Coping with pain on upper stomach on top of arthritis

marie48

I am really having a hard time, I have been suffering from pain and tenderness between breast bone spreading across my right breast and behind my back. GP thinks it may be due to gallstones and is sending me off for an ultrasound. I also suffer from arthritis of the neck, could pain be associated to it? I feel very burpy and feeling sick with constant pain and pain killers do not seem to help. I just wonder whether any member from this forum has every suffered from gallstones and could offer some advice. Daughter is getting married this month and I do not know how I am going to cope with the pain on top of my arthritis. Hubby told me to be postive, how could one when you are in constant pain. Thanks

barbara12

Hi Marie
Could it not be your medication causing the pain, I have stomach probs even though I take the stomach protector.
I do hope you feel better for your daughters wedding.
Please let us know how you get on.
Love
Barbara x

marie48

No, it is not the medication, I have stopped taking all the medication and the pain persists. I am now taking panadol which is not helping. I might take a stronger dose of Ibrufen + Lansoprazole to protect my stomach as this pain is driving me crazy. I certainly need to have something to help me to cope with the pain for the wedding. I seem to be at the DR's surgery every week and I feel like a nuisance. Thanks God it is a low key one at the registry office.

frogmorton

Oh Poor you

I should think the ultrasound is a really good idea to start with incase it is gallstones...

There are pains you can get in the sternum with arthur for sure....might it be that?

I do hope you get it soleved soon before the wedding!!

Love

Toni xx

skezier

Hi Marie,

I know this one far too well flower and well with mine the only help is to curl up with a hot water bottle and drink plenty of kalin and morphine as well as take a few tablets the gp gave me.

The said originally mine was gall stones, put me on some stuff that did calm it down and by the time the ultrasound came along I didn't have any so now they say its a massive ulcer but had those before and they don't feel like this or keep going so long.

they also didn't make me throw up before.

My gp's gave me some stuff called Buscopan and that did really help calm it and ease the pain when it was said to be gall stones now its back to an ulcer 9and i am so sure it isn't) they have increased the lansoprazole to a high level and well that might help depending on how the stomach wants to feel about having the plastic coating in there....

I so hope yours will sort out and they will run some more tests along side the ultrasound as well. I see the gastro week after next so kinda hope he will actually do something cus like you i find the pain is constant and drives you up the wall and across the ceiling as well.

ope it will ease up for you soon and you get some help. Cris x

lucy145

hi marie

ive just read this thread that a friend told me about and thought i would post, i have gallstones and am waiting to have the gallbladder removed,i also have rheumatoid arthritis and in my experience the pain from the two are completely different, its as you describe and can range from a mild attack to severe and last from anything between 10mins to 3 days, im not lucky enough to have 10min attacks and mine usually last at least 9hrs, does your pain come on a few hours after eating? and it is mainly at night when it starts?

mine starts in my stomach area with feeling bloated,sick and very tender also i get pain in my right side (ribs) which also can be felt in my right shoulder which is due to the gallbladder getting inflamed and pressing against the diaphram,also pain radiates into chest and back,its a awful pain and there is no relief from it,i find propping myself up on pillows with a hot water bottle does help and have now at last being given buscopan which are a great help,im very sick when i have attacks so can never keep pain killers down but to honest they dont work anyway.

if you are diagnosed with gallstones then i would recommend getting it removed,i left mine when i first started having attacks about 2yrs ago and it didnt play up for a while then was diagnosed with RA last october and started taking sulphasalazine and the attacks came back with a vengence,i ended up in hospital in december due to a suspected stuck stone in the bile duct,i was jaundiced and in a lot of pain,im now not allowed to take any meds for my RA until after the op as my liver enzymes are sky high,ive got seropositve RA and rheumy said he wants me back on meds as soon as possible but not due to have op until june but gp is trying to bring it forward

sorry for the long post but i know how you are feeling but you will know more when you have had the ultrasound scan,good luck and please let me know how things go

lucy x

marie48

Thanks for this post. I was on cholesterol lowering tablets at this time and it started in my chest but did not last long about 30 mins, three episodes averaging once a month. Had tests done for my heart and it seems fine. Since feb I had like a bad attack of indigestion, I was sick and the pain lasted well over 12 hours. GP prescribed Lansoprazole as she thinks it was gastric as I am very burpy after a drink. Since last week, it has moved to my upper stomach, very tender to the touch and spreading to right breast and upper back, sometimes it llike a stabbing pain, no pain killer seem to help. I feel sick but surprisingly enough can eat. GP told me to stop Lansopraole as it was not helping and I did have loose stools and diarrhoea with it. Since I stopped the tablets. no more loose stools but upper stomach still feel tender. Some days it is manageable but some days unbearable and it is very persistent. I have noticed it gets severe for 48 hours or more and then calm down a bit and become more manageable. This has been going on since February. The belching makes me think it might be gallstones and am waiting for an appointment for ultrasound. I just found out my sister had hers removed 14 yrs ago, she lives abroad. I stopped the cholesterol lowering tablets as I thought the chest pain was the side-effect. I hope the appointment for the ultrasound comes soon. Pl what do you take to get some relief? Thanks

marie48

Lucy, I forgot to answer your questions. Mine is just a dull ache between the sternum and tender to the touch. It does not seem to be related to food as my husband gave me some apples to eat late at night and I told him off. It did not make my pain worse. It seems to be worse at night and sometimes cannot sleep.

Since Lansoprazole did not help, GP does not think it is ulcer.

lucy145

hi ,sorry ive taken a couple of days to reply, its usually fatty foods that trigger of gallbladder pain and attacks,thats how mine started with just a dull ache in my stomach and feeling bloated and tender it would come randomly and last sometimes a few hours to a few days,used to feel it in my ribs too but then the attacks got worse but only had them late at night then,after a few months the pain got worse and it was after a heavy or a meal with quite a lot of fat in it, now i get attacks eating low fat food too and any time of the day,the apples probably wouldnt of caused the pain to get any worse if it is your gallbladder, the gallbladder will only contract if you eat something with fat in it and thats how the stones can come out into the bile duct, mine is now full of stones so contracts whatever i eat but thats my fault for not having it removed before, you will know more once you have had your ultrasound.

i used to take gaviscon but it made me worse and really sick so just used a hot water bottle as that seems to help but now ive got buscopan which is really good,was having a lot of pain last week so went to the dr's and he gave me buscopan and ive been ok since,lansarapole will only protect your stomach not preven your gallbladder contracting, have you had a date for your scan yet

hope your ok and not suffering too much,lucy x