Mainly, what were your initial symptoms that caused you to get checked out?

I've been suffering from acute pain that feels like a stabbing knife in my back at the bottom of my rib cage by my spine for 24 hrs. Nothing is relieving it. I also have gas and nausea. I've taken many things to try and diminish the pain, gas x, pepto, Prilosec, Zantac, a coke to work out the bubbles, lemon water. To no avail. I just don't know if it's gas or my gallbladder. I'm getting no relief. Help?

8/22/2016 10:29:34 PM

go to the doctor

8/22/2016 11:00:02 PM

Trained medical professional will help you.

8/22/2016 11:31:47 PM

Yeah, go to a doctor. If it really is gall bladder trouble, it can go from bad to horrible very quickly, the severe pain even causing fainting!

Go, tomorrow.

8/22/2016 11:34:29 PM

My dad gallbladder ruptured because he ignored symptoms, not knowing that it could come from gallbladder. Spent days in ICU because the rupture reached his lung and got a life threatening infection.

8/22/2016 11:54:29 PM

I usually am the wait and see type and only go to doctor if I can't stitch it myself, but you don't want to mess around with stones or any infection of organs.... go to doctor

my mom for example delayed treatment for kidney stones, hoping she could get through the pain (she didn't know she had stones) .... 3 am rolls around and she feels like she is dying and I am driving her to the ER, we should have gone to primary care, because OMG fuck ER at 3am or anytime.

[Edited on August 23, 2016 at 1:17 PM. Reason : .]

8/23/2016 1:02:30 PM

[words]

My wife had some gallbladder issues last year. Around June she started getting really nauseous randomly after eating stuff. At first we thought it was just because she was getting old and couldn't handle a chili cheeseburger the same way she could when she was 20 but it started happening after eating healthy stuff like steamed veggies. Sometimes it wouldn't even happen at all and she could eat junk food and be fine.

The medical system in Alabama fucking sucks though so it took her a month to finally get to a doctor and by that point, oatmeal was about the only thing she could stomach. One thing to note: she never actually got any sharp pains or anything, it was always extreme nausea which eventually led her to puking a lot and being weak all the time because she never wanted to eat anything.

So when we finally got to see a doctor, he prescribed some stomach stuff which did nothing. He then began suspecting the gallbladder. Sent her to a gastroenterologist who did some tests and set her up with a HIDA scan. It is some kind of imaging procedure for your digestive system. It determined that her gallbladder was only operating at 13% of what it should be. Scheduled some surgery and she had the gallbladder taken out later that week. Fortunately it was a quick/common surgery so she was back home later that day and resting in bed for a few days before being back to normal. From then on no physical issues.

The doctor dumbed it down as saying that the gallbladder essentially stores bile from the liver. When you start eating it sends bile to the stomach to aid in digestion. So without that bile it was hard for her to digest anything. After taking out the gallbladder, the bile slowly drips into the stomach from the liver rather than being turned on like a faucet when she starts eating. So just as long as she doesn't go like 16 hours without eating anything, she's perfectly normal.

8/23/2016 5:18:29 PM

Fun times! The stabbing pain finally quit after a solid 24hrs of hell. Finally pain medication took care of it, but I woke up every 2.5hrs and had to take 3 ibuprofen for relief each time. Probably bad but it finally stopped at 4 am. Since then I feel like I have a gas bubble to the right of where my esophagus probably meets my stomach. Bottom ribcage. Again, nothing eases the sensation but at least it is not painful, just annoying when I'm standing. Tennessee also sucks for scheduling appointments, from asking around it's going to be a lot of hoop jumping to get some real answers. Yay.

Also, probably in the last year or so I would get what I thought was immense heartburn. No rhyme or reason to it but I would have severe gas bubble feeling, a sharp intense pain that would give me nausea and cold sweats for a solid 15 minutes. I would try all things, coke and lemon water usually helped. It would just suddenly disappear but I legit wanted to die during those episodes every single time. Now I'm wondering if it's connected.

8/25/2016 9:59:10 PM

Please keep this thread updated - my dad has similar issues, but it seems like a case for Dr House - he's had every test/scan in the book (or so they say), had his gall bladder removed, etc

Also - have you googled exactly what you've told us? Like, the specific symptoms and sensations? In theory, there is someone else out there who has experienced what you are and in theory, they are also on the internet chatting about it. I have found so much help regarding my own diagnoses and medical mysteries in forums, comment sections on WebMD, etc

[Edited on August 26, 2016 at 7:19 PM. Reason : ]

8/26/2016 7:17:05 PM

Updating thread. A year later.

I go in Monday to have my gallbladder removed. After I made this thread I fell pregnant and didn't have a single attack. Weird, I know. Less than two months after she was born I had another attack and Called a doctor immediately. My dr and I agree it is better to remove the gallbladder electively than wait for it to become a massive problem that requires emergency surgery. So, here we go.

Symptoms I experienced. Sharp pain under my rib cage on my right side, bloating, gas pains, cold sweets, nausea, indigestion that would last 30-45 minutes with no cure. It would just stop. But one day it won't and I could face rupture. Pancreatitis, liver issues, jaundice, etc etc. wish me luck!

8/9/2017 4:11:19 PM

Good luck!

8/9/2017 11:20:27 PM