboxkey · 2023-04-21T20:18:00+00:00

I have been to the GP but am getting nowhere. Intermittently, I get short periods of severe rib pain that starts in my back and moves around the right side of my body. This is accompanied by huge bloating from just below my bust (I currently look about 5 months pregnant) and general tenderness in the area. I am also very burpy.😳 It seems to come on after eating but not any particular foods and I can go months between attacks and then have a period of weeks when it is really bad. Dr Google says gall bladder but I had a scan a while ago and everything looks normal on this area. GP has now given me gaviscon but it's not doing anything and the pain is unbearable at the moment. Any ideas would be so much appreciated.

Livingwitheyesclosed · 21/04/2023 21:19

The doctor should be referring you for scans not giving you gaviscon! I would go back to the GP.

Aquamarine1029 · 21/04/2023 21:22

It can be your gallbladder without having stones. If your gallbladder's functionality is poor, you will have the same symptoms you would if you had gallstones. This is what I had and I got my gallbladder removed. Tell your GP you want a functionality test.

Original poster

Treasureboxkey · 21/04/2023 21:22

They did. The ultrasound showed nothing.

OP posts:

Original poster

Treasureboxkey · 21/04/2023 21:24

Aquamarine1029 · 21/04/2023 21:22

It can be your gallbladder without having stones. If your gallbladder's functionality is poor, you will have the same symptoms you would if you had gallstones. This is what I had and I got my gallbladder removed. Tell your GP you want a functionality test.

Ah. That is interesting. I've had it on and off for years but because it is so long between attacks, I often forget to make an appointment with that GP until it hits again.

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Aquamarine1029 · 21/04/2023 21:24

Treasureboxkey · 21/04/2023 21:22

They did. The ultrasound showed nothing.

If it's a functionality issue, an ultrasound won't show anything.

lljkk · 21/04/2023 21:42

Actually ,google says Pleurisy, Costochondritis, Fibromyalgia, RUQ:

What Causes Pain Under My Ribs in the Right Upper Quadrant of My Abdomen?

Learn about which symptoms should prompt a call to your doctor and which ones should resolve on their own.

https://www.healthline.com/health/right-upper-quadrant-pain-under-ribs#causes

Surely2023IsTheYearForMyRainbowBaby · 21/04/2023 21:46

I'd say gallbladder, that's exactly how mine starts. Apple cider vinegar with mother mixed into a bit of apple juice really helps me and another thing that really helps me is to pile up a load of pillows or cushions and arch my back over them until the pain begins to subside

Original poster

Treasureboxkey · 21/04/2023 21:50

lljkk · 21/04/2023 21:42

Actually ,google says Pleurisy, Costochondritis, Fibromyalgia, RUQ:

I had pleurisy in my late teens and have a family member with fibro but I can't imagine that either would cause such intermittent problems.

It sounds likely that my gallbladder is the problem then but my GP was insistent that it couldn't be because nothing showed on the scan.
I will go back and ask for a functionality test.
Thank you all so much. I would really rather give birth than have this pain.

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Original poster

Treasureboxkey · 21/04/2023 21:52

Right, apple cider vinegar! Off to Amazon.
Thank you

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Surely2023IsTheYearForMyRainbowBaby · 21/04/2023 22:14

Treasureboxkey · 21/04/2023 21:52

Right, apple cider vinegar! Off to Amazon.
Thank you

Make sure it contains the mother too!!

Anaemiafog · 21/04/2023 22:16

I think the biggest problem with the getting to see the right people to diagnose us is that pain is subjective. It seems to often be played down by medics because so many do scream in agony when perhaps it’s a 6 and not a 9.
I once woke in ‘agony’ and asked DH to call my GP, (DH knew it was serious as I’d previously had three life saving operations and spent several weeks in iCU and actively avoid doctors) who immediately called an ambulance without even speaking to me. I arrived at hospital and sat in a corridor for over four hours without seeing a doctor or nurse but someone along the way decided it wasn’t urgent. When I finally saw a doctor she immediately called a surgical team. I was in a CT within minutes and in theatre less than half an hour later.
it turned out I had a perforated intestine with peritonitis/sepsis and after eight hours in theatre and an induced coma on life support I didn’t see home for many weeks. Much later I asked why I waited so long to be seen after coming in by ambulance and they said patients usually scream loudly when in as much pain as I must have been in.
I suggest if it’s as painful as you describe you go to A&E and make noise. It’s as bad as asking Dr. Google, enquiring on MN.

GayPareeee · 21/04/2023 22:16

gastritis!

Do you wake up with a sore or scratchy throat? Acid/metal taste in the mouth?

Original poster

Treasureboxkey · 21/04/2023 22:24

Anaemiafog · 21/04/2023 22:16

I think the biggest problem with the getting to see the right people to diagnose us is that pain is subjective. It seems to often be played down by medics because so many do scream in agony when perhaps it’s a 6 and not a 9.
I once woke in ‘agony’ and asked DH to call my GP, (DH knew it was serious as I’d previously had three life saving operations and spent several weeks in iCU and actively avoid doctors) who immediately called an ambulance without even speaking to me. I arrived at hospital and sat in a corridor for over four hours without seeing a doctor or nurse but someone along the way decided it wasn’t urgent. When I finally saw a doctor she immediately called a surgical team. I was in a CT within minutes and in theatre less than half an hour later.
it turned out I had a perforated intestine with peritonitis/sepsis and after eight hours in theatre and an induced coma on life support I didn’t see home for many weeks. Much later I asked why I waited so long to be seen after coming in by ambulance and they said patients usually scream loudly when in as much pain as I must have been in.
I suggest if it’s as painful as you describe you go to A&E and make noise. It’s as bad as asking Dr. Google, enquiring on MN.

Ooh. That sounds terrible!
I do know what you mean though. I have always been described as having a high pain threshold by my GP and by the staff that looked after me in labour and post c.section and was completely ignored in my second labour because I wasn't making enough noise. It ended in and emcs and haemorrhage.

The pain now isn't at an a&e level but is at a can't sit still and am irritable kind of level.
I will ring the GP on Monday.

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Original poster

Treasureboxkey · 21/04/2023 22:26

GayPareeee · 21/04/2023 22:16

gastritis!

Do you wake up with a sore or scratchy throat? Acid/metal taste in the mouth?

Not usually.
I do have some issues with heartburn and reflux which I think is why the GP has given me gaviscon to try.

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Timeforaliein · 21/04/2023 22:29

Check out whether it is related to nuts. Your symptoms sound very similar to a nut intolerance I developed in my 40s (which wasn't diagnosed despite multiple scans etc to investigate the symptoms - I worked it out myself in the end!)

Timeforaliein · 21/04/2023 22:31

Btw - it wasn't immediately obvious that it was nuts - it was nuts in things that I didn't think of - cakes make with almond flour, stollen, etc

MMMarmite · 21/04/2023 22:34

Are you sure it's not a food intolerance? Maybe FODMAPs? I'd try keeping a detailed food diary.

MMMarmite · 21/04/2023 22:37

Sorry just read the bit where you said you'd rather give birth - food intolerance is usually not as bad as that as far as I know!

Timeforaliein · 21/04/2023 22:40

My 'attacks', as I describe them, after eating nuts are terribly painful - the OPs description is very familiar unfortunately

Original poster

Treasureboxkey · 21/04/2023 23:21

I've been keeping a food diary as I have been trying to lose weight. Nothing stands out, if anything it was a jacket potato that seemed to kick things off a few nights ago.

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pippapipps · 21/04/2023 23:38

Possibly diverticulitis?

Original poster

Treasureboxkey · 22/04/2023 13:54

Thanks again everyone.
I haven't eaten yet today and feel nearly normal. Not uncomfortable, just a little bloated. But I know that as soon as I eat, whatever I eat, it will start again.

It might at least help with losing some weight.

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Bovrilla · 22/04/2023 13:57

Sounds very gallbladder-esque to me. Exactly how I was in early stages. Took a good few years to go from grumbling (I thought was IBS but looking back now it was gallbladder) to stones and operation.

somethinginthewater · 22/04/2023 20:58

I had this. When a consultant pressed on my gallbladder it was super painful. I was nauseous the entire time.
Scans showed no gallstones, gallbladder function tests showed nothing.
I thought I was going to need my gallbladder removed until someone suggested Fodmaps. I was dubious but by this point desperate. I followed it really strictly for 3 months ( boring but doable) and honestly believe it cured me and my symptoms have never reoccurred - it's been about 10 years now.

QueenSmartypants · 22/04/2023 21:16

I wouldn't be taking apple cider vinegar with or without mother with those symptoms.

I've experienced all those symptoms except without the pain when I've had indigestion/heartburn/reflux so I understand your gp's thinking- gavison was nowhere near strong enough to be effective though!

I have a rolling prescription for lansaprazole (sp) and through trial and error have discovered that cutting out wholegrains and reducing onion consumption has helped massively. I get flares if I eat badly over the course of a week or consume too much vinegar (have a weakness for balsamic salad dressings).

Peppermint tea can help take the edge off I run out of medication but prescription medication and looking at dietary changes are the only things that have helped. I had my stomach biopsies a few times but it came up negative for h pylori - you should ask for this to be tested.