I feel so sick.....

[TexasErin]

I have felt bad off and on (mostly on) for the past few weeks. I have had so many symptoms- basically everything besides a headache or sore throat.

I thought I had a stomach bug mid-February. Vomiting, exhausted, and felt so weak sitting in the car waiting for my kids to get out of school that I thought I was going to pass out. I felt really bad for about a day and a half.

I felt fine for about a week.

Then I started having lower back pain on my left side and horrible stomach pain- it felt like contractions it hurt so bad. I went to the Dr and they did a urinalysis because of the back pain- had bacteria so prescribed Cipro. They also did an ultrasound to check my gallbladder, which to the dr's surprise was fine. Horrible stomach pains and chills that night. Started feeling better for a few days.


I happened to have my yearly physical scheduled on 3/23 and felt okay that day so I didn't mention anything hoping I was better. She did another urinalysis and it was clear. The Dr. thought I had a yeast infection when she did my pap, but it was actually bacteria. She told me to eat some Activia for a few days and call her if I didn't feel better.

I felt better for a couple of days. Then over the next couple of days, I had gas pain, lower abdominal cramping, pain at the top of the back of my right leg, sharp pains in my lower abdomen on my left side (like maybe where an ovary is????), and pain in my lower back on the right side. And felt a little nauseous on top of all that. I made the mistake of reading about ovarian cancer and scared myself to death. I went to the Dr. and asked about ovarian cancer hoping she would think I was crazy, but instead she ordered a transva*inal ultrasound to check for it. I had it on Thursday and am waiting to hear....

HOWEVER, now I am having chest pain that goes through to my back???? My dad (not a doctor, but works in hospital administration) and has had to have his gallbladder out still thinks it is my gallbladder.

My present symptoms, since my body likes to change it up every couple of days, is feeling sick about 30-45 minutes after eating. Horrible stomach pain, chest pain, and mild nausea- these symptoms last 3 to 4 hours after eating.

I am going crazy wondering and waiting- gallbladder disease, ovarian cancer, appendicitis, pancreatitis????? I feel like a crazy hypochondriac with so many symptoms......

Any thoughts or experiences out there? Sorry so long!!!! I know I sound like a crazy person, but I have felt sick for so long. We leave for WDW on 5/27/11 and I HAVE to feel better by then. My dad said to call the dr. tomorrow (even though I have a follow-appt scheduled on 4/13) to find out the results of my trans*aginal ultrasound and ask for that nuclear medicine test for my gallbladder.

 

[Magic Mom]

I hope you figure out what it is soon.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I'm going to vote gallbladder.

I had similar symptoms and was tested for well over a year for my various oddities. Emergency gallbladder surgery fixed them all.

 

[TexasErin]

Thanks, Magic Mom!

So, Handbag Lady, did you have a bunch of unrelated symptoms that came and went. Some that seemed like gallbladder- and some that didn't?

 

[Alphabetsoup]

I feel for you...it is so frustrating when you know something isn't right but the doctors can't seem to figure it out (there is a reason they call it medical PRACTICE -- unfortunately for us!).

First off, whoever said they could tell about ovarian cancer with a transvg ultrasound is delusional! A good doc will order a CA-125 blood test which looks for cancer markers. This is not foolproof, as there is no 'good' test for ovarian cancer. The only REAL way to find out is to biopsy the ovaries, which is usually done if the CA-125 numbers indicate cancer markers.

The pain in your back and chest could be gallbladder or heart attack. If it were me I'd be hauling my butt to the ER and staying until they figured it out.

Also, you can have a clear gallbladder ultrasound and STILL have gallbladder disease! My mum went to the ER numerous times while I was growing up for pain in her side and back. Each time they gave her Tylenol-3 and told her it was muscle spasms. 30 years later she is having constant attacks and living on lortab from the pain. They finally go in to 'explore'. Her gallbladder was SO bad by this point the bloody thing had CALCIFIED (something that is quite rare).

That said, women tend to have atypical heart attack symptoms, often including nausea and abdominal or back pain. So, if it were me, I'd be demanding a cardiac workup and a closer look at my gallbladder.

Last thing, the many overlapping symptoms COULD mean that there is more than one thing going on in your body -- which makes diagnosis even harder.

Good luck and I hope the doctors start figuring it out soon!

 

[Darcy03231]

I had a co-worker who had many of the symptoms you describe. After months of testing she found out she has a gluten allergy. Once she cut gluten out of her diet she was fine.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Thanks, Magic Mom!

So, Handbag Lady, did you have a bunch of unrelated symptoms that came and went. Some that seemed like gallbladder- and some that didn't?

Yes.

Strange temperature changes (I was too hot or too cold)
Pain in the core of my body, near the back but not exactly
constipation and diarrhea, but not regularly enough to see a doc
feeling very sick after eating, but not always
a queasy feeling almost always
Feeling gross when I ate, but never getting full before I tired of the taste
a weird taste in my mouth after some foods
headaches
and here's the kicker: I vomited almost daily right when I'd brush my teeth

 

[TexasErin]

Alphabet soup- I should have mentioned that they did do a blood test for the CA-125 on Wednesday. I haven't heard anything yet. Hopefully I can find out tomorrow when I call. The Dr. did tell me that sometimes you can test positive for the marker and not have ovarian cancer- or vice versatile.

Darcy- gluten allergy has crossed my mind. With my love of junk food, I kind of hope it's my gall bladder instead, lol. But I do have some of the symptoms of that.

Handbag Lady- sounds a lot like how I feel. I feel queasy a lot of the time. I went to my mother's yesterday and she wanted to know what restaurant coupons I wanted that she wasn't going to use. It made me feel gross to even think about food.

 

[loganpaulsmom]

I would DEFINITELY head to an ER and really make sure they dot their i's and cross their t's..

I was lucky enough to have a physicians assistant who did that for me back in July of last year.. I had a pain in my hip for like 4 months that I kept on pretending wasn't there, until IBprofen wouldn't take care of it anymore..I went to the Er and while i was there a PA ordered what ended up taking 12 hours worth of tests.. I had 3 kinds of ultra sounds.. Xrays 2 different times a cat scan and blood tests..
Blood tests = normal..
ultra sounds= normal..
x ray= see something not really sure
cat scan= still see the same thing but think its just sludge in the gallbladder..
referred to a surgeon and ordered to get a MRI..
MRi comes back abnormal..
Surgery ordered for my gallbladder.. laproscopic, day surgery.. NO BIG DEAL..
4 days later.. fever and NOT feeling good.. back to ER.. Bleeding internally.. required 2 blood transfusions and an emergency surgery to repair my bleed.. 3 days later get advanced pathology back on gallbladder + for stage 1 gallbladder cancer..I had a 3rd surgery and had some my liver removed to make sure that the cancer had NOT spread to anywhere else..
I am telling you this because.. you need to listen to your body.. and you need to demand you get the tests done.. you know what your normal is.. I am sure that what is going on with you is nothing to the extent that I went through.. I wasnt' having symptoms like you.. that PA saved my life.. at the time I thought it was ridiculous to have all that testing done.. but now 6 months into recovery.. I thank god every day..

 

[cheshireqt]

How scary. I hope you get some answers soon. Not to further scare you but it does sound similar to a friends symptoms with an appendix that was about to rupture. Shooting pain across her abdomen and back, chills and sweats, her body basically freaked out on her sending her every message it could think of for close to 2 weeks before she finally doubled over and could not recover from the intense pain she was experiencing, causing her frightened roomate to drag her to the ER.

 

[Abbie]

I agree, you should head to the ER if for no other reason than to rule out anything heart-related or even a pulmonary embolism.

I second that you can have a normal gallbladder scan but that doesn't necessarily mean it's functioning properly. You really need to escalate it and ask for a HIDA scan (that's the nuclear test) that will tell how well it's actually functioning. Gallbladder can mimic so many other troubles but once it's out, you will feel better!

Good luck, hope you're feeling better soon!