OH MY... there is someone else!! I really hope you see this as it has been a couple of weeks since your post. Although, you may not be happy hearing from me - I have had a similar experience.. s/p Gallbladder surgery - no, you are not crazy!!!!!!!!!!! (although get ready to be told to see a psychiatrist 🙂 ). There are some things you said that sound very similar to my experience. First, let me say that I think there is a lot that the medical community does not understand, especially in the GI world. If you have a "standard" problem, that goes as it should, you will be okay - gallbladder issue, polyp, Chron's or one of the main diseases, Cancer.. this sounds bad, I'd rather have a diagnosis with an answer! But - anything "off the beaten path", it's very hard to find anyone interested. Tests, surgeries, those make money.

I was healthy and very active - professional career, did triathlons, 1/2 marathons, full life, until the GB issues and what was supposed to be a 'simple' surgery. Right after, I developed severe abdominal pain. Also on my L side - main locus is at umbilical area, it is very localized and sharp. The surgeon was no help. I was fine, according to her. The internist I was seeing said I was constipated, and take Miralax. That didn't help,in fact, in made me feel worse. The only difference with me was that my pain was severe. I would be curled up in a ball and crying. Finally 8 months later she referred me to GI Dr. I had a +hematocrit (blood in stool) and had colonoscopy/endoscopy the next day. Dx was Gastritis, and I was given proton pump inhibitors. I was never really told where the bleeding was from - I suppose the stomach?

11 years later.. the pain is still here. What really strikes me is what you describe for relieving it - pressure/pushing on it! I feel so strange, but this makes it feel better - I actually lie on my stomach on top of towel rolls, tennis balls, foam rolls to put more pressure on it Hasn't made it go away, of course. I totally "get' what you mean about it feeling like a muscle spasm almost, but deeper. I've had multiple diagnoses. For a time, they even tried treating it has a musculoskeletal problem, I've had many trigger point injections, months of physical therapy without relief. I always thought it was "deeper". And I also have GI issues, constipation, diarrhea, nausea. But for a decade, no change in the sharp mid gut pain. I've had hernia surgery/incision repair, a hysterectomy. No change, in fact, it's gotten worse over the years.

I just had a work up at the Mayo Clinic. My colonoscopy was normal (I've had 3). I do have significant diverticulitis, but that is not painful unless they get infected (so they say), otherwise that is normal. I had an endoscopy and have bile refluxing into my stomach, with inflammation; and SIBO. He thinks this is "normal" and sent me to a dietician who didn't even know what SIBO was, let alone the diet one is supposed to be on.

So, I have some more info, and now I will look for a Dr. who specializes in SIBO. So far, there seems to be a center a Johns Hopkins, unless anyone reads this and has any suggestions. I'm also going to pursue what can be done about the reflux, because it hardly seems "normal" to me, and the burning in my stomach area tells me it isn't either.

So, I have no answers, but some unsolicited advice/comments. 1. I was perfectly normal GI-wise (except for gallbladder symptoms) until I had this surgery. 2.Seems clear to me that this is a result of the surgery (not suggesting the surgeon did anything wrong, maybe it was just happens sometimes, but no doctore will ever "go there", they must think you are going to sue or something. 3. You won't get anywhere with the surgeon - not the same one. Once the surgery is done, they are done. 4. You will have to be assertive, seek out and ask for help, and do it. 5. DO NOT accept "you have to live with this", if a doctor can't help you, or doesn't seem interested, or says you have irritable bowel syndrome (i.e. they don't know), move on. I've lost 10 years of my life. Things worsened to the point where I couldn't work. I have trouble eating, lost a lot of weight, and am tired and weak all the time. I've decided I have to keep going on my quest to try to find an answer to what is causing my pain, because living like this sucks.

There must be other people like you and I out there. I don't know. Yes, see a GI doctor, but you'll have to find one who will listen to you and take your problems seriously. I'm wondering, since you say your stool may smell like "iron", have you have it tested for blood? Do you have black , tarry stools? I did, but never saw blood in my stool since my bleeding was from upper GI tract.

Intuitively, it seems to me that when they do these laparoscopic surgeries, who knows what can happen when they put all those cannulas in. On the other hand, if you were having stool changes 6 months ago, maybe something was starting then.

I'm curious to hear about your story and how it unfolds, because you are the first person I've "met" who has described this kind of pain that feels better by putting pressure on it.