Posted on 12/28/2013 12:27:09 AM PST by MacMattico
Demand the CAT scan and an MRI.
Make it stick, make them do it.
Go for the best technology can do.
Dull pain with intermittent shooting pain?
Something is up!
Make them find it.
.
Have you lifted anything or slept in a position that might have caused strain on the cartilage between your ribs? I’ve done this a few times and taking a deep breath felt like I was getting stabbed. After a couple of days of not reinjuring it and it was gone. The first time was along the left side of my sternum and my initial thought was a heart attack.
Maybe a blood clot in the lower lung area. Ask about blood thickness, personally my blood is prone to clotting more that most out there so I am subject to a lifetime of blood thinners.
I agree. It could be gall bladder????
I got my gall bladder out 12 years ago in my 20’s !
Do you have a regular primary care physician who will advocate for you? Demand the tests necessary to diagnose your pain. That is what they have the CT and MRI for.
I am afraid that sometimes women are dismissed as hypochondriacs.
It sounds like you might have a duodenal ulcer. It is terribly painful and the symptoms get progressively worse if left untreated. You need to see a gastroenterologist.
Mrs. greedo had it many years ago, they gave her something for it, and it got better.
google it and see if the symptoms match yours.
yours very truly,
Dr. greedo
I will only ask this...is the pain right below the left side on the rib cage....kinda like you took a tennis ball and squeezed the heck out of it?
If yes? Then, it’s the same thing I’ve had for fifteen years. And early on, with no diagnosis (and still none)...I learned to raise my arms above my head and twist to the left with the whole body. The shooting pain disappears within ten seconds, and doesn’t come back for at least a day or two. Lately, with a different nutritional diet...I haven’t had the pain in six months (less fat, more salad oil, more fruit).
Oh jeez... My dad died from a blood clot to the heart/lungs.
Gall Bladder is located on the right side (I had mine removed).
OP said his pain is on the left side, below the rib cage.
So it is not the gall bladder.
It is right below the rib cage on the left side. It is mostly dull like what I had with my gall bladder, but will then seemingly out of the blue feel like I’m being stabbed over and over. Then go back to dull.
That was my thought...
A blood clot will show up on blood work, any good ER doctor will order a d-dimer test to rule out a pulmonary embolism whenever chest symptoms are present.
Look up Tietze Syndrome and Costochondritis.
I don’t seem to have those symptoms. I’m not nauseous. If I look at a picture of the human anatomy I would say it has something to do with my pancreas. I mentioned this last night in the ER. I guess they don’t think so.
I don’t think so.
Very good call, greedo. Certainly way painful, but they usually wouldn't hospitalize you for it. A quick WebMD descrip: "Pleurisy, also called pleuritis, is an inflammation of the pleura, which is the moist, double-layered membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the rib cage. The condition can make breathing extremely painful. Sometimes it is associated with another condition called pleural effusion, in which excess fluid fills the area between the membrane's layers."
I've had it a few times. VERY painful.
I was kind of shocked to read about this since I've had my gall bladder removed 20 years ago.
Besides the point, they should have never sent you home without doing further test to determine the problem.
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