pain in left upper abdomen

I haven't had mine out yet but my pain has always been more on the left, although no-one could pinpoint a reason. They checked me out for any issues with pancreas, liver and colon etc but nothing seen on scan, only gallstones and hiatal hernia. Best go get checked out though if you have not already been to Dr as sometimes stones can be left in ducts, or pancreatitis can occur, or it may be referred pain.

From another patient

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paraprincess966 happyalienRead this if you still don't have an answer!!

I just happened to come across this post and looked thru many of the comments and I might have missed someone giving this advice or suggestion but here goes...

If you continue to have upper abdominal pain after having your gallbladder removed please look this up Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction. I had my gallbladder removed and actually got worse 3 days after the surgery. I had an ERCP (tube down your throat into your stomach) that looks at the opening of your common bile duct. In this area you can have stones, sludge, blockage, narrowing, and a poorly functioning sphincter (the opening of the bile duct to your small bowel). I've had 10 ERCP's in the past 4 years. If you go to a gastroenterologist that specializes in this issue and performs ERCP's you shouldn't be scared about getting pancreatitis. Yes it's a complication but there are medications they give now to help prevent that from happening. Do your own research. I diagnosed myself with this and was sent to a different specialist who deals with this disorder daily and patients come see him from all over the world. Don't let someone tell you there's nothing wrong. Only you know if you are hurting or there is something wrong with your body. Just so you know, in the beginning my blood test for my liver would be elevated when I was having an attack. However, for my 5th ERCP I was in extreme pain and all test came back normal. I was in the Emergency Room and sent home after being told nothing was wrong. Thank god I have a doctor who treats me and not the blood test results. My 5th ERCP showed a marble size stone blocking my bile duct and this could have potentially been extremely dangerous if not taken care of. My specialist said that my body had just gotten use to what was going on and it didn't show anything abnormal on the blood test.

So take it from me and the other Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction (SOD) suffers...you have to be your own advocate. Push and demand for proper treatment. Look up SOD and see if it fits your symptoms, all of you! We have a Facebook page dedicated to SOD from people from all over the world. Look us up and any one of us would be willing to help you in anyway we can.

Much luck to you all! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions

0 Reply to paraprincess966...

I had my gallbladder removed in April last year due to gallstones.

I am better than I was but still have pain in my stomach, right side and back passage sometimes.

I had a gastroscopy in December which showed I have a hiatus hernia.

Also possible that I have ibs. But these things are liveable with. I would far rather be like this than what I was like with gallstones.

This operation does take a while to recover from and often the medical people are not honest enough with you about the recovery period.

Hope this helps

Take care and keep in touch

Sarah xxx

I had that pain.  It turned out to be gastritis in my stomach.