J20

Hello all,

I am a 21 year old female from the UK, and I am suffering from what drs think is gallstones.

In the middle of June, I was woken up with the same pain at the same time of the day for about a week. It was in the centre of my chest. I thought it may be heartburn, as we were on holiday from work, so we had been snacking late at night. I thought this was the cause.

That stopped after about a week, and I began to get pains just under my right boob. They wouldn’t last very long, but they would make me feel really faint, hot and clammy and sick. I got these mainly in the morning, irregularly. I thought it was indigestion, and my friend worried me by telling me I may be pregnant, as I had never suffered from indigestion before. However, my period soon followed, so that blew that out of the window.

Anyway, I thought nothing else of the pains. Until last weekend. I went car racing for the first time in ages, and I had a ¼ lb cheeseburger with chips from one of those greasy vans. I have been following the Weight Watchers diet and have lost over a stone and a half, and this is the first time I have had this food since starting. Anyway, after an hour or so, I had really bad pains under my right boob again, making me feel sick and generally unwell. They only lasted about 15 minutes, and disappeared as soon as they came. I just thought it was indigestion again. Sunday morning, I had poached egg and baked beans on toast for breakfast, and ended up with the same pains an hour later. This continued throughout the day, and indigestion remedies were not making the pains any better. I have never felt anything so bad. The pain seems to be mainly under my right boob, but also makes the rest of my tummy feel funny.

Anyway, I was nearly reduced to tears on Sunday night because the pain was so bad, so we went to A & E. They took blood, and the results came back showing I had an infection and possibly gall stones. I was kept in overnight and given IV antibiotics. I wasn’t allowed to eat anything on Monday because I was waiting for an ultrasound. However, this didn’t happen on Monday so I asked whether I could go home, and wait for an outpatients appt for the ultrasound. They said that was fine, as I wasn’t in any pain then, and they had switched my antibiotics to oral ones. My temperature had also gone down.

I am on Metronidazole and Cefalexin tablets three times a day, and have been taking Co-Codamol for pain. The only thing is, my tummy aches almost all day. It’s nothing like the pain I had before but it feels uncomfortable, almost like wind. Could this be the antibiotics?

My ultrasound appointment is next Thursday. Will I be OK to wait until then? I should have waited in hospital I guess, but there was no guarantee as to when my scan would be, and I would have just been bored. I also didn’t sleep and that made me feel even worse. They also said it was fine for me to go home. I’m really worried this is going to turn nasty now! I’m also paranoid that I am jaundice, as that means a stone is blocking the duct, doesn’t it?!

The main thing I wanna ask is, does this sound like gallstones?! I always thought it was something old people had – I’m only 21! Could they be wrong with their diagnosis?!

So sorry this is really long, I guess I had a lot to get off my chest!

Thanks for any info anyone can give,

Jo xx