Pancreatic problems?

What was the reason that you went to your doctors for before you were diagnosed with IBS? What kind of symptoms did you have? Because the gastro doc did also mention it could be IBS but hasn’t officially said it’s IBS 

I have never worried about anything health related in the past it’s just this has been going on for quite some time now and it’s gotten me into a really bad place

And I did think that about gastritis but the stomach is on the left side all my problems are on the right side 

Thankyou so much for replying to me I really appreciate it I’ve Exhausted my friends and family with this for such a time now I feel awkward talking to them more 

I initially went to the doctor because I had constipation that kept coming back, constant, daily generalised abdominal pain,, back pain and nausea.  The pain moved about rapidly.  Later, I developed loose, urgent stools.  I had a urine test, stool tests for fecal calprotectin and h pylori, a celiac test and an ultrasound.  Everything came back normal so I was diagnosed with IBS.  On my eighth visit to my doctor, he recognised my IBS when I told him how stressed I had been for six months before my symptoms started.

When you say “loose urgent stools” do you mean diarrhoea? Sorry to be graphic I have been having what I would call looser then useual stools but not diarrhoea 

Again Thankyou for replying to me 

My loose, urgent stools were just about formed and not full blown diarrhoea when my IBS first started.three years ago.   Then they turned back to constipation.

This year, in the summer, however, I had three days of explosive diarrhoea and I had to take imodium to stop it.  At one point I didn’t make it to the loo on time.

I haven’t had those tests I will ask my GP I’m hoping to get an appointment on Tuesday 

I have pain under rib cage and on back but I can’t tell if it’s radiating or two separate issues 

Thankyou for your reply 

What kind of problems were you having with gastritis and sliding hiatus hernia? I didn’t mean to make light of it, it’s just my gastro doc said it was unlikely to be causing the pain I’m experiencing. I have suffered with acid reflux for many years I never paid a lot of notice to it just assumed it was down to me having a bad diet and I used things like gaviscon to relieve it, but since my diagnosis of gastritis and sliding hernia I have been on omeprazole 20mg once a day it has completely stopped any acid reflux which I’m glad about 

I’ve seen a lot of doctors recently and none of them have filled me with confidence they all say things so vaugely like “it’s probably IBS” or “it could be muscle pain” so I’ve been worrying 

Thankyou for replying Dave 

Robin I had 99% the same as you.  My whole stomach area felt as though I 'pulled muscles' from my chest to my hips. I had pain from the front middle chest to my back, I could not swallow, pain in my right shoulder through to my back, could not sleep on my stomach, stomach and chest area very tender, my wife could not even put her arm over my chest at night.  That's a brief list.  I was sent for a US and Cat with contrast as it was thought there was a slight chance of Pancreatic problems and this was after yet another Endoscopy?, the result of which did not match the pains I was experiencing. I was like you thinking I had PC as if you google it, it appears you have all the symptoms.  Now let me give you an example of a cousin who had PC, no pain, lost weight fast, very fast, small cuts etc would not heal, feeling weak and turning yellow.  By the time it was confirmed she had PC she was dead within 3 weeks!!!! All the doctors missed it but it was very clear she had something wrong.  Sorry if that scares anyone but that's the facts and we all need to know them. Took around 4 months to settle a little, over 12 months to feel 90% and now I can have pain in my chest and stomach at any time over  a period of about a week.  Most of the time when being careful what I lift etc I'm 90% -95% but if I don't take any form of PPIs my reflux/Gerds is horrendous.  I don't like taking PPIs (and this is a long story which I wont go into) but its far better then having the more dangerous too and fro effects of acid burning.  There are 1000s upon 1000s of us out there Robin and some a hell of a lot worse.  Oh and yes I was told many times I had IBS and I now believe it was acid, just acid.  I would eat and rush to the loo, told IBS, I had pains but US ok, told IBS, lost weight and gained weight, told IBS, get the drift here Robin Doctors seem to use IBS when they don't know or the person is reluctant to take PPIs or H2s. What I can say from my experience is Pantoprazole 20mg which is = to 10mg Omeprazole controls ME the best but is not without side effects long term. When your stomach is stable try reducing to 10 mg Om or 20 mg Pan.  You could at your age try (and I would) to come off all PPIs but be aware this may not be possible and watch out at all time for esophagus burning.  If you keep coming off and back on PPIs and when you show signs of damage your runs risks.  Others will disagree and that's the point of these forums.  Here another TRUE example, the daughter in laws relative took no treatment for Gerds and died from esophagus cancer.  The fact is your in a no win situation, just gain as much information as possible and do your own thing so to speak with regards to meds etc.  In 3 months you will start to feel better but its clear you have (like I did from your age also) that I had an acid problem.  Did they state you had Esophagitis??  I'm 99% sure you had it from your symptoms and this is the danger, it heals you come off meds, it comes back slowly and back on meds it heals but leaves scars and weak areas and this continues for years.  Don't worry Robin, you'll be fine but just be aware.   

Hey Dave it does sound like we share some symptoms it does put my mind slightly at ease , can I ask did you ever feel like there was something under your ribs when you lean forward? This is one thing that keeps happening to me since all this began when i lean or bend forward I get this really uncomfortable feeling like there’s something just under my ribs putting pressure on my abdomen, it’s a really difficult thing to explain i wouldn’t exactly call it pain it’s just really uncomfortable. 

I’ve not been told I have Esophagitis you mentioning it is the first time I’ve ever heard of it I did have an endoscope and that’s when they diagnosed the sliding hiatus hernia and gastritis, they also told me I had barrets osophagus, which worried me when I looked it up and then two weeks later got told by another gastro doctor that I DID NOT have battets osophagus, which is another reason I don’t have much confidence in the doctors. But no I haven’t been told about any Esophagitis.

Thankyou for your advice on the medication the docs haven’t told me anything about how long I should be on them I’ve been given very little information about anything really 

Yes, mostly below my right lower rib, this has faded over the years but can comeback, again no doctor as been able to tell me the cause. I now think its down to a weak diaphragm somehow.   I get pains centre left but not below my ribs on the left. My chest muscles in general now seem to give way very easily and I'm 6ft with a strong frame but feel more like a child now damn it. If I breath in really deeply I can feel discomfort in the centre of my chest every time.  But hey I'm still in the game and many are a lot worse.  umm, reading between the line with battets oesophagus I'd put money on it that you had some sort of damage to your oesophagus and most likely Esophagitis or simply put inflamed oesophagus in some form, to some degree   Worrying to some extent that you have and then you haven't lol.  If you had BO they would have put you on a massive dose of PPIs and made appointments for you to have regular endoscopes checks.  Someone with BO will interject here hopefully and provide some knowledgeable info.  Again over the years you get use to being told all sorts, hence many consultants want you in and out of the room with little time for you to pin them down.  And again sometime they don't know, they can tell what's its not but not what it is!! This comes with experience and if/when you see a consultant again pin them down to the floor.   Take a list of question in.  Now if your worried to a degree that its making your life unhappy see the doc and get a Cat scan with contrast (remembering the risk though)  period, they can see everything even the ducts and if there inflamed or blocked (so I was told when I had mine). Take no excuses, mental worry will only make you unwell and your condition worse.  Remember you have your own funding budget on the NHS.  I remember back around 1999 I had to pay private to see a consultant and have an US, learnt a lot since then Robin. I also had to pay private to get my eye injected with lucentis as it was not available then on the NHS so I now push and push for everything after that and my cousins c**k up.  I'm not one for politics in public and this is not the place but if others can be treated on the NHS (that have not paid in) you should have your mind put to rest allowing you to get on with life.  But don't worry, your symptoms are common and your on a standard maintenance dose of PPI and your reflux has abated, good signs.  You'll be fine come May wait and see.  

Hi, I have just posted a discussion which sounds the same as your problems.  I have been taking PPI and H2 for 12 years now, cannot stop for even a day but have them down to 20mg esomeprazole and the odd 150mg ranitidine.  It was the pain across chest and sore skin all over top half that had me flummoxed, but you have put my mind at rest by saying you cannot stand to have an arm across you.  My 6ft son is a real pain and is always picking me up for a hug, which causes agony. I think I will up my esomeprazole for a few days and see if that helps the tenderness.  My other problem is that stabbing and burning all around upper midriff, not sure if acid would go down that far.  Thanks for your informative post, I agree that if it was cancer related I would have been dead by now as this has been going on to some extend for many years.  Take care

Yes youngatheart we're caught in the med trap my friend.  Coming off of them via weaning slowly can be done but then a year later your at the docs in terrible pain with even more damage done. No-one likes taking them and yes they have side effects but to go without would cause more problems.  I bet you've got a HH. My chest and sensitive skin all around the chest is like yours, sometimes a bit better than others.  In fact I cant stand a finger on my center chest area and that's the last 4 years. Acid problems will indeed extend in the lower stomach and beyond .  I sometimes have a relapse of major acid and then double my meds for up to 8 weeks and then slowly down again.  I just got the doc to make a repeat prescription for 56 tabs each month and then I can mix and match.  I can only say in my case that I mix and match as required and sometimes even have to change between Pantoprazole and Omeprazole for around 2 months as if my body get use to one and starts to not work as well or I start to get side effect from one.  The pharmacist says this is not possible as they are both the same, yeah right ok.  Tell my body that then!!!!!!! And if all PPIs were 100% the same they would be under the same licence would they not??   Now some people on this site seem to manage their problems with diet alone which is great for them but for some of us long term PPIs seems the only/best solution.  I also find that if I do suffer from an acid relapse  the first sign is my chest at night, I can feel my oesophagus getting tender and burning as I lay on my back. This can occur several times a year and like I said I up to 40mg pan or 20mg Omeprazole/day.  By keeping meds to the lowest level that keeps the acid at bay is my mantra at this time. Hope this helps a little.  Oh its a fact that H2s are better for you long term but they do nothing for me, if they work for you great.  I even tried them under the doc at 4 x dose for 8 weeks which I'm sure was 1200mg/day to try and get me off PPIs but to no avail. Yet 1 x 20 mg Pantop sorts me out, mostly good luck. 

Sometimes my chest area can get sore to touch too if my reflux gets bad.  However, if it is agony when someone hugs you, this sounds more like costochondritis.  I have had this, and even carrying washing to my washing machine was extremely painful.

Hi Pippa, I think we have spoken before so Happy New Year.  Do you get really sore underneath your breasts in the area where the bra band goes, mine goes all the way down to waist band. if I press it is so painful, as it covers such a wide area I didn't know whether it is acid, costo or probably a bit of both.  I am going to increase PPI so see if that helps as I have a sore throat as well.  I would just love to be pain free for a day LOL

Hi, I agree PPI's are all different, I tried several before finding esomeprazole worked best for me.  I only really take the H2 when I can feel acid as it seems to calm it a bit.  I did try to come off my PPI but lasted about 3 days before it was hell again.  I did have a scan with contrast 6 months ago and nothing was found apart from the thickened stomach which they are not worried about,  I had a endoscopy 2 years ago this month so GP said another is not necessary, which I find odd as surely things can change within 2 years, will ask again.  I do sometimes feel a little bulge in the area where ribs come to an upside down V at bottom of sternum so will speak to them and mention a hernia and see if they take notice, they usually don't.  IBS/GERD has become the cause of everything stomach related at my surgery as so many people have it now.  Take care

Happy New year to you!

My costochondritis affected all of my breast tissue on the front, sides and underneath.  I had minimum pain on my ribcage area and around my back.  If it is costochondritis, PPIs will not work.  You will need strong painkillers like Nurofen. The pain around your breasts that you describe is a classic sign of costochondritis.

I was told to take painkillers and wait it out.  It lasted three months and in the end the pain went away without medication and it disappeared when the doctor said it would.