Hi all.
Today is Wednesday.
I started having pain on my left side around my bottom 3/4 ribs on Thursday.
At first it felt like a deep ache, almost like someone had stuck a knife into my side. It was constant and didn’t really get worse with movement, it was just always there. I initially wondered if it could be a kidney issue or a stone due to the placement.
By Friday it felt worse, more like a deep stitch, and I also noticed a strange buzzing/tingling sensation in the area. I went to my GP, who thought it was likely musculoskeletal and told me to rest over the weekend.
The pain continued all weekend. I also had a high heart rate and felt extremely tired. On Monday morning I spoke to my GP again. He took some blood tests and said he wasn’t sure what it was , possibly shingles without a rash, but it could still be musculoskeletal.
On Monday night I suddenly felt very unwell , to the point where I went to A&E. They did a chest X-ray (clear), blood tests (all normal, though I don’t know exactly what was checked apart from thyroid, which do show something going on but likely unrelated to this pain and found by accident, if you will ), heart stress blood tests (clear), and ruled out a lung clot. There’s still no rash. They again mentioned the possibility of shingles without a rash.
The pain is still on my left side around my ribs but has now curved around to my back and runs along my bra line. It’s hard to describe … it’s deep and gnawing, like a bad stitch deep inside, feels a bit like a tight band with a slightly fuzzy/tingling feeling. It’s not itchy.
On Tuesday I woke up and felt very achy, with sore bones, shivery but also very hot. One day later / today those symptoms have mostly settled, but I still feel generally unwell, like I’m coming down with something.
I’ve been given codeine but I don’t tolerate it well, so I’m trying to avoid taking it unless I really need to. I haven’t been prescribed anything else like anti virals like I read online?
Does this sound like shingles, especially without a rash? If so, what should I expect in terms of recovery? I’m still wondering if it could be muscular, but I don’t know why it would have started suddenly or still be this painful.
Urine is clear and other major tests have come back normal.