Upper left pain

[Ell82]

I'd like to start by saying I am being followed up by gastro team but while I wait for my tests/results, has anyone experienced anything similar that didn't turn out to be scary, as my usual HA is driving me crazy.
For past 4 months, I've had mild upper left quadrant pain, sometimes goes into my back. I've also noticed that my stool floats lately, sometimes appears a bit more yellow, but not always. Many times, smells bad. Clearly I am worried about pancreas issues e.g. chronic Pancreatitis.
I was diagnosed with gallstones 2020, buy was told symptoms not severe enough to remove gallbladder and I can't say I've had a proper attack, just grumbling. Before 4 months ago I was able to eat fats with no issues but now I feel fatty foods are causing me a bit more pain and more floating stools.
I have a good appetite, no weight loss, no nausea, pain on left is niggling, not painful. I've had the odd bought of diarrhea but unusually after a night out.
All bloods normal. Waiting on CT scan. GP says gastiris but landsaprszole not doing a lot. My question is, had anyone had any of these symptoms where it didn't turn out to be pancreas related? Thank you

Bump?

Anyone?

Sounds like gallbladder to me.

I'm in the process of nailing down my symptoms which are similar to yours with additional, & full on, gallbladder attacks. Current diagnosis are IBS, gastritis & gallstones. Gallbladder issues can lead to stomach issues & from all the stories I've read (thank you health anxiety) this is all not unusual for a dicky gallbladder at all. Aside from my attacks (on the right) I'm in discomfort almost all the time on the left. Had colonoscopy, gastroscopy & ultrasound. No offer of CT though, how did you manage that?

A note on poo - yellow suggests bile/malabsorption whereas white/clay(grey) suggests pancreas.

@Caerulea that's so helpful to hear your story and I'm sorry you are also struggling.
It's the upper left side pain that bothers me the most and which leads me to think it has to be my pancreas but interesting to hear gallbladder problems can also cause problems on the left.

Sorry, should have said waiting to hear if I will get a CT scan, not guaranteed, I was making quite a fuss about it.

I have severe HA so I find this all consuming and is preventing me from enjoying the summer with my 2 small children

It is horrible, I swear ppl don't understand just how debilitating health anxiety can be.

You're being investigated so that's the best start. To keep my mind off of it being a pancreas problem I remind myself of the poo colour, the fact I'm not yellow & that there are a whole bunch of things in that area that cause the same bloody pain lol.

What bloods have they done?

They did FBC, LFTs, inflammation markers and lipase/amylase amongst others, all normal.

You are right about HA, it's so hard to switch off...

Ah then I'd feel reassured it's unlikely to be your pancreas. I was meant to have amylase done yesterday but the appt was moved to Friday - my HA needs that one doing (it should have already been done though).

I would think an gastroscopy would be a logical one for you, likely they'll do that before a CT (it's cheaper lol) to look for gastritis. If you're not anaemic, though, you'll probably have to push.

Hello EII82, how are you now? Did you get to the bottom of this? I am having similar symptoms and first blood tests don't show any problem.

following as similar

@lovecafeaulait @YourFunMember Sorry for the late reply.

Still waiting on CT scan, dont think they think it's urgent, but since my last post in August, my symptoms have significantly calmed down. I no longer have the upper left pain which goes into my left back and my stools are more normal. I've been eating low fat food most of the time, but not all the time, and I do eat cakes, ice cream etc.
I would like to think that if this was something like chronic pancreatitis, then my symptoms wouldn't just go like. I'm leaning more towards it was my gallstones playing up. I'm going to keep a close eye and I'll update if anything changes.

What are your symptoms been lately?

Yes!
I had this ongoing upper left abdominal pain. So many tests which said nothing including an endoscopy. Then finally had an Asian doctor suggest lactose intolerance. I mention Asian as many people from Asia have lactose intolerance but it's not so common here so not considered at all.

I cut out lactose and the pain is gone!
I still have dairy I just buy lacto free milk and if I'm going to have a lactose heavy meal I'll take a lactase tablet which gives you the enzyme most ppl have to digest lactose.

Try it! Honestly I was so worried. I wish someone had said it earlier.

Very similar to yours. Upper left niggles, into my flank, back. Worsens when I have bad gas, so I think it’s colon related but scared it’s serious. It’s not a pain as such, at its worst is feels like a stitch, the rest of the time it’s an awareness, like a swelling / fullness feeling. It’s hard to describe.

stools are mostly ok but occasionally yellow / orange and loose / float. Sometimes high frequency.

definitely suffering with intermittent gas issues.

tried lactose free, no change. Already gluten free and have been for years.

awaiting ct results. All bloods were normal.

@YourFunMember sorry that you have all these issues, it sounds identical to mine tbh. Please update on the outcome of your ct (I'll keep pushing for mine).
Have you been diagnosed with gallstones in the past?

Sorry you're feeling like this OP. Did they check your ALT levels as it sounds like what I had when I went through liver toxicity due to starting a new, stronger medication.

Check out 'splenic flexure syndrome' - it's a form of IBS, basically trapped gas in the upper left bowel (near the spleen, hence the name) - especially if you have a long or 'redundant' bowel (again, a pretty normal finding). Just a suggestion.

@Ell82 ive got an appointment week after next for the results. Petrified they’re gonna tell me I’ve got a nasty tumour.

I had my gallbladder out years before this started.

@Compash i saw this on Google and I’m hoping that’s all this is. Mine goes down my left side though, it doesn’t just stop at the splenic flexure. It’s concentrated there but I do get pain lower down, that’s where the stitch like discomfort ends up, what I assume is my descending bowel.

Hello, did you ever get to the bottom of this. I am 15 weeks pregnant with my third and for the last months I’ve had this niggling ache under my left ribs. I had what doctors thought was a gallbladder flare up in my first pregnancy but when I had an ultrasound. There was no stone seen. This is like that pain but only duller. Worse after eating and when I lay on my left side and take a deep breath I can almost feel the inflammation. Really worried about pancreas issues too! Specifically cancer. My anxiety is not good either when it comes to health. I am constantly toying between gastritis, pancreas, enlarged spleen. How have you been since October?

Hi! What did this come to? Thanks!