Well, it seems my body has chosen this year to become seriously middle-aged. First I get arthritis and now this. I’ve been having mild, but persistent pain in my right side, right by the ribs for about three days, and, being an unrepentent self-diagnoser-by-Google, I’m starting to wonder if it might be gallbladder problems.
So, those of you who have had such experiences: How did it start? How has it turned out?
(Don’t worry, I’ve scheduled an exam with my doctor and will hie myself to the hospital if it gets serious.)
Oh, that must be unpleasant for you.
Could be cholecystitis, or gallstones. In the meantime, cut down on your fat intake, and try a hot water bottle for the pain.
Good luck!
Also get to a doctor right away. When I had gall stones I thought I was going to die. However, the docs simply put me on some medications for them to pass/distintegrate/whatever rather than having surgery because they were fairly early in the development. I wish I remembered the name of the medication I was on. Stop eating fatty foods while you are having the problem because that makes it much worse.
I recently had my gallbladder removed because of gallstones. Mine was a bit atypical; the pain would come if I allowed myself to get overly hungry (weird) OR sometimes if I ate too much fat (normal). I kept telling myself that I should go to the doctor, but I didn’t. The final straw came one evening when I was home by myself and the pain became excruciating. I went to the ER (I still have no idea how I got there without wrecking the car) and they gave me some gooood IV drugs and scheduled me for an ultrasound.
I had the surgery (laparoscopic cholecystectomy) a few weeks later and was home that same evening. Piece of cake. And oh sweet relief–no more pain.
I have to say that I never experienced mild pain, nor pain that lasted consistently over several days (hours, yes, but not days). Have you considered appendicitis? If that’s a possibility, you should see a doctor ASAP.
I had attacks of severe pain on the left. I thought I was having a heart attack the first time. Going on a practically-non-fat diet got rid of the pain until the surgery (which we put off for a month).
See this gall bladder thread for some more info.
Do go see a doctor, both Appendicitis and Gall Stones deffinately require a doctor’s help. Do the pains often seem to come on half an hour after a meal, especially after large meals? That is one of the classic Gall Stone signs.
Doesn’t sound like appendicitis (which is usually around the bellybutton, and then moves to the right hip, and is hardly ever described as “mild”).
Have you been sick?
Are your bowels and/or bladder working strangely?
Any fever?
Any back pain?
Any blood in vomit, urine or faeces?
None of those are good things, and a doc should be seen ASAP.
If not, you could try and narrow things down a little.
Sit up straight, breathe in and hold it.
Draw an imaginary vertical line half way between your shoulder tip and the middle of your breastbone.
Press in under your bottom rib at his point.
If it hurts, ta-da it’s a gallbladder thing.
Draw an imaginary line from your belly button to your right hip.
Press along this line 2/3 of the way to your hip.
If it hurts, it’s your appendix.
When my gallbladder failed, I had just stuffed myself at a Mexican restaurant and was hit hard with gas pressure and blocked diarrhea cramps. My doctor took his sweet time diagnosing it (he thought I had some kind of hepatitis, but I kept turning up negative) before “gallbladder” occurred to him.
The symptoms you describe just sound like you’re not eating enough fresh fruit. Go through some grapes, bananas and peaches before you convince yourself it’s gallbladder.
My Aunt had Gallstones in a bad way - one of the things it did was give her (or make worse) arthritis, after the op it seems to have gone away totally
Anyway only the Doc can tell you - and since there’s some reason to think it’s possibly your gallbladder or appendix, go as soon as you can, you’ll regret any delay!
I never had insane pain, my diagnosis occurred from a nearly routine ultrasound. I had my gall bladder out earlier this year, and it turns out that it was severely inflamed and mere weeks away from becoming necrotic, according to my surgeon.
I used to get what I thought was a nasty case of heartburn, had it for several years. Haven’t had a single episode since the surgery. The symptoms can manifest different ways. See your doctor.
Pain in this spot could also easily be due to liver, pancrea or rectus abdominus spasm. Gallbladder problems including biliary colic, stones and cholangitis are also possible.