A few weeks ago I was in such extreme pain I felt forced to contact 111 and 2 marvellous paramedics ultimately gave me a thorough examination. In my mind my symptoms pointed to a recurrence of dilated bile duct or gallstones, with which the paramedics agreed. A follow up with my GP a couple of days afterwards queried whether the pain could have been triggered by by my spine. And an ultrasound 5 days later didn’t show anything apart from osteoarthritis in my spine, no gall stones!
I am totally nonplussed because the pain above my ribs on my right side was so typical of gall bladder flares.
Then I read about a fellow PMR sufferer’s experience with oesophageal spasm and it seemed to tick the boxes I’m looking for in case I get a similar flare in the future. But does anyone know whether my scan would have shown it if it were such a spasm?
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AnniesRyder5
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Probably not because the spasm is like any muscle spasm and when it relaxes the pain goes - many tests only show something when it is actually happening at the time it is done. And many scans aren't to show the actual problem - they are to rule out others.
where the spasm can be seen to squeeze the barium to show the narrowing. It depends what type of oesophageal spasm you have - some are just for a short time and then gone for months.
I have had those spasms that last about 5 minutes. Very uncomfortable and makes my chest tight and goes around to the back near the scapula area. I’ve had other pain that was in the rib area and this is due to costochondritis. I had it in my sternum to where the paint radiated and thought I was having a heart attack. Went to urgent care that could do diagnostics and got this diagnosis. Not sure if you have ruled out this type of diagnosis. Hope you feel better.
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