Splenic flexure pain

ive had the same thing, an uncomfortable sensation under lower left ribs, for more than a decade. Usually just uncomfortable but sometimes more of a sharp pain. Usually I have to keep still for a minute for it to pass. I dont have IBS or any other symptoms of IBS. Only happens occasionally, but often when it does it is followed within hours by passing wind or burping so im guessing that has something to do with it.

I have been dealing with this same upper left pain under my rib cage for about 10 years now. It comes and goes as many of you have said....flare ups are bad and then I might go a couple of weeks or months feeling fine. I've always had IBS....mostly constipation but it didn't even bother me much until I got into my mid 50's. When I had a particularly bad left side flare up a few months ago, I went in to see my new GP. (yes, through the years I've had all the tests everyone has mentioned too...nobody could figure it out. Most Gastro doctors weren't even very interested). So, my new GP asked if had I IBS and if it was usually on the constipated side and it is. She said she suffers from it as well and was very sympathetic. She took an x-ray of my gut (btw, no other doctor has done that....just all of the expensive tests...) and found that my intestines were completely full and I was full of gas too. I was shocked because I had been having bowel movements. What she also found is that I have a very sharp curve in my upper bowel (LEFT SIDE WHERE THE PAIN IS) which she said is probably causing the pain by gas and fecal matter getting "stuck" there. She has me taking 4 TBSP of ground flax every morning and at least 64 oz of water. It has completely changed my constipation but I still get the flare ups of left pain. It seems to be gas most of the time. I have now learned its called Splenic Flexture syndrome. It sounds like most of us here have it. Now the problem is how to alleviate the gas problem........

I've been dealing with something similar since October 2019—so about a year and a half. It was a period of intense stress for me and I ended up losing someone in my immediate family around that time. Since my symptoms started I've dealt with them on a daily basis and have yet to find lasting relief.

My primary symptom is a sensation of high pressure (sometimes it also manifests as a burning feeling) in the left upper quadrant of my abdomen. It feels like something (e.g. a tennis ball) is lodged there and even just palpating the region it feels as if the left side has extra tissue above my ribcage that should not be there (it also appears this way when looking down from above). I mentioned this to one of the gastroenterologists I've seen but she wasn't able to feel anything, and she also claimed that any sort of superficial mass could not produce symptoms (a claim I'm suspicious of since it's quite easy to imagine a nerve being impinged upon).

Another way I would describe this pressure is a feeling of needing to burp extremely bad. And I crane my neck in various ways and make all manner of gurgling noises to produce a burp. There is significant relief when I do burp, but it is only temporary—a couple minutes later and I'm right back where I started.

This pressure usually comes on about thirty to sixty minutes after eating and will last for hours after I eat. Its intensity is proportional to how much I have eaten. If I eat before bed it will bother me upon waking. If not, I generally won't have symptoms until after my first meal of the day and then the pressure will generally get worse throughout the day.

Additionally, I will have high amplitude "myoclonus-like" spasms that start in my diaphragm and often engage my neck and upper esophageal muscles as well. These generally occur only after eat and will gradually subside an hour or two after I have eaten. Their intensity is proportional to how much I eat in a sitting. Initially this was my primary symptom as it was quite disconcerting and generated anxiety, but I have gradually learned to cope with it and it no longer induces panic like it used to.

I've been to three gastroenterologists at this point and I still have no answers. Two of them diagnosed it as GERD (shocker, right?) and prescribed PPI's. Each round of PPI's only served to make my symptoms worse. Two CT scans, an MRI, an ultrasound, an upper endoscopy, and a barium swallow all showed nothing. The only test I haven't had yet is a colonoscopy. There was microscopic inflammation on the stomach biopsy but the PPI's were supposed to treat this. I also did a breath test for gases (not sure which one), a round of rifaximin and had a stool sample checked for parasites.

Some things which relieve my symptoms are lying flat on my back or lying on my right side. Even after a large meal this can relieve my symptoms—until I stand or sit up. Sitting back at an angle helps, but not as much completely laying back.

Diaphragmatic breathing helps a lot, but only while I'm engaged in it. Really after doing anything which completely occupies my mind I'll notice that my symptoms were largely absent. I hesitate to mention this because most people's conception of a psychosomatic disorder is so impoverished and misconstrued and they will rush to dismiss the entire symptomatology as being "all in your head", despite the lack of consensus on what that statement would even mean.

Pharmacologically speaking, I've found that the GABA-B agonist fluorophenibut (it's quite similar to baclofen) as well as the calcium channel blocker phenibut seem to help somewhat. Phenibut seemed a bit more helpful though. These two mostly just dull rather than completely alleviate the symptoms though. Dicycloverine didn't help much at all. Diphenhydramine helped a bit, but really the problem with all four of the above drugs is that they significantly impair cognitive function, which is almost a worse alternative for me than this constant abdominal pain.

I've also tried a number of dietary supplements but have found nothing which helped much. Although all foods seem to give me symptoms to a degree, certain foods do seem to make my symptoms worse. I've tried cutting coffee for a couple weeks at a time but it didn't seem to help much. My next step is to cut coffee for an extended period of time and start limiting my diet even more. I have already drastically changed my diet, but I want to try eating just bone broth for a week straight, it's just difficult to get enough calories doing that. I've already lost probably twenty pounds at least over the past year and a half.

One thing that has helped significantly, both acutely and especially in the days that follow, has been 5-HT2A agonists (i.e. psychedelics). On a few occasions over the past year when I used psychedelics they gave me acute relief from my symptoms. I found recently that after about 8mg of a particular 5-methoxylated tryptamine, I almost didn't even notice my symptoms for about a week afterwards. In addition, when I felt a diaphragm spasm coming I could mentally smooth the region and prevent the spasm from occuring. Sadly, after about a week these effects subsided and I was right back where I started.

It seems there could be multiple mechanisms through which psychedelics are exerting this effect. Some things that jump out are an anti-inflammatory pathway (perhaps my issues are autoimmune in origin?) or perhaps serotonin receptor downregulation in the gut, but I'll avoid further speculation here. In general it seems that the benefit I had with psychedelics was proportional to the dose, which is perhaps a bit unfortunate since due to the strong psychological effects they generally aren't suitable for heavy or frequent use.

Has anyone here looked into R-CPD? That's one of the only other things I've found which mirrors my constellation of symptoms.

Anyways, I'm following this thread since it's the only place I've seen people mentioning the upper left abdominal pain, which is probably my primary symptom at this point.

I get this discomfort aswell , try drinking cooled boiled water. It could be trapped wind or you could have faceal loading in your intestines.

I read every reply on this thread and it sounds very similar to my problem. Was diagnosed this after colonoscopy. The only thing I didn't see as a possible solution was a fecal transplant. Also, no one seemed to talk about probiotics. I've heard probiotics can hurt and also help. There just isn't enough data on the subject yet.

A couple positives:

1. I'm actually relieved I'm not going to just drop dead from this. For a minute I thought maybe my intestines were twisted and they were just going to pop and I'd die from infection or something. This forum definitely improved my mood by 50%.

2. Riding my bike seems to help a lot. Perhaps it just gets stuff moving. I may just try working standing up and dancing around all day. Maybe that's all this is. We did evolved to chase game all day with a spear, so maybe desk life is doing this.

Thank you Leigh74005 for your post. I have the same symptoms and your post and others helped me get an accurate diagnosis of splenic flexure syndrome from my doctor. I have been suffering with pain and swelling in my left side aggravated by any kind of stretching or scrunching for about 4 years. I also had digestive issues that were causing me to miss work regularly. I had stomach pain, headaches, diarrhea, gas, bloating, burping, lack of energy, irritability, and felt like I was being poisoned a lot of the time. It took about 2 years of experimenting with my diet to figure out my triggers. I have my symptoms mostly under control now by avoiding dairy, wheat, coffee, alcohol, chocolate and processed foods. I eat very small quantities of meat, particularly red meat, and go easy on beans and harder to digest vegetables like raw cauliflower. I also limit fruit in my diet other than bananas, and eat smaller quantities of food at one sitting. I have been making spelt bread, lots of soups and stews, and I prepare rice and vegetable dishes on a regular basis. I eat fermented products like yogurt and kimchi, and drink kefir and kombucha. I drink ginger tea and turmeric tea, and make an after meal digestive tea from cumin, fennel and coriander seeds. I take omega 3 supplements, collagen supplements and vitamin D daily. It took a lot of getting used to eating this way but it is working for me. My digestion has settled down enough that I can eat small quantities of trigger foods every now and again without symptoms. The pain in my left side is mostly gone, except when I eat too much at a sitting or eat foods that aggravate my digestion. The pain is short term now and is more like a warning or reminder to watch what I'm eating. Two years ago, I would have been on the couch with a heating pad for days at a time eating nothing but plain yogurt and bananas before my symptoms settled down. I have also had good success with acupuncture treatments monthly that target digestion. The website badgut.org has a lot of helpful information for a multitude of digestive problems and helped me better understand my issues.

Did you ever get any answers to this? I am having exactly the same issues. Be interested to know if you had any answers?

Did you ever get any answers to this? I am having exactly the same issues. Be interested to know if you had any answers?

I am so relieved to find this forum. I have had this gnawing sensation around my spleen area for the past 6 months. Had colonoscopy, CT of colon, spleen and pancreas and all fine, apart from a small cyst on the spleen which my consultant wasn't at all concerned about. I have had IBS for some years which is usually ok.

When the pain started I thought it was a stitch or pulled muscle. It varies in severity and can make me feel a bit nauseus.

I do wonder if it could be the splenic cyst and perhaps it's infected?

The consultant wants to review me in a months time.

It's been so interesting reading all these comments from people who are experiencing the same things!