Newbie - is this GB pain??

March 19, 2002

I've been reading this list for about a month now, and am considering

the flush, but I'm not so sure I am having gallbladder pain, or

something else... what do you think?

The pain is located above my stomach, in the center, just below my

sternum. It feels like pressure, cramping, and is constant. It's so

hard to describe pain when you are not feeling it at the time of

description! Sometimes leaning forward helps, but not always. I

have the need to pace when this flares up and cannot carry on a

conversation. The pain can last 2-3 hours and sometimes causes me to

vomit yellow acid like (bile?) stuff. Afterwards I have diarrhea

(the next day too). I take a prescription for Ranitidine now, and

that will alleviate the pain in about 45 min when I take it during an

attack. I've had pain like this since my 20's, but very rarely

then. Since last year when I turned 40, I have been having this pain

about 1x/mth. Sometimes more frequently. I've had all the tests and

it's confirmed I have gallstones (I was diagnosed with them 10+ yrs

ago as well as recently). But I am not convinced it's gallbladder

pain. These are the things that set it off for me: raw onions,

garlic, fried or fatty (i.e. eggplant parm), sorbitol, spicy (not

necessarily hot, but with alot of spice), sugar (?), coffee (?),

aspartame (?). If I eat late (< 3 hrs before bedtime), the morning

after a fatty meal, if I lay on my stomach, and interestingly enough

it's more likely to give me problems just before I get my period.

I am going to see a gastroenterologist next month and will be

scheduling an endoscopy. I'm extremely fearful of medical

procedures so this is a huge step for me. I've put off gallbladder

surgery for 15 years due to fear. That's why I joined your group...

to see if there's an alternative for me. Actually, I'm afraid to do

the flush too!! What I really need to know is if my pain is

gallbladder related. I'm traveling with my husband to China next

year to adopt our second baby, and don't want to go through this pain

while I'm there, so I am determined to get to the bottom of it now.

Thanks,

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