Burning pain under left rib

[JulieB5200]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum.Just wondering if anyone has experienced this horrible pain I am experiencing.So I have suffered with ibs for years but just over a year ago I started having this awful pain in my stomach.It feels strangely connected to my bowel but a totally different pain in a different place.It feels like something is burning a hole in my stomach and is so painful.My doctor thinks gastritis and just tells me to take omeprazole but these tablets tend to cause constipation which can mess up my ibs 😌.I have been waiting for an endoscopy since September but obviously atm things are on the back burner. I am wondering if the pain could be a stomach ulcer?

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Have to tested clear for h pylori?I take it your doctor would have done this

[Wizzysister]

Hallo. After 15 years of IBS (D) and Omeprazole I finally had an endoscopy in November and a hiatus hernia was diagnosed together with oesophagitis. Am now taking Lansoprazolr which is gentler and I have had far fewer gut breakdowns. Worth investigating and good luck.

[JulieB5200 in reply to Wizzysister]

Thank you for your reply.Endoscopy booked for next Friday so hopefully get answers then 👍

[ifiweopfjwfjwef in reply to JulieB5200]

That's wonderful. I hope they will find out what it is!

[ifiweopfjwfjwef]

The burning under the left rib could be due to gastritis but not necessarily. It could also simply be some type of reflux (acid or non-acidic). I was diagnosed with gastritis in the summer of 2019, after having an endoscopy and colonoscopy due to constipation for a few months that just kept getting worse. Ironically not until after the endoscopy I developed reflux.

A year later (this past summer) I also developed the pain under the left rib. In other words, a whole year after suffering with gastritis and reflux.

I know you said you menioned PPIs (Omeprazole etc) are causing constipation for you, but did the medication reduce the burning feeling under your left rib? If so, the burn is most likely heartburn (acid reflux). If not, it could be a non acidic reflux such as bile (which PPIs don't work on) or a gastritis driven pain. In either case you could try to change your diet (temporarily at least) to see if it relieves some of the nasty symptoms. There are a couple of very successful diets that really do work for many people with these problems.

I don't know if it's an ulcer and I doubt anyone could tell you because it would be impossible to indifference from so many other conditions. You really need to wait for the EGD to know for sure.

I hope you feel better soon. GI issues are a living nightmare. I'm at my wits end myself as I remain undiagnozed after nearly two years of testing.

[Iesgobdafydd in reply to ifiweopfjwfjwef]

Interesting what you say about the reflux. Reflux was a once in a blue moon thing for me in spite of having a big hiatus hernia, till I had my endoscopy, after that it still wasn't every day but it was a lot more frequent for a while than it had been, then it gradually went away again. Maybe poking a camera tube down through the valve that's supposed to shut to prevent the acid coming up can weaken the shutting mechanism somehow.

[ifiweopfjwfjwef in reply to Iesgobdafydd]

For me it was totally non-existent before summer of 2019, then it just started all of a sudden (at the age of 40) and it's been chronic 24/7 since. Mine is worse in the evenings. When I wake up and my stomach is empty, the reflux/heartburn is usually very subtle. Then as I eat throughout the day, it gets worse and worse. My reflux is not classic relux that can be eliminated with change of diet or PPIs. I do get partial relief by eating extremely easily digestible, bland foods, but it never goes away totally. I don't have hiatal hernia, ulcers, etc. Tried Omeprazole (little to none effect) and Lansoprazole (zero effect).

I did test positive for methane dominant SIBO and ate antibiotics for that last summer which greatly reduced the reflux, but unfortunately it didn't fix it completely. After I eat, particularly after eating dinner, I experience an early satiety and also a horrible pressure in my chest and esophagus, and a bit of nausea. It keeps feeling this way until my stomach has had a chance to empty some.

I went through a motility study and it revealed gastric emptying for me takes nearly 5 hours and small intestine motility was severely delayed (food stayed in there for 12 hours). All in all the total transit was 67 hours, only 5 hours shy of being considered gastroparesis. I take medication now to speed up the small intestinal dysmotility which helps with the constipation and intestinal pain, but I still have the heartburn everyday.

One thing that I have found out was that after going through a special pH test in the stomach (not the usual 24-hour pH test where you wear the catheter in the throat), was that my stomach seems to have a very low pH which indicates a possible overproduction of acid. It also indicated that I have a malfunctioning pyloric sphincter which either is too loose letting acid and bile back up in the stomach, or too tight and not opening/closing properly which forces acid/bile to build up in the stomach. There is very little information about ways to fix this other than useless exercises etc. There is a doctor in Maryland that uses balloon dilation and some other invasive procedures to correct a non working pylorus but I can't find any statistics about how safe these procedures are or any person that has went through one.

I also don't understand why that would happen all of a sudden, but they say the pylorus can get this way with age.

Sorry for the long message, just wanted to share what I have learned and been through for the past couple years in case it may help someone else to get on track or make some sense of all this.

[JulieB5200 in reply to ifiweopfjwfjwef]

Hiya,thank you for your reply.Endoscopy just been booked for next Friday so hopefully get clarity on it 👍

[Fancyshark]

I wouldn’t take any PPI. I feel This caused me all of the issues I have today. I took PPI for 13 years so if you are going to take it don’t do it for more than two weeks. If you can stand it take an inch size of ginger grade it up and then boil it put it in about 32 ounces of water and drink it every day for three months. This is how I got rid of a lot of my stomach issues. Go natural as much as you can. 13 Years of PPI caused me future SIBO C and now I also have fat malabsorption due to the SIBO. if I never took the PPI my stomach would’ve had the proper HCl it needed to digest food and protect me from the harmful tummy bugs that were coming into my body but sadly I destroy my acid production leaving me with a plethora of other health issues. May I suggest are you low on HCL? My Gastro never even wanted to believe I was low on HCl but I believe I was because when I started taking it the pain went away. However you can do what’s called an acid prep and that is take 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in 1 tablespoon of water and drink it down 20 minutes before food. If this helps this means you’re low on acid but you would have to stick with this for about a week to see. The idea here is sometimes when you have that burning or acid reflux or pain in your chest you actually have two little acid which causes this doctors think it’s because you have too much and then they prescribe the PPI in reality when it’s the other way around. However that is a more functional medical DR approach.

It sucks when doctors don’t know what the hell they’re talking about and we have to suffer. I can also recommend and U can find in eBay these capsules which are from Greece called Chios Masthia. The bottle is dark and light green and white. They come 40 grams. Buy 2 and take 2 a day in the Am 30 min before food and before bed

They work like magic and will clear up H-pylori and gastritis and other stomach issues ❤️

[pump321]

I had IBS for a long time and was prescribed Omeprazole but it didn't suit me so I came off it. I'm so sorry to hear you are suffering with so much pain. It's difficult at the moment to get any help on the NHS. Is there any chance you could pay to go privately to try and find out what the trouble is. I know this would involve huge cost if you had to pay for tests unless you have private medical insurance. I also had diverticulitis as well and suffered terribly. I changed my diet and just ate very plain food for ages and after taking months and month of antibiotics things cleared up. I wish I could help you more as I know how ill I felt for so long. I do hope you are able to get some help before too long.

[JulieB5200 in reply to pump321]

Thank you for taking your time out to reply. I am having an endoscopy next week so I’m hoping that will give some clarity on what’s causing it.x

[pump321 in reply to JulieB5200]

It's such good news that you are having an endoscopy next week. Sorry, I just saw that you had already written that. It's awful having tummy problems and being in so much pain. I was convinced I must have something really wrong to be in so much pain but I think it was just infection or IBS. Good luck and you will find out a bit more. Thinking of you x

[JulieB5200 in reply to pump321]

Thank you xx

[Alpaca20]

Hi I have had this burning pain left side under rib for years after my first pregnancy ... had ultrasounds and endoscopy & barium swallow xray (although this wasn’t for the pain it was because I have had trouble with my swallowing for the last 16 months currently under review having mri next week on my neck ) doctor doesn’t seem that bothered by the pain in my tummy . Told me could be muscular ! It comes and goes and is tender to touch . I’m on esomeprazole (started on omeprazole then lansporazole as originally treated for acid reflux). Went to dietician tried acid free diet made no difference to my symptoms . I hope you get some help with yours and your endoscopy went ahead it’s so hard to get appointments at the moment x

[JulieB5200 in reply to Alpaca20]

Hi,yes my endoscopy went ahead but surprisingly they said they can’t see anything !So I reckon they’ll blame ibs for this new symptom although it’s not that new!I have had it on n off for over a year but with covid everything takes longer. I think the omeprazole are making me very constipated but I was put on them to reduce acid.Now doc has prescribed that one you mentioned esomeprazole to see how I get on with that instead.Things get very baffling when you have pain but even the experts aren’t sure what’s causing it.My consultant puts it down to ibs constipation n he maybe right considering nothing a miss in my stomach.Hope you get some answers.Thank you for your reply xx

[Red2]

Hello, suffering similar under ribs pain on left side with bloating etc. Has anyone been tested for under acid production or if the pain is from the pancreas? I've was diagnosed with IBS over 20 years ago and had plenty of tests along the way but no other diagnosis. I was told I had tiny gallstones that can cause more problems than large one but that was the radiologist who said that.

I'm considering paying to test for SIBO but I do worry that its the gallstones maybe blocking a tube via my pancreas. Its getting a doctor who understands and who is willing to explore other avenues other than their usual?

[JulieB5200 in reply to Red2]

Hi I have been offered no further tests after my endoscopy came back clear.They putting it down to ibs which seems to be the easy option!Like you I was diagnosed over 20 years ago with ibs but this is a new pain I don’t recognise? I also had a ct scan but nothing showed up so I am clueless really. Sorry I can’t help.

[JulieB5200]

Hi,no I still don’t know what causes the pain.However I am back under gastroenterology due to a very low iron level. I have been advised by them to stop esomeprazope which I have not taken now for over a month.I’m pleased to say I’m no worse without it so I definitely think all my pains must be bowel related.

[JulieB5200]

I really hope you do.They don’t know what’s causing mine but I think it’s pretty obvious my gut isn’t absorbing it from my food.I have been having iron infusions every 12 months for the past 6 years or so.Let me know how you get on if you don’t mind, thank you 😊