Mystery Left Rib Left Quandrant Back Pain LUQ Pancreas?
Posted , 14 users are following.
Hey all,
Like many of you on this forum, I too, am searching for answers that the doctors just don't seem to have at this point. I started feeling sick around the end of July 2015.
My symptoms initially were
-bad heartburn
-constant burping
-constant nausea without vomiting
-a burning sensation in my upper left quandrant
-pain under my left rib cage
After pleading with my primary doctor that this was more than just reflux, she did agree to some testing. So far I've had:
-Abdominal CT scan with contrast (due to trace amounts of blood in my urine) They did not find kidney issues, however, they did find 2 lesions on my liver "consistent with oral contraceptives".
-Abdominal MRI to further verify that the liver lesions were from oral contracpetives. Nothing else was found on the MRI
-Upper endoscopy and colonoscopy-no ulcers. Tissues and polyps were biopsied. Nothing remarkable was found. The doctor concluded that there was "non-specific inflammation in my colon and lower intestine. Possibly due to Ulcerative Colitis"
I was on PPI's for a while and decided to stop them. Still have burning/heartburn but it's not a severe as it was. My left rib pain comes and goes but most alarming are the new symptoms:
-constant burping (even after water)
-upper left back pain (can be burning/needling/stinging or just soreness)
-lower left back pain-very intense, not sure if it's in the kidney area
-non specific nausea every morning upon waking
-Fatigue, fatigue, fatigue! I can't stress this enough. I'm so tired all the time and I don't know why. It's not relieved from rest.
-Intermittent dizziness
-Pounding heartbeat/pulse. I notice this happens a lot as I am falling asleep and sometimes it wakes me up, as I can feel my heart beating so hard
-Itching around my left rib cage
I cannot attribute these symptoms to any specific food type
The problem is, none of my syptoms have been related to UC, which can be quite severe and can interfere with your life. I don't go to the bathroom multiple times a day and definitely don't have blood in my stool or diarrhea.
Went to a 2nd gastro for another opinion in October. He read the report from the endo/colonscopy and basically asked "so why are you here?"
I explained to him that the 1st gastro wanted to put me on Entocort for 3 months to see if that would alleviate my symptoms (it's a steriod for UC). However, I disagreed that this was the correct diagnosis as I didn't present the symptoms of UC, aside from the internal inflammation.
I told him I was concerned about this being pancreas related, given that my left side and back pain could be referred from the pancreas area.
He looked at me as if I was crazy and said that I don't have a family history and that the MRI would have most certainly ruled out any possibility of that. He also said I was too young and that "he hasn't seen anyone under the age of 40 diagnosed with pancreatic cancer"
He has since tested me for:
-Lactose intolerance: negative
-Fructose malabsorption: negative
-Parasites in my stool: negative
-WBC in my stool: negative
Per my conversation with him, I agreed to take 6 weeks of the Entocort to see if it helped. I'm on week 5 and it has done nothing to relieve the symptoms. I have a follow up with him in the 2nd week of December.
I guess I am just wondering where to go from here. I can't help but wonder what else this could possibly be, if not pancreas related. Gallbladder issues typically present in the right side of the body and are severely painful. I would not classify my pain as severe, but nagging.
0 likes, 18 replies
Gem1384 panxious
Posted
Welcome to the club! Lol! You'll find many threads from a lot of us on here that are suffering in daily pain, with numerous tests and no answers!
If you believe it to be your pancreas then Chronic Pancreatitis is very difficult to diagnose. bespevially in the early stages. I have been suffering since the birth of my last baby in May 2014. The pain got a lot worse in October 2014. Then again in jan 2015 and finally I had a bad episode in May 2015.
I suffer daily pain, under left ribs and in my back. I have loose stool or yellow/light colour but can also be normal. I do also suffer with righ sided pain which I believed to be my gallbladder (debris found on last ultrasound and hida scan at 30%)
Please look at some of my threads if you're interested.
I've had numerous tests. If you're worried it is your pancreas then you'll need at EUS. This is now classed as the best test to diagnose chronic pancreatitis.
Mine was normal
but still my pain continues.
You said you stools are normal. With CP it's either constipation or diarrhoea. The diarrhoea is usually foamy and yellow with oil and the stool usually float. My stools float occasionally and have large amounts of in digested food.
You might benefit from a feacal elastase stool test but this is usually only tested if you have diarrhoea.
You might find it useful to join some groups on Facebook, pancreatitis pals has a lot of information from people who have CP or have symptoms of CP and acute pancreatitis. You might fine it beneficial.
The Drs I see all think IBS, I tried the fodmap diet and it made things worse. My bloating is horrid. I bloat after water.
I hope this helps!
jan91954 Gem1384
Posted
everything else, we could be twins. I feel justified in a way that so many of us suffer from pain that the doctors can't diagnose. All we can do is live the best life we can!
alex40331 Gem1384
Posted
Iva had lots of bloods test done and a stomache mri, i also had yellowish loose Stools, iv started taking metamulcil and help a bit with the yellowish Stools. Plz keep us informed on yall progress.
mandy2607 panxious
Posted
I've also been to my GP on numerous occasions and I've had scans and colonoscopy they did say I've got a small patch of diverticular disease in the lower end of the bowel.
Fireid13 panxious
Posted
panxious Fireid13
Posted
I have had a full blood panel and nothing remarkable. Also, both of my tests (lactose and fructose) were the hydrogen breath tests.
My PCP told me the MRI confirmed that my liver lesions were related to taking birth control (I haven't been on this in 3 years) and that no futher evaluation of the liver lesions were needed.
Interesting that you mention leaky gut...I've researched this heavily because I did feel somewhat that I had issues with leaky gut in the past. However, this is the first time in my life where sickness has affected me so much that it interferes with daily life.
It's also worth noting that I got sick right after coming back from a stressful work trip in Hong Kong. Long days, 16hr flights, time changes, issues with colleagues etc. I'm not sure but it seems that stress could have easily triggered whatever is happening my body or at least made it more apparent.
Fireid13 panxious
Posted
AileenM1974 panxious
Posted
OMG I am going through this right now, everything coming up as tickety boo, bloods good, scans good. Go away and stop bothering us! Feel like I am hitting my head against a brick wall. Do you feel breathless as well sometimes?
panxious AileenM1974
Posted
It's the most frustrating thing in the world.
AileenM1974 panxious
Posted
wrong answer LOL ;-) xx I am back at docs tomoro to vent again shall keep you guys posted. Its nice to know its not all in my bloomin' head!
Delgal panxious
Posted
Has anybody got any answers yet? I have all these symptoms. They vary in intensity from day to day and week to week. I have liat 1.5 stones after being told it was due to being obese. This has been going on for 18 months now. Today is a bad day as pain is 'grumbling' quite alot and i have a nauseous feeling. Fed up . Com with being fobbed off by doctors. Had ultrasound and xray. Bloods. Also been told that it is muscle sprain damage around the 2 lower floating ribs and not to sleep on that side. When i put any pressure on it i feel pressure in my chest/lungs and feel sick.
nicola27252 panxious
Edited
I suppose after three years you don't have an answer to your symptoms? I have the exact same symptoms right now and I'm freaking out. I had an mri of my upper abdomen which only showed gallstones, but I'm scared it's something with my pancreas and read that mri can miss pancreatic problems. I've got an upper endoscopy later today, but I feel I've still got a long way to go to find a diagnosis.
panxious nicola27252
Edited
Hi there! I never had gallstones and the last few years when I wrote these posts were extremely frustrating. However, FWIW, I will tell you what did eventually help. I found an amazing acupuncturist who dx me with Liver Qi Stagnation (google can help explain all the symptoms.) After the first few treatments in combination with herbs, I felt better than I had before. The Western medicine route never gave me ANY answers at all, aside from anxiety. I would highly recommend trying acupuncture (if you haven't already) and find a good, seasoned practitioner. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.
sonia75029 panxious
Posted
who did all the test is it gastroentrologist ?
panxious sonia75029
Posted
Yes, all the tests were done through my gastroenterologist. Ultimately, nothing came of this. If you see my other recent reply, I went the acupuncturist/Chinese medicine route, which proved to be very helpful for me! 😃
charcey97 panxious
Posted
I love that you did this! I often feel most people dont use naturopathic/eastern medicine enough. There's a place for both western and eastern medicine. Always beneficial to use both and know when to use one over the other.