Posted on 12/28/2013 12:27:09 AM PST by MacMattico
I have been hospitalized twice for 4 days at a time for acute pancreatitis. Acute pain in the midsection caused be the inflammation of the pancreas that seeps into the lining of the abdominal wall. Very painful. Etiology: Binge drinking, passing gall stones or on rare accessions, adverse reaction to some blood pressure medications.
Since I did not drink alcohol at all, let alone binge drink, and a CAT scan and sonogram revealed no evidence of gall stones passing through my bile duct, it was decided that my blood pressure medication was the cause, both times. I have not had a reoccurrence of the pancreatitis since my blood pressure medication was changed even though other problems resulted from the change in the meds over time, which I will not elaborate on here.
Both times my doctors were initially stumped as to the cause of the onset of the pancreatitis. They both admitted that they had learned something new from my case, since it was not caused by the usual suspected binge drinking and gall stones.
Stop going to the ER (if possible) for starters. Go see a internal doctor to start and let him/her refer you to a specialist.
If you are referring to my post comments with your comment None of those symptoms, and not the link, then I should clarify:
My father had exactly these symptoms:
For the last 3 weeks or so I have had a dull pain right below the bottom of my ribcage on the left side. At times it would become sharp, like a stabbing pain and I would not be be able to take a deep breath during that time. I would cringe in pain during these times. After a while it would go back to a dull ache. This went on, like I said, on and off for the past three weeks.
...culminating in sharp pains and difficulty breathing that led him to the ER after many days of thinking he 'just pulled something' coughing. He went to the ER believing he had another bout of severe pneumonia; boy was he wrong. The doctor, as I recall, told him it wasn't life-threatening, but could have gotten much worse untreated. I recall that he had an MRI to detect the mass.
Again, your comment 'none of those symptoms' diverges from what you wrote on your initial post. Go to the link. Not trying to diagnose; just trying to help you guide your doctor(s).
Doctors, after all, like lawyers, PRACTICE their professions...
I know. Just had mine out; but had pains in different spots.
I had pain in different spots.
“In very rare circumstances, you can have gall stones even though you’ve had your gall bladder removed.”
I’m a GI RN and I see this frequently. More often, it occurs within 1 to 3 months after having the gall bladder removed; more often, in women; and more often after a significant hormonal change such as childbirth. Usually this can be remedied with an ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopantocreatography). This is usually done in a larger endoscopy center or hospital OR under general anesthesia or propofol-versed-fentanyl without intubation. A scope is inserted orally to the ampulla, a very small incision may be made in the ampulla with a device inserted through the scope to allow a small rubber-tipped wire insertion. The wire is inserted into the common bile duct under fluoroscopic guidance. Depending on what they see they may insert a balloon dilator or other device over the wire and push it past the stones (or sometimes it is just a pasty sludge). Then inflate the balloon and pull back, dragging the stones out and usually a lot of bile. However, if there are stones or sludge blocking the duct, there are almost always significant changes in blood test results....so they should have narrowed this down at the initial ER visit.
Hi, I had similar symptoms and am female. You need a CT scan and/or a colonoscopy. It may be Diverticulitis. Easily treatable but uncomfortable. I found that siting down and then standing made the pain worse, also pressing on left lower quadrant and release was painful as well-weird I know. Just my 2 cents....
Pleurisy - one of the worst things I ever had!
Yeah!!!! demand a contrasted...er non contrasted...er IV and oral, nah jus oral... er nope just IV Contrasted CT scan...hmmm MRI..uh... yeah. Get something scanned with the "latest technology".
Yeah you tell them, cause you examined the patient and you know that it's just gotta be something.
Left upper quadrant pain could be any number of things... splenic infarct, splenic bleed from trauma (you might know if you've been hit but sometimes coughing in a patient with low platelets or other disorder that lab would have shown), peptic ulcer, diverticular disease, pancreatitis (labs), volvulus (weird but can happen), Intussusception (weird but can happen), pneumonia, pulmonary embolus, heart attack (myocardial infarction), abdominal or chest wall muscle strain from lifting or coughing, rib fracture, pleurisy, trapped fart, bowel obstruction, gastric outlet obstruction, mesenteric ischemia, eating to much, reflux esophagitis, diaphragmatic hernia, hiatal hernia, kidney stone, retroperitoneal bleed
....... yeah go in their and demand an MRI or CT. Watch them recheck your labs and then get a CT scan, radiology reading.... then complain about the bill unless your deductible is met.
If you're writing about this and posting it online. It's not an emergency. If you read your discharge instructions I'm sure it states, "if your condition worsens or you feel you need to be reexamined return to the ER for further evaluation."
If you have a private physician, a doctor that knows you, then you should see him/her. develop a plan to see what is the cause. Talk with them and that way you don't get a shotgun approach and avoid extra radiation and possible iatrogenic injury trying to find a cause for a pain that may be benign.....
or you can go to the ER and demand that CT scan. If you feel you were treated shabbily then WRITE a letter to the director of the emergency department, the chief of staff of the hospital and the CEO of the hospital. They can try to explain to you why you weren't admitted since it seems that you didn't understand fully what they found, what they were looking for and why you were told you were to be admitted and then discharged.
The doctor may have wanted to admit you but you may not realize that you didn't meet the admission criteria (rules and check off lists) to qualify and that the doctors job in the ER is dependent on following these rules and may face civil and even criminal fraud charges if they admit or observe a patient that doesn't meet criteria as well as lose his license if it is deemed a repeatable and persistent deviation of practice from the standard of care in the hospital and medical staff's practice policies.
You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait till all this gets federalized. It's gonna be beautiful.
“What should I do? What could it be?”..
Ever heard of a kidney stone?
Had quite similar symptoms, enough pain that it severely impacted my morning run. Went to a weekend clinic on Sunday evening instead of the emergency room. They x-rayed and things were inconclusive. Gave me pain medication. Next morning they called & said I had pneumonia. As far as I could tell, it affected only the bottom tip of the left lung.
You might have a bruised or cracked rib...or some injury to the cartilidge that holds ‘em all together........that pain can (trust me) last for close to a month.
I had my gallbladder yanked just over a year ago....the discomfort could be anywhere in the upper gut area depending on the “attack”. Fortunately, a simple ultrasound nailed the cause.
Colonoscopy is needed..... could be diverticulitis flare up
That got squared away overnight, and correctly called pleurisy; I'd had "mess duty" for the previous couple of weeks - in the scullery/dishwashing area - and it was assumed that the extremely hot and steamy environment caused it all.
I think you addressed your reply to the wrong person.
Any bleeding? Could be a gunshot or knife wound.
Mac, I’m sorry I don’t have any suggestions for you, but I’ll be praying.
Ditto
I had horrid pains in different areas of my chest from mid teens to mid 20s.
Went to many doctors about it, both civilian and USAF. When the pains happened to be in the central chest, I thought I might be having a heart attack.
None of the doctors could find anything wrong with me.
Finally, one day at Hanscom Field, the pain was unbearable, and I walked to the clinic, which was very close to my dorm.
A young doctor listened to my chest for a few seconds while having me breathe hard.
He said, good, no problem, you have pleurisy.
In my case, the fluid in the pleura between my lungs and the ribcage moves around and becomes thin, allowing the layers to rasp together.
In fact, that's how he immediately diagnosed it.
He had me listen with the stethoscope while breathing deeply.
It sounded just like a wood rasp being rubbed across the edge of a piece of wood.
I asked him how he was able to diagnose it so quickly when many other doctors hadn't.
He said that's because he had it too, and was well read on the topic. It was one of the reasons he became a doctor, to find out what was wrong with himself.
Since then, I've found a way to quickly get rid of it and/or prevent it.
Get a small trampoline and bounce or run on it.
If you're having a bout of pleurisy, very shallow, gentle bouncing at first because of the pain.
Get a stethoscope and either listen yourself or have your husband listen in the pain area while breathing deeply.
If you have the type of pleurisy I have, it will sound as described.
Another reason to have your own stethoscope, is that Murphy's Law say there will be nothing for the doctors to hear when you see them.
The doctor told me what I have won't harm me, it just feels like you're croaking.
A while back I had the pains at work, so went to the nurse and asked her to listen to my chest. I wanted to be sure I wasn't having a heart attack.
When I asked her what it sounded like, and she described the rasping sound, I said, "good, it's just the pleurisy".
After seeing the doctor at Hanscom, I mentioned it to my 80ish grandmother.
She said she had it since she was a kid from time to time.
She made it to 94 in good shape until the very end.
Who knows if this is what you have.
Just another avenue to explore.
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