Sharp pain on upper left side of stomach

by Jeanie Griggs.

Sharp pain on upper left side of stomach help!


Hi I have had multiple lumbar and neck surgeries. I have also had foot surgeries as well.


The last three months I have told my doctor of the upper left side sharp pain. They have either played if off with oh maybe it is Irritable bowel syndrome etc. Now they are finally sending me to a gastroenterologist but not until June. So I have been trying to wait until I see the specialist.


However the last two days I went from being constipated to having diarrhea like crazy and gas that is not normal. I wake up in severe pain on my left side and it is a very sharp pain and it will radiate across the top of my stomach. The sharp pain starts close to the belly button. I felt sick today like what ever was in my stomach was turning and I felt a little dizzy like i was going to vomit.

I am not sure what to do because I am not sure if I should be worried or not and i do not want to go to the ER unless if is something I could wait on. However it is bad. It comes and it goes but it is getting more frequent.


Thanks so much for any help you can give.

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Dear Jeanie,

I am so sorry to learn of the troubling left sided abdominal pain you are experiencing, especially over the last two days. It sounds like you've been through a lot.

From what you described, I am afraid, it sounds like you will need to go to ER and be examined. It might be that your constipation is so bad, that you are now having what doctors call constipation with overflow diarrhoea.

This often happens if one is severely constipated, and the faeces starts getting liquified by bowel bacteria and the surface layer passes or leaks out as diarrhoea on top of the constipation.

There is also a very slight chance that you might have a partial bowel blockade - what is often referred to as subacute bowel obstruction.

The only way to be sure is to be seen and examined by a competent healthcare professional.

Jeanie, we sincerely wish you all the best as you make a move to ER now and try to get to the bottom of this sharp pain on upper left side of your stomach (abdomen).

Dr O Edema

Abdopain.com