Hi everyone! I’ve been experiencing these recurring symptoms about once per month:
It starts as light upper gastrointestinal discomfort, like a slight pressure or pain in my upper stomach. The pain begins to radiate outwards within about 30 minutes, and becomes a stabbing pain in my lungs and all around my upper abdomen.
I am trying to track common traits between the episodes:
- These symptoms always occur at the same time of day, after dinner around 8 or 9 PM. They seem to appear after a long stretch without eating (like 6+ hours between lunch and dinner).
- They have occurred once after only drinking carbonated water in the evening, before any food (which made me think it was gas pain). All other times they have occurred after eating food.
- Once, the pain disappeared quickly after taking an common pain killer. All the other times, the pain intensifies for 1-2 hours, then disappears after another 1-3 hours (episodes last 4 hours on average).
- There are no other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. My appetite remains intact.
I had an ultrasound, as well as stomach and intestinal camera procedures. There were no signs of any problem.
In order to cope, I think the best tactic is to avoid long periods of time with no eating, and try to snack at a minimum every 2 to 3 hours.
I just wonder if anyone else has had or heard of this type of problem before? I am confounded by what could physiologically cause this intense stabbing pain in these mundane circumstances. Thank you for taking the time to read this!