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I am 36 yrs old woman and have had sometimes severe left sided pelvic pain for the past 3 months. The pain is sometimes under my rib and extends down into my pelvis about belly button range. It feels like deep pressure pushing outwards. Eating does not make the pain worse, but it is a pretty constant pain. The pain is worse some days than others, but I can't really figure out what aggravates the pain. The only thing I can think is the day my pain is really bad I am pretty nauseous and lack of appetite. I usually don't feel really really bad two days in a row, so I wonder if eating normally makes my day worse the next day. Can it take more than 12 hrs to digest your food, and could this cause severe pain?

My drs really don't know what is causing my pain. They have done a bone scan and an ultrasound of the pelvis that came back normal. A CT scan was also done which showed mild diverticulosis of the sigmoid colon, small amount of fluid in my pelvis, and my uterius was tilted.

I have a history of endometriosis and several surgeries to treat that so I probably have adhesions, but wouldn't think the pain from that would be so high. I also have a history of abnormal menstrual bleeding which the dr always said was hormonal imblances, but now wants to do an endometrial biopsy too. I am scheduled for a colonscopy on Wednesday, and on Thursday I will be having laproscopic surgery.

I have some change in the freqency of my BM's, but no bleeding in my stools or diarrhea. It is more I have to go tot he bathroom many times a day as if my colon will not empty all at once.

I do hope they find something during these tests....obviously I don't want to have anything serious, but I know I shouldn't be in this much pain. I hope to get some answers this week, but if anyone has any suggestions as to what could be causing this I would appreciate it so much.

Have they checked to see if its your gallbladder. I had very similar symptoms and my ultrasound came back clear - they ended up doing a HIDA scan which found that it wasn't working properly.

What is a HIDA Scan? Did you have left sided pain? If my gallblader wasn't functioning properly would it show up on a CT scan?

gallbladder is on the right side under your liver, so the pain would not be in your left side. From your description that area is your spleen and stomach and large intestine, also your kidney is deep in that area too. Get an MRIof the entire abdomen, upper and lower. Theres so many things in that area so I have no idea what it could be, I just wanted you to know that the gallbladder is NOT on your left side.

Thank you. The general surgeon keeps asking me about pain after eating. He said something about "reverse gallbladder", but since I don't have pain soon after eating it probably isn't that.

HI

I have very very similar pain, and it's diverticulitis. I'm wondering if the CT missed it?

Also, the endo that I had didn't show up on ultrasound, so that's a possibility, too.

How are your pancreatic enzymes?

Good luck with your surgery.

ShadowRose40,

My CT showed mild diverticulosis of the sigmoid colon, but the dr said my pain is higher than where the sigmoid colon is. My pain is under my ribs and extends downward. I have also thought about endo, as it does not show up on tests. The drs have said that it would strange if it was that high but not an impossibility. I hope that we find some answers on Thursday with my surgery. I just want to feel better.

I'm not sure about my pancreatic enzymes, is that something that would show up on a blood test?

although it is apparently very rare, my sister in law had to go to doctors for years for right sided neck pain and ear pain before she was diagnosed with enodmetriosis in her neck (her pain was triggered by her ovulation )....again, it is rare, but apparently in her it displaced in far off spots in her body..... just thought I would let you know that it can happen sometimes.

Wow, right sided neck pain. How in the world did they finally find out that it was endo. Did she also have endo in her pelvis and other parts of her abdomen. Stranger things have happened I'm sure. I had my colonscopy today and everything looked perfect, so that is a good thing. So I will have my laproscopic surgery tomorrow. I just hope they find something. I figure they will probably find something as everytime I have had surgery there has been endo and scar tissue. We'll see. Thank you for the info.

TripsN1
Yes, my sister-in-law had two surgeries for endometriosis in her pelvis....she was having a hard time getting pregnant and did an exploratory laproscopy and was loaded with a ton with endometriosi,then proceeded to have two endo surgerie., After the surgery she was put on Lupron for 6 months, then got pregnant several months after she was off of the lupron.\ Before dianosis Dr's couldnt figure out what was wrong with her and she went to tons of dr's and they thought it was all in her head, then she found a dr several states away that specializes in endometriosis and he diagnosed her(but could not operate due to risky area of the neck)
Why are you having laproscopic surgery tomorrow? Are you nervous? Good luck!!!!
Oh, and I noticed you responded to my first post in the digestive board! Thanks... we have a similar symptom ..\Take Care

Was the dr your SIL went to located in Oregon? I won't mention names, but I went to an endo specialist there in 1992 and he was wonderful.

I am having laproscopic surgery tomorrow to try to find out what is going on. The drs are finally listening to me, and realize it is not normal to have this much pain. I have had laproscopic surgery in the past, so I am not nervous. Seems like we have similiar symptoms. I have had the feeling under my left rib for about 1 1/2 yrs now and the past few months it has gotten much worse. I did have mono this August, but my spleen seems to be fine according to the US and CT scan. I still can't figure out what triggers it. It is almost always there, just some days worse than others. On my "bad" days I also get nauseous and don't eat much. The past couple weeks I was thinking it was due to what I was eating the day before a bad day. But yesterday was on a strict liquid diet to my colonoscopy today and this morning I still had the pain worse than some days. So that just threw my theory out the window. The drs are really confused as to what this is, I just wish they could find out. Is your pain constant, or does it come and go?

I wish you the best luck, and hopefully we will both find answers soon.

I seem to be experiencing something a little similiar...pain that is higher up under the ribs. Mine is on the right side however. But the pains spread all over the abdomen. They seem to begin just below my right ribs, extending to the back which is a burning pain. Then down into my hip area. I also have pain down where my ovaries are located. Sometimes the pain shoots across my abdomen to the left side but not very often. The pain is not constant. It comes and goes throughout the day for any where from 15 minutes to an hour. The other night I was at a school function for my son when the pains came on and I broke out in to a sweat and was almost doubled over with pain. An hour later I could just faintly feel the pains. I am worried there is something very serious wrong. I had myself convinced I had ovarian cancer but my ultrasound did not show anything. A little bit of fluid in both ovaries, which they said may have been a ruptured cyst, but since the pain has increased since then I really doubt it. I go in to see the OB/GYN today to get my colposcopy biopsy results on cervical cancer. I am hoping he has some answers for me, but I have a feeling he will be stumped too. I am halfway through my cycle right now, so I am doubting endo....don't those pains come with your period rather than 2 weeks before? I also have a colonoscopy ordered for the 29th in case it is intestinal. I do have a lot of intestinal cramps but they are minor compared to the other pain I am in.

I hope they find some answers for you soon. My dr said he would suspect my gallblader if I had right sided pain. I would also talk to you dr about the possibility of endometriosis. This can cause severe pain. When I had it in the past it not only caused irregular cycles, heavy bleeding, but my pain was throughout the month. Some people only have pain once a month but this was not the case for me. Do you only have pain 1/2 way through your cycle. If this is the cause it may be causing you pain when you ovulate, but I wouldn't think it should make you have enough pain to cause you to be doubled over in pain. Good luck wiht you colonoscopy.

doctor does not believe any of my symptoms are pelvic related. He now thinks I have stones or a pinched nerve. I have a CT Scan ordered for tomorrow so we will see. I am so relieved that he has ruled out ovarian cancer and cervical cancer!!!!!!! He doesn't think it has anything to do with endo...not the right symptoms! I truly trust him as he is one of the best doctors in the state!

Tripsn1
I believe my sister in law went to Atlanta, Georgia....
Got to get my daughter to bed so I will post more later
How did you surgery go?

ksc1968,
My surgery went well yesterday. All my organs are fine but they did find severe adhesions in my lower abdomen from my previous surgeries. We are hoping it was pulling on something and causing the pain higher. So far I haven't had the severe pain that I have been having. ll have some discomfort in my back probably related to my back, but not the severe pain under my ribs. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is all that it was. I questioned the drs a few months ago about scar tissue and adhesions, and they didn't think this could be causing my pain. I'd love to prove them wrong. The pain I was having before on my bad days is probably just as bad as the surgical pain I am having now. I'm a little sore, but feeling pretty good. Thanks for thinking about me.