severe stomach pain

by Ruzo
(Tanzania)

I have had severe stomach pain for over a year, from last year may up to
now.Iam experiencing the pain on my whole upper abdomen layer, just after the
chest.sometimes I feel the pain originates from the right side of the upper
abdomen.it grows chocking even on the sides of my chest.The pain has always
been constantly increasing from when I started feeling the changes in the last
year.If I was not to sleep at night by laying down on bed,then I would be
feeling upper abdomen pain 24/7.Thanks to God, when I sleep I feel ok. The
worst thing of all about my pain is, the pain gets worst when I seat down. As I
daily work while seating down, this has been a discomfort in my line of
work,and I feel that my efficiency at work is declined by this pain, alot of
it.Normally to avoid discomfort at work, i use to tie my stomach with my belt,
n it feels a lit bit better but not for long. I have also noticed I can't take
that amount of food I use to take 2 year back and feels ok with the size of my
stomach.Now adays I eat a lit and I feel the size of stomach is small for the
food I have taken. When I work in the morning, my stomach is empty , I feel lit
bit ok, after I have taken break fast, the pain intensify, so as lunch and
dinner.I normally feel lit bit comfortable on pressing of my stomach,so I use
my belt to tie sometimes, until it does not help any longer.If I was to express
the pain in one sentence, I would say, I FEEL LIKE THE MIDDLE PART OF MY UPPER
ABDOMEN IS HOLLOW AND THINGS ON ARROUND THIS REGION TEND TO BE SUCKED, the
physical resistance of these things/organs results to the pain am feeling. Iam
saying like that because I suffered for one year going around with different
doctors and hospitals with no luck.
TESTS DONE:
1.Endoscopic, done in India,
2.Coronoscopy, done in India,
3.Ultasound, done in India,
4.CT Scan, done in Tanzania.

Non of this have seem to point out direct what problem exact I have.One of my
friend once told me I could possibly be having IBS, and another suggested that
perhaps I could take GASTRIC PUMP INHABITORS TABLETS. They said these due to
their experience.
MY PAIN IS AROUND
1. UPPER ABDOMEN,LEFT TO RIGHT,
2.GOES TO THE CHEST, chocking,SOMETIMES LIKE BURNING SENSETION,THOUGH NOT SO
DEEP.
3. THE PAIN TO THE BACK TOO.

PLZ, help me with anything you have on this.
My Regards,
Thanks.

---

Dear Ruzo,

Thank you for the detailed description of your stomach pain, ongoing for over a year now. How old are you? Do you smoke, how many pints of beer or glasses of wine would you typically drink a day if you drink alcohol? Is there anyone in your family with stomach problems? Have you been losing weight?

What you've described here sounds like a form of dyspepsia we call Functional dyspepsia. It is a form of irritation of the wall of the gullet and stomach without any obvious physical sign on endoscopy just as you've found out.

The good news is that you have had these important test and they all came back normal. If you had anything that is potentially dangerous as the cause of your stomach pain, they would have picked it up on endoscopy.

The story you've volunteered - upper abdominal discomfort, spreads to the back, worse on eating and making you feel bloated (easily feeling full after meals), is quite indicative of dyspepsia.

I would have been worried if you had not been thoroughly investigated. Have you had stool or breath test done to exclude H.pylori? This is a bug (bacteria) that causes upper abdominal pain and discomfort and it is curable if confirmed on testing with symptoms disappearing within weeks.

I agree with the suggestion that you might benefit from PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitors) like Lansoprazole or Omeprazole, (30mg or 20mg once daily).

Please see your doctor again and be assessed for the suitability of these medications and try them out for 4 - 6 weeks and see if they will make any difference. If you have not had H.pylori test done, it would be worth doing.

We would be pleased to have you come back here to update us on how things went.

Get well, Ruzo, and thanks again for using our free online resource on abdominal pain.


Dr Edema
Abdopain.com