Hi there...I am a 35 year old female who has been experiencing rib pain on my right side. I have not had any severe attaches but more of a gnawing, aching pain. Sometimes I get pain in my back as well.
I went to my regular doctor who ordered an ultrasound, which came back negative and said my kidney/liver/pancreas appear "normal", and a full blood work up that showed elevated liver enzymes and elevated pancreatic enzymes (amylase and lipase). This scared me because my mom passed away of Pancreatic Cancer 6 months ago.
Since these tests returned my primary doctor send me to a GI who ordered a hida scan with CCK and more blood work. I have not heard anything, although it has been 3 days since the scan and a week since the blood. I did not have an attack under the scan but felt extremely nauseated after the scan (about 20 minutes after the cck was injected).
Is there anyone else out there that has a clue? There was no other cancer in my family, but obviously this scares me.
I understand that you are scared. I have been having an upper right pain going on two years. I have had all the tests and the only thing slightly wrong is an elevated high normal range liver enzymes. Pancreatic cancer runs on my mother's side of the family but my doctorS have said that is not the source of my problem because one of the tests would have shown it. It still doesn't give me the peace of mind that I am looking for and I am still looking for answers. So far all I get is IBS since nothing else has been found. Can you tell me what your levels are for your liver and pancreas? Thanks and take care!
I have a 1.8 cm gallstone and my surgeon mentioned that elevated liver enzymes could indicate gallstones. They found my gallstone by doing an ultrasound. You may want to get one so you can find out. I also have pain in my right rib area often, that goes through my back and up my shoulder. It is very common with gallstones. Hope this helps - good luck!
Hi Acutdan, I appreciate your response. The liver levels were approximately 3 X the upper normal limit (AST and ALT were approximately 150 - 160). The pancreatic enzymes were marginally high at approximately 6 - 10 points over the upper limit (amylase and lipase). Given my history my primary was a little concerned.
I had a gastric bypass in 2001 and lost about 120 lbs.. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with what I'm going through now. I also have a very stressful job where between my commute and work I'm gone from 5 am to 6 pm every night. I just don't know what to do except wait. I'm assuming if it were really bad the doctor would have called by now, right (approximately 9 days for blood and 1 week for hida scan). The ultra sound was negative and said no lesions on liver, pancrease, kidneys or gallbladder.
Just a thought. I had a friend who had gastric bypass a couple of years ago and they took out her gallbladder because they said when you lose a lot of weight you will have trouble with it and within a year she would have to have it out any way.
I have a 1.7 cm gallstone and I lost over a hundred pounds in the last couple of years without surgery...so...make them check that gallbladder. I am having mine out next week....
Gallstones in the ducts can cause liver and pancreas issues, because all three share a common duct into the intestines. So if a gallstone gets into that common duct, it can cause issues. With rapid weight loss, the fat is getting metabolized and released into the bloodstream. The liver filters out the cholesterol and dumps excess in with the bile. So you get a lot of cholesterol in the bile which then turns into stones.
I am definitely betting on the gallbladder from what you describe (and it sounds like your doc is too, with the HIDA scan). It is possible for there to be stones (especially small ones, which are the ones that get into ducts) and not show up on ultrasound. My ultrasound report said the largest stone they found was 1 cm, and then when they took the gallbladder out they found stones 2 cm in diameter.
