Diagnose me
I've been in pain since Friday afternoon. It hurts so bad that I went to the urgent care center yesterday, and I plan to get a second opinion from my primary care physician in the next day or so. In the meantime, here are my symptoms. What do you think I have?
- Friday afternoon (around 2pm), I was sitting at my desk at work and suddenly got a sharp pain in my right side, just under my ribs, like a stitch that you get when you’re running. It hurt only upon inhaling, and changing positions did not help. The discomfort continued into the evening but did not interfere with my activities (in fact, I went to the Eric Clapton concert with Mr. G, which I will post on later).
- Saturday morning, my side still hurt, and the pain increased as the day wore on. Again, changing positions or stretching did not help. By evening, the pain was constant and no longer caused only by inhaling. In fact, the pain was worst when I exhaled, especially when I coughed, sneezed, or laughed. I did not sleep well that night, waking up often due to pain in my side.
- Sunday morning, my side was slightly tender to the touch, and the pain had not abated. In addition, my right shoulder was feeling achey. I went to the urgent care center, thinking that my symptoms could indicate a gallbladder attack. However, the doctor said that my gallbladder was fine. The nurse took my temperature but did not tell me what it was, so I assume it was also normal. The doctor then gave me a possible diagnosis (to be verified only with the appearance of a symptom that I do not yet have) and instructed me to take Tylenol for the pain. I took some as soon as I got home; it helped for about an hour, and then the pain came back. I stayed in bed almost all day and felt better in the evening, but after sitting at the computer for about a half-hour, I started to hurt again. The pain got worse as the evening drew on and when I laid down to go to sleep, I had three very sharp pains that made me gasp. I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but when I turned on my left side, the pain went away. I ended up sleeping very well.
- Today when I woke up, I felt that the pain was gone. However, by the time I was ready for work, I was in mild pain again. Now the pain in my side is duller and it feels a little deeper than before. My shoulder still feels tense and achey. And it is still painful to breathe deeply or to laugh.
Comments
Intestinal obstruction?
Whatever it is, I hope it either goes away soon or that someone can treat you for it!
Kidneys sit in the back behind the lowest ribs and a bit under.
Or ovaries?
the place you describe sounds like where liver and duodenum are, but you can't trust where the pain feels like it is... there's a lot of funny stuff going on with nerves servicing different areas and how you interpret the pain stimuli.
The pain in the shoulder could be something pushing up on your diaphragm. I had a hysterectomy where they left an airbubble inside my ventral cavity by mistake. It bubbled upwards, the way air does, and bothered somewhere over the liver and it gave me a lot of pain in the shoulder... they said that was typical, and meant nothing.
I hope you feel better soon.
I am back from seeing my regular doctor, and his diagnosis was vastly different from the urgent care doctor's. The urgent care doctor had diagnosed shingles, and he said that a rash should manifest itself on my back in the next day or so.
My regular doctor, however, was much more thorough in his palpation, and his verdict is costochondral separation. Apparently, ribs are connected by cartilage, and sometimes this cartilage can pop off during exaggerated movements.
I asked my doctor if perhaps the undulations we were doing in bellydance class on Wednesday could have caused this, and he said, "BINGO!" He did not say that I had to stop bellydancing, though (whew!). Instead he just prescribed Tylenol (apparently a cure-all) and said the injury should heal with time.
Thanks to everyone for your ideas ... I was glad that no one suggested shingles because I was really hoping that's not what it was. :)
It looks like I am too late as well!! I was going to say a pulled muscle:) Nothing fancy. I'm glad you have a diagnosis and are doing okay.
Staci
I'm glad it's nothing too serious and hope you're feeling better soon.
Shingles?!?! I've had shingles, and for me, it wasn't really anything like what you described...
unfortunately, i've been told that some doctors declare that whenever there's pain that seems to be musculo-skeletal in that area - it's often a fall-back, like "gastroentritis" is just "you have an upset tummy and i have no idea why"...
did the doctor do a chest x-ray? your symptoms sound an awful lot like pleurisy, which is an inflammation of the pleura, the tissue surrounding your lungs, protecting them from the ribs. they can get inflamed and everytime you breathe, it pushes against your ribs and hurts. it's not serious, usually goes away in a few days, and a chest x-ray should show if that's the problem.
(i'm not a doctor, but i've had both of these diagnoses)
your doctor's diagnosis does seem the most likely, given the belly-dancing. you should ask your instructor if she knows anyone who had a similar problem.