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Left chest lower rib cage pain moving upwards
Hello everyone, my name is Ayan and I'm 28 years old. I have been going through the ongoing left chest lower ribcage/chest pain which moves around and goes to the back(sometimes) for the last 10 months. I went to ER 3 times, they did chest X-ray, EKG(probably 4 times) and found nothing suspicious. They relieved me asking to find a primary care doctor for proper diagnosis. So, I booked an appointment with primary care and he did a LIPID PANEL test (the results looked good) and asked me to put ICY HOT (pain relieving) cream on the chest areas that hurt. I used it for a while and found out that it gives temporary relief but the the pain doesn't go away. Also, if the pain is like 7 or 8 out of 10 it doesn't really help. Then, he did a bunch of tests like MAGNESIUM, HIV-1/2 AG/AB INITIAL SCREENING, HEMOGLOBIN A1C, COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL, CBC, HELICOBACTER PYLORI ANTIGEN and the results looked good for each of those tests. He also asked me to take FAMOTIDINE but it didn't really work. He is sure that it is non cardiac given my symptons and sent to Gastroenterology dept. So, the doctor from Gastroenterolog dept asked to take Omeprazole (40 mg) for 2 or 3 weeks. I thought initially the pain was a little less but to my surprise I was was experiencing the same pain I used to have. Then he asked me to take Iberogest(purchased from Amazon) 20 drops with water 3 times a day but I couldn't take it for more than 3 days because I felt heaviness, pressure on my chest/stomach and more pain. He then changed it to FD-gard (over the counter medicine) but again didn't help much. In the mean time, I did an endoscopy So, during Endoscopy they found a small lesion in my gastric antrum and they have sent it out for biopsy and the result was benign. They also recommended to do an Ultrasound Endoscopy to get better pictures of the lesion. I did that too and they said it is too small now (like 1.5 cm) and they won't cut it until it shows growth. They advised me to repeat the procedure in next 6 months. They also said that this MIGHT NOT be the reason for your chest pain. So, now the doctor thinks that the nerves around the esophagus and the stomach might cause the pain and I'm taking despiramine (10 mg) daily for the last 5 days He said he will increase the dose every 3 weeks and it takes time to kick in. Now, I'm on 50 mg Desipramine and FD-gard but nothing seems to help either. The doctor ordered CT scan for my chest, abdomen and pelvis now. He also did a few tests like CRP, SEDIMENTATION RATE AUTOMATED, ANA SCREEN and LIPASE. All the tests were normal except LIPASE (The standard range is 13 – 64 U/L) but for me it was 79 U/L. The doctor said that the pancreas marker is very mildly elevated and it's a little hard to say if this is truly the pancreas issue or not. Also, the results of CAT scan was negative. Yesterday, I went through another round of EUS and the doctor has taken a sample of the lesion found in gastric antrum to identify if it is a GIST or pancreatic rest. (sent out for biopsy) He thinks it is a pancreatic rest. Also, they have taken tissue from esophagus to find out if I have severe acid reflux. Given my lipase level is high and there is a chance that the lesion might be a pancreatic rest the doctor thinks the pain might be coming from the wall of the stomach. Can a pancreatic rest in the antrum cause chest pain?
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Hi ak999! Have you tried eating smaller more frequent meals? That helps me a great deal. I have severe GERD and delayed gastric emptying.
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1 Reaction@downtowntiger Yes, I have tried it for a month but it didn't really help. Also, I go to bed after 3 hours of having my dinner and I sleep with 3 or 4 cushions on my back (at angle of 30 degree)
@ak999 There is a pillow made by MedSlant that works incredibly well. Hope you find something to help you!
@downtowntiger Thanks I will order one soon and see if it helps.
Hi @ak999, sorry about your experience -- I am 27 and am having/had a similar experience (minus the lesion). I can only speak to my circumstances, but I have been dealing with abdominal pain, shortness of breath, and some other symptoms since November (started complaining in January). I went on omeprozol and then pantoprazol and nothing helped. I stopped drinking coffee and highly acidic foods, again to no avail. No alcohol since January. I had endocscopy, esophageal manotremy, a barium swallow test and a PH test and the Gastorenterologist in my home city told me that this was all in my head and to stop focusing on myself.
HOWEVER, I was fortunate to see a doctor at Mayo last month, and she sent me for some tests that showed I have a problem with my pelvic floor muscles where the anal sphincter is not relaxing when it should, causing fecal matter to build up in my lower abdomen. She believes this may be causing my abdominal pain even though my pain was/is up behind my ribs. To help resolve the issue she told me to take miralax daily and to participate in physical therapy geared towards my particular evacuation disorder. It took some time for me to get in with my local pelvic floor PT program, so I just had my first session this week. I am optimistic that the program will help. Additionally, I have found that the miralax has helped a little and that my abdominal pain is already reduced. Not sure if you experience constipation, but if so it may be something to look into. This was something that my local doctors (many, many doctors) had never mentioned to me so I wonder if it could be the case for you as well.
Finally, over the past two months I have also been doing acupuncture and it has helped a lot with pain management so it may be worth considering for you.
Best of luck,
Julianne
Hi @julianned thanks for your reply. Great to hear that you're doing better now. Even I have done the same in terms of food no coffee, hardly drinking any alcohol, no acidic food but nothing seemed to be helpful. When I was taking desipramine I had constipation (probably this is a side effect of the med) so was taking Purelex for 2 months to get relief from the constipation and it helped with the constipatio but not with the pain. Now, I stopped taking desipramine and so the Purelex too. I also asked my primcary care doctor to send me over to cradiologist for a second opinion but he is reluctant to send me over because he is sure that my heart is good and it's coming from the stomach and asked me to wait until the gastro work is totally complete. Not sure how many more months it will take to complete. Right now, I am waiting for my biopsy results from my last EUS procedure and see it from there.
I need some more information. You said you were in ICU.. what for? You mentioned lungs, was something wrong with your lungs?
From a GI vantage, ulcers in the stomach,as well as other problems, i.e. reflux, can cause chest pain. You also mention back pain, and gallbladder problems are notorious for causing a stabbing type back pain. Sounds like you need to see a gastroenterologist (if you aren't, and it sounds like you aren't), who could evaluate you and order appropriate tests to rule out some of these things, or find a diagnosis!
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1 ReactionHi all, after a week in icu i now seem to have some kind of ulcer. I always get strange pains feeling like a heart attack but it comes amd goes. Someone told me it could be due to the ulcer or my lungs still have not recovered 100%
Could this be correct? Pain goes from.left to right, in my back and is really not nice. All ekgs came out ok
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1 Reactionhi @ak999 I am a 24 year old girl experiencing chest pain that seems very similar to yours, did you ever find relief? thanks!
@samb33 Welcome also Have you seen a cardiologist to rule out any heart problems?