Hi. I'm going out of my mind. I just turned 39. For the past 12 weeks I've been in pain on left side of my rib and middle where stomach is. It all startwd after a horrible stress( death in family), drinking wine a lot and coffee on empty stomach. Sometimes it feels like pressure, like a baby foot stuck there while pregnant, sometimes like a stomach pain protruding into back, sometimes like rib itself burns. I have been put on omeprazole 40 for last 10 weeks with no real change. I've had complete blood work which was perfect ( the only thing they found was low thyroid), h pylori breath test- negative, complete abdominal ultrasound - normal, upper GI series with barium swallow - normal, chest x ray - normal. I finally had upper endoscopy 2 days ago. Waiting for biopsy, but doctor said he didn't see any cancer, polyps, ulcers. All he saw was small scratch and possibly mild gastritis. And that I can stop omeprazole. I didn't take it last two days and pain got worse, waking me at night. So I just took it again today. I'm at the end of wits, scared of pancreatic cancer etc. Googling symptoms is killing me. 8m a very anxious person. Anyone else had gastritis that took this long to heal?
They would have saw a tumor somewhere on abdominal ultrasound if you had pancreatic cancer. I wouldn't worry about that.....
Pancreatic cancer generally causes a lot of back pain and must be quite advanced before you have any symptoms. I would think with all the testing you've had done, they would have seen something on your scans that indicated cancer if you were in so much pain already. Either that or your bloodwork would have come back skewed. Sounds to me more like you maybe injured a rib ligament or something similar. That can cause a lot of pain and take a long while to heal, but isn't deadly.
Hi petra I think I'd ask for stronger medication try zoflat, it's a powerful antacid medication.
Thank you guys. I will ask about the Zoflat. I'm hoping my doctor will send me for MRI or CAT scan, to ease my mind. Having constant pain without knowing why is really doing a number on my mind.
If you had abdominal ultrasound. And it was good you have nothing to worry about. CT is only used to look for other things like ulcers etc.. or if they found something on your ultrasound which they didn't..
Sounds like ulcer to me
I was hoping for ulcer, but my gastroenterologist did upper endoscope two days ago under sedation where they put camera down your throat and no ulcers were found. Just a scratch on the lining of stomach. I'm frustrated that all these tests show nothing . Thank you for taking time calming me down. My husbands ears are falling off by now. Lol
Ha, ha at least your husband laughs. It's not funny though. Find out what it is but when he stubs his toe in pain, laugh back!
Well at least you have had tests and they are all clear.... you can pretty much rule out anything really bad like cancer. So I wouldn't worry about that
I had the same symptoms in my late 30's, had a full feeling and dull ache in my stomach through to my back. I let it go for a couple days thinking it was gas of some type. On the final night I had a big burger and a tasty craft beer, later that night the stomach pain increased. I checked into Er next morning, they thought maybe stones either kidney or gull blader. It turned out to be pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) they held me for 3 days. The only way to treat is to not eat or drink until the pancreas settles back down. I'm ok now the doctor just said to cut out fatty foods and alcohol. I'm sure the docs checked your amylase and lypase enzymes in your pancreas? This test is from your blood and isn't always a standard test unless specified. You might want to check out what they tested for exactly. One thing I learned about doctors, hospitals, labs, etc. is that never assume they know what they're doing and always double check to see what is tested and the results. If you have any questions you can send me a private message.
Thank you Mike! Yes, they checked amylase and lipase twice in last month. Once in full panel and once later just those two specifically. Both were normal. You are so right about being your own health advocate and not assuming they know better. I had gastritis 10 years ago and they sent me home from ER with ibuprofen 800. NSAID s are known to cause gastritis..mm go figure
You may have picked up gastrtis due to stress. This shows up on scans. Are they treating you for underactive thyroid? Make sure they give you enough thyroid medication. Don't google; it will make you worse. Discuss your worries with your doctor.
Hi Pippa! Yes, I've been on Levothyroxine for 3 weeks now. Blood recheck in a month to see if dose needs adjusting. I definitely went through a lot of stress back in May.
I've had mine since 2012 on and off, for me I don't think it will ever go away but it does get better, first start a diet journal of everything you eat and how you feel afterwards, in the morning and throughout the day, the diet you should be following is foods safe for gastritis and perhaps ibs, stay on the ppi, it does help, it doesn't feel like it is doing anything but believe me it is, maybe start a probiotic those have definitely been helping me out , I do this and have a junk day every couple weeks, but stop the pain and discomfort by watching what your eating, finding the things that set you off, which can be scary. I started at250 and am now 133 , so this was a life changer for me , I hope you start feeling better soon, .
I just went shopping and got all gastritis ok foods and gluten free. The food log sounds like a good idea! I could use to lose about 40 pounds of after baby weight too... thank you
No problem, I hope it helps you out some, and just don't forget to remember that your not the only one, sometimes that the roughest to go through, sounds and others don't really understand how it feels and why you feel like crap, but these forums help alot to get comfort , when you feel real down . Eat smaller portions, basically don't ever eat a full meal, eat 5- times maybe a day , I start with a banana, then maybe a little more fruit a couple hours later or some nuts like almonds I found OK for me, then a few hours after that have you a turkey breast sandwich or chicken breast with veggies, fruit should always be eaten alone, it will cause discomfort if you eat it with anything else, check out food combinations if you have issues with digestion like myself, it's crazy but combining the right foods together makes digestion much easier, drink nothing but water for a few days then introduce non acidic fruit juice ,like apple juice ,I like Mott's because there are no preservatives all organic basically and it's delicious,lol, I also found that 7 up , sprite, non caffeinated and things like that are OK to drink once in a while in small portions. Good luck !!!! :-)
If gastritis is suspected, avoid fatty and spicy foods. Try a food diary to see what foods may be triggering symptoms. Gastritis can be caused by stress, When you have your thyroid checked again, if you have normal results but you still have underactive symptoms, insist on s higher dose, because sometimes the test is inaccurate.
What is gastritis? How is it brought on by stress?
It's basically inflammation of stomach lining. Digestive system is usually the first to show signs of high anxiety and stress . I am a vet tech and know dogs easily get street colitis just by changes in their routine and have bloody diarrhea etc. It's amazing how our bodies work, everything is connected.
Stress, lol, not street