Disclaimer: I know no-one here can diagnose me, I've spoken to the midwife twice (I'm 23 weeks) and am going to call the GP when they open tomorrow morning, just looking for experiences!
On Thursday night I got this pain in my back on the right hand side, just in the middle, about where my lowest ribs are. It suddenly came on out of nowhere and didn't feel muscular, like I don't think I pulled anything. The pain is somewhere between sharp and dull, and it's difficult for me to quantify pain as I always feel like "well if I chopped my hand off it would be worse" or whatever but it is very sore, for the rest of the evening I couldn't settle at all as no position I could sit in eased it at all and I barely slept that night with it either.
Since then it has sort of been a bit of an ebb and flow. It hasn't ever fully gone away, but it has only once been as bad again as it was the first time - both of the 'peaks' I had of pain have had me sort of squatting by the bed as if I were already in labour as that straight backed forward leaning position helped very slightly. I had some slight nausea from the pain during the peaks as well but nausea is not uncommon for me in pregnancy so it's hard to know if that's a symptom or not. I'm not really a crier but I've been on the brink of tears a few times with the pain.
I've tried resting it, not resting it (going on a walk to see if it loosened it up or something), gently stretching it, using a hot water bottle, taking paracetamol, but none of these really have an effect, it seems to just come and go independently of what I do. I try to kind of knead it with my knuckle the way you would a tense muscle but it feels too deep, I can't quite reach it. It is a little worse when standing and walking, and it hurts more sharply if I take a deep breath or, weirdly, if I lift my leg on the right side (the pain doesn't shoot down my leg, just flares in the original area).
Anyway, I know I am using Dr Google when I shouldn't be, but when you're in pain all day with nothing else to do, it's hard to resist trying to puzzle it out! I know pregnancy is a risk factor for gallstones, as is rapid weight loss, which I have experienced due to the nausea. Probably also worth mentioning that the few foods I can actually eat include chocolate cereal, which is obviously high in fat, and I eat a lot of it. I also drink a lot of whole fat milk. They are my 'safe' foods but I'm also trying desperately to get a little of the weight I've lost back on! I mention these as I know that high fat foods can be a contributor to a GB attack.
It just hurts a lot and nothing is helping and, like I said, I am seeking professional advice as well but in the meantime I was wondering if anyone had had gallstones and whether the symptoms sounded similar.