Hi everyone I am new on here and really could do with some advice!! About a month ago I had a sharp pain under my left breast, it has been getting steadily worse ever since. at first the docs said it was gastric, although I was convinced it was my heart, they have done blood tests, an ECG, urine samples and an abdominal ultrasound last wednesday...... all normal? on Sunday11th October I was hoovering when I got the most awful pain right across my back and chest under my breasts. I could not sit down and was in total agony, I called 111 and they said a doctor would call me back, after an hour though I had to call 999 as I couldn't cope with the pain any longer. They offered to take me in ( and give me Morphine for the pain ) or refer me to an out of hours doctor. I saw the out of hours doc who gave me 2 lots of antibiotics and told me to take co codamol and Ibuprofen, he said there may be stones deep in my liver that the ultrasound couldn't see. Is this pain normal for this condition?? any replies will be really appreciated.
Hi Lizzy
sounds like stones . I felt like I was having a heart attack fell to floor just went clammy hot and cold fainted with the pain .. Then as quickly as it came it went .. Mine were gallstones .. Hope u find out exactly where your stones are ?
Thank you for your reply Sally!! did you have any recurring attacks? I don't even know what to aviod? is Alcohol bad? fatty food? it's really difficult as the doctors do not seem to know either.
My GP misdiagnosed me as having a gastritus attack and put me on omeprazole...which stopped me having attacks .. But the gnawing pain got worse and thankfully 6 months later another GP sent me for a scan on my gallbladder..and I was diagnosed with a gallbladder full of stones ..
i avoided attacks by not eating any fat , any meat, any caffeine any alcohol I lived on mash potatoe over boiled veg and bistro gravy...every day ..it was so boring .. Then gallbladder removed ..and yippee I am well ...
oh good so there is hope on the horizon then? I am following a low fat diet after research on the internet, also i have cut down my portion sizes but without the pain killers I would be in constant pain which is pretty upsetting and reading through a lot of these posts isn't very encouraging is it lol!!
also should I lose weight??
Some gallstones do not show up on ultrasound, Fortunately mine did but yu are really better off having MRI.
Keep on the low fat diet and you will definitely lose weight.
If you keep having these attacks go back to your GP. Do not ignore things.
Take care and keep in touch.
Sarah
Good morning Sarah and thank you, I will keep you all updated.Have a lovely day
I would recommend getting a liver blood count the day after you have another attack. That is what I did and my live enzymes were off the charts at 600! My doctor had me go back for another liver blood test the week after and they were back to normal range of 30 and he said becasue of the sudden spike and fall he suspected gall stones. The Ultra Sound confirmed his suspicion. If I had gone for a liver test when i was feel great the test woudl of been a false negative. As for food, yes they really do not know but for starters many agree to stay away from fatty food and I dont just mean Fried food, but high fat food as in cheese, some red meats and cookies. Loosing weight can't hurt anything, I got My Fitness App on my phone and use that in conjuntion with weighing my food and have lost 16 pounds in three weeks. I had my gall bladder out 10 days ago and feel great! BTW, around two years ago, my symptoms were extreme indigetion and acid reflux and pain so bad i thought I was having a heart attack, so I went to an ENT who said it was Acid Reflux and gave me meds..... of course she was wrong but you have to keep plugging along. Blood test and ultrasound for sure! Good luck
Hi Lizziy
i have a friend who has gallstones and they won't operate as she is overweight and it's risky. But she is clinically obese. So she is desperately losing weight ..
The only caution is there is a link between gallbladder attacks and losing weight. Whether the stones enlarge or form when u r dieting ?? They are as my surgeon said yucky balls of smelly cholesterol...
But if you cut out fat you will lose ..gently
But I think the key is to not crash diet ...
bit of a dilemma ...
land pregancy also triggers them....
Hi Paula my doctor did a full range of blood tests ranging from a full blood count,cancer markers and four liver tests to mention but a few!! he said he had never seen such normal results every one was spot on!! it's so weird. I have just been back this morning and he is trying to get me a CT scan?? also ive been looking into alternative stuff.........no laughing please I have come across an American nutritionist and she swears by Legumes, so I am trying that as well.........watch this space!! x