severe epigastric pain

Dear Dec. Crew, I have had 2 episodes of epigastric pain in the past week. The first one lasted 3 hours and went away with rest...no pain meds were required. The last one on Sat. night lasted for 5 hours. The sensation of a knife sticking into me underneath my sternum was so intense that I sat in the car with the AC on for over an hour before getting up the courage to try to make it into the house. It did not get better until a MS Contin and a tablespoon of liquid Vicodan were in my system for over 2 hours (Yes, keep those post op pain meds around because you will NEVER know when you will need them again!). I called my PMD who ordered a gallbladder US. Per the US tech, she saw no stones or sludge. Has anyone else had symptoms like this that were not gallbladder related? Angie 302/198

Hi Angie... I have been having some of that pain in just the last few days. It was really bad last night, but I attributed it to dumping. I thin****ep going thru episodes of being lactose intolerant, and thats what makes me dump. I can eat sugars (I know I shouldn't, but I do limit it) and I can eat small amounts of fats, and even bread without trouble, but I have just been having way too much trouble with milk. And I love milk, and it is a fairly good source of protien too. It has been giving me fits of gas, but in just the last couple of days I have been having the severe epigastric pain and getting all sleepy and stupid. I don't even get this way with alcohol... milk does it though. Hope you can figure out what is causing your pain. It almost makes it tolerable if you just know what is causing it... Susan

Hi Angie, I had the the same pain, that then radiated to between my shoulder blades. I thought it was a heart attack. I also had an US done and was told that I had no stones or sludge. Well, here it is, over a month later, and I just went thru gall bladder removal on monday. So I am back on the couch watching Dr. Phil. Make sure that you talk to your surgeon and have another US done...it will save you lots of pain in the long run. Good Luck, Cheryl