Question:
What is this pain?

I have a pain under my left rib cage it started 3 days ago and at times it it sharp but than it will ease off. It does not fell like a mucle pain , it feels like it is in my intestine. I am 1 yr out ryn.    — VERONICA Z. (posted on June 6, 2004)

June 6, 2004
Sorry, I really don't have an answer for you but would like to share that you are not alone. I started having this in January and it is progressively worse. It comes and goes and I am a year from RNY 6-9-03 also. I have had a Cat scan, Upper and lower barium GI and my surgery is intact. The only thing they think may be happening is: another hernia (I have a huge 5-6 mo. pregnant looking incisional hernia) or adhesions in the bowel just starting or just really bad gas and possible partial bowel twists. Good luck and I would see my doctor! At this point they say the only way to know for sure is open me up and look--guess I'll wait and endure the horrific painful episodes....
   — dill P.

June 6, 2004
I know what you are talking about...I had the same pain last week, on my left side, right under my ribcage. If it had been on the right side I would have thought it was my appendix. However, after several hours of double-over pain, I finally drank a lot of water really fast (doing that water-loading) and within 10-15 minutes, I was in the bathroom with bad diarrhea! But the pain left just as fast as it came!! Hope this helps you. Good luck! Danette
   — Danette C.

June 7, 2004
Hey there, As a nurse, your symptoms sound suspiciously like pancreatitis. This is an inflammation of your pancreas. You can ask your doctor to have blood drawn to see what your pancreatic enzyme levels are. If they are in fact elevated, then you can usually assume that it's acute pancreatitis. But you really do need to see your PCP to get this test done and to have an accurate diagnosis. Good luck! (I am not a doctor, and this is for informational purposes only, not to be construde as a medical diagnosis)
   — Marni