Pain in belly, just under the boob area...help?

[bouncy]

Thought I would ask you wise mumsnetters some advice.

I have a pain, just under where the bra wires are (not the cause, just trying to give you the area). Its like a ache, I remember getting it a while ago, went to bed and it was gone. Does anyone hazzard a quess what this could be or do some of your get it.

Thanks

Bl**dy hell! Sounds awful Jaybee, I take it you are much better now?

Lets hope my op is a bit more straightforward. Fingers and toes crossed!

Thanks and I will

Top tip: chewy tablet things are much easier to fit in suitcase rather than bottles of gaviscon

I had three attacks of pain about three weeks after the birth of ds in January, so was back on the maternity ward while they tried to work out what it was. It took them a while (two hospitals, one middle of the night call out doctor and an ambulance) before they decided to do an ultrasound scan. Gall bladder packed full of hundreds of little stones It was whisked out through keyhole surgey within 24 hours. Apparently it is easily confused with gastris/ulcers, but blood tests can indictate which it is. The attacks of pain lasted about four/five hours, no pain in shoulder though, with vomiting from pain, wailing, gnashing of teeth etc. I was given pethidine to cope with it.

My consultant said in pg the oestrogen slows down/thickens the bile allowing it to form stones. In most women, this never becomes a problem. When you eat fatty food, the gallbadder squirts bile out to break down the fat so it is small enough to be dissolved by the pancreas. Sometimes in the squirting bit, a stone goes too, or gets stuck, depending how big they are... If you are really unlucky, a stone can travel down your bile duct and block the pancreas. Hospitals try to avoid this because you can't repair the pancreas, leaving you on a low/no fat diet forever.

On the bright side, I have four tiny, tiny scars (nothing compared to the cs scar), no gall bladder, a small jar of stones and the ability to eat whatever I like.

Hope you have lovely time in France bouncy and no more pain.

Hope you have a good holiday bouncy!

This is so spooky, I have been having the same pain - infact, I've had it today. Mine has only happenned about 4 times in the last year, and I did go to the Doctors about it - he reckoned it was food related and I may had developed an intolerant to certain rich, fatty foods. But reading this it is making me think I may have a gallstone - I get the pain under the ribcage which lasts for a few minutes and then subsides. The gaviscon which I have been taking today does seem to help.

I had a curry last night, I wonder if this may have triggered it (although it's the first time its happenned after eating a curry)

Looking at the NHS Direct site, if gaviscon (or other ant-acids) ease the pain then it probably is acid-indigestion. Always worth checking with the doctor if you're unsure or if it happens more frequently though, I would have thought.

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Definitely liver or gall bladder I would say. I had exactly the same pain after antibiotics and it was because they had affected my liver.

Sorry to bring this one back up but I have been feeling nauseous for a week,particularly when I eat, have a full feeling in my tummy a lot of the time, a metallic taste in my mouth, and tonight, some sharp stabbing pains just where the ribs splay apart. I have had a similar problem before and been prescribed ranitidine which may have helped, but to be honest, when I feel like this I cut down on fatty foods anyway. I had a couple of large glasses of white wine last night which may have made it worse, does alcohol affect gallstones or does it only irritate ulcers? I would be really pleased to hear from someone as I am also very phobic about illness and always always imagine the worst possible outcome. I am very stressed at the moment - mother sick, husband at work 24/7 and trying to move house - so that may not be helping. Sorry to sound so miserable, but I just can't seem to cope with anything at the moment.

Gilli, have had the same thing myself before and I have found a couple of things that work well for me. Yes it probably does get worse with drinking a lot of alcohol, or eating fatty foods, so it would probably help to cut down on these.

The pain could be gallstone related, but I had the exact same symptoms as you a few years ago and amazingly enough, I picked up a health magazine one day and happened to read an article that described my exact symptoms. Basically (from what I can remember), the 'full' feeling in your stomach is due to a sluggish liver which is not doing its job properly. As well as altering your diet a bit, there are two products you can take which will help, these being 1) fat metaboliser tablets containing DL-methionine (an amino acid) and 2) Milk Thistle. Both of these apparently help the liver to function properly, & you should be able to buy them in chemists or health food stores. I have taken both products and found that they really help, but the sensible thing to do would probably be to also make sure you drink enough water & only have alcohol and fatty foods in moderation.

BTW, I have a feeling that stress probably wouldn't help either - it supposedly can affect your digestion. I've had bouts of these symptoms from time to time, & I wouldn't be surprised if there may be a few different causes for it.

I'm definitely going for the wind suggestion.... I get that and it's VERY painful!

Knew you were windy m2t!!