Left side bottom ribs stick out

Hi, thanks for responding, no no diagnisis yet, first thing i noticed was loose bulky stools, in 2015 on occassion they were pale to grey, that has stopped and are now normal brow, but loose and a bit bulky, cant say its overly soft but not normal. Sometimes float other times not, smells sometimes other times normal. Fecal fat was 11 gms normal range up to 7. So wasvtold its either intestinal, pancreas or liver.CT with contrast normal, mrcp normal and MRI normal. Lipase normal. Thing is last couple of years i did notice pale stools abd ive had diarreah , but no pain to talk about. But my left ribs are poking out on one side, really poke out. My liver enzymes have been normal but i have to see a specialist, i know its really hard to diagnose early Chronic pancreatitits.

Have you tried a low fat diet to see if reduced fat intake helps your symptoms?

definitely i notice my stools are more normal with a lower fat diet, the minute i eat a steak i get lots of smelly gas and next day soft foul smelling stools, i was hoping that its not CP, but its looking that way, i am terrified of whats to come, i drank red wine before, but have stopped last 4 months, i fear its too late, thing is ive been asking doctors whats wromg with my stool since 2014 , they all said nah you would know if its pancreatitis....thanks again.

Keep to a low fat diet since that helps and avoid steaks since that is a trigger food.  It may be more food intolerance that you are experiencing.  If it was pancreatitis, your symptoms would have been gradually getting worse since 2014.  Since your pancreas results were normal, it would suggest you don't have pancreatitis. I would have thought pancreatitis would show as abnormal results. Bear that in mind, and don't worry. It will make your symptoms far worse.  If all your doctors dismissed pancreatitis as well, trust your doctors and concentrate on your diet.  I feared for my pancreas when my ultrasound didn't show it at all.  I asked the doctor straight out about pancreas problems, I was told it was unlikely at my age.  I believed my doctor and was reassured. My problem was IBS.

How old are you pippa?

Thanks for the advise pippa, ill take that, what concerns me is that i had fat in my stool, not sure IBS can do that, but maybe its my gut.

Thanks again.

I'm 44. I was 43 at the time of my IBS diagnosis.   In some cases with IBS. people have problems digesting fat.  I had this problem as a teensger although I didn't have fatty stools.  My problem was that my stomach didn't process fat and I could feel it lying in my stomach.  It would either make me feel sick or vomit.  I had to watch what I ate for years.  Then suddenly, my stomach started tolerating the fat again most of the time and I was able to reintroduce most of the foods I cut from my diet.  However, there are still things like salami and the salami sausage that I I can't take.  Now and again, the old intolerances come back if there is a fatty/fried food I haven't had for a while because my stomach forgets how to process it.  This all started when I developed acid reflux.

The problem also resurfaced after a severe IBS attack. I was having a cooked breakfast and out of the blue, I felt al the fat and oil gathering in my stomach and I had to run to the loo because I though I would vomit but I didn't.

Thank you for sharing your history. NOt to hijack Andrews post, but I've been having some odd symptoms.

I'm 38, had my 3rd baby in nov 2016. Started with some upper right quad pain (& sometimes upper left too) during the pregnancy that everyone thought might be my gallbladder vs pre-eclampsia vs baby foot (never developed pre-eclampsia). Had baby, at about 3 months post partum, pain came back. At the same time I've developed some significant leftmsided back pain, that sometimes wraps around to my left rib cage and pain between the shoulder blades. Had an ultrasound in April which was normal, hida scan 2 weeks ago, normal and a thoracic spine MRI which showed some arthritic changes but otherwise unremarkable.

The pain seems to occur most severe with large meals, sometimes seems to precipitate an urgent bm, and I get a little relief with bm at times. But the left sided back pain is always there at a low level. It hurts worse at night and I wake up very stiff but this improves with movement. By the end of the day it hurts (but can't tell if it's because I eat my largest meal at bedtime). Alcohol doesn't seem to bother one way or. The other, nor does caffeine.

I'm keeping a journal with symptoms as well.

Also, I should add my pcp gave me prontonix but I've not taken like I should, but I'm starting today. Any thoughts?

Try to eat little but often. Avoid large meals.  Relief after a bowel movement is a key IBS symptom as is back pain and urgent, loose bowel movements and or constipation.  Pain between the shoulder blades does sound like gallbladder, however, you have had this ruled out so I don't know where that is coming from. I would see your doctor again or see someone else for a different opnion.

I see GI on 6/28. Everything so far has been handled thru my pcp. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.

Hopefully you can get answers.