chest or pouch pain?

Got a pain question… for the past week or so I’ve been having pain off and on in my upper chest. About 2 or 3 inches above my breast bone, usually right in the centre, but sometimes off to the left a bit. I wake up with it at night, but for the past couple of days it has been getting worse and happening through the day. I don’t think I’m having a heart attack or anything, and it doesn’t really seem to fit the symptoms of a gall stone attack either – from what I’ve read, the pain is not severe enough. It’s annoying pain, not debilitating or anything. The achiness comes for about 20 minutes or so, then slacks off for a while. Sometimes comes right back – other times its gone for hours.  Usually more of an ache feeling, but once in a while it is kind of sharp. It doesn’t seem to relate to what I’ve eaten either, so I’m at a bit of a loss trying to figure this out!   Before anyone decides to reprimand me for using this as an emergency room (LOL) – I do know to go to the doctor and I have made an appointment on Monday to talk about this. If it gets too painful I will go to Emerg, but I’m just wondering if anyone has had anything like this and what their experiences are. 

Thanks for sharing!

Laura
 

Hi Laura,

I'm glad you're going to see the doctor, and I do agree to go to Emerg if it gets any worse.  One thing it could be is the acid in your stomach.  If it is this, you may need a perscription for an antacid like prevacid or something.  Zantac may not have any effect if it isn't strong enough.  When I've had attacks for gallbladder (and phantom gallbladder as I don't have one anymore) they were severe.  If it is acid related, one thing you can try at night is to increase your pillows and sleep on an incline (or sleep in a lazy boy recliner).  Some people say it helps as opposed to laying flat.

Good luck with it, keep us posted.

Cathy

Thanks Cathy,

I'm going to try an over the counter Zantac, etc. tonight.  I'll talk to the pharmacist to see what might be the best best.  Before surgery I had GERD, but haven't had any pain or that awful reflux until recently.  It's worth a shot!  I"ll try it and lots of pillows and see if that helps.

Thanks  :)

Laura

 Hi Laura,

If it is GERD, it could be hurting more now becuase where the acid i****ting with your pouch being smaller.  The lining is thinner closer to the top, and seems to be more sensitive.

Cathy

I second the idea that it is likely acid. What do you take for a PPI?

Hi Pat,

I'm not taking anything yet, but plan on trying today!  LOL  Wish me luck!

Laura

Laura does it feel almost like a charlie horse in the centre? like your insides are flipping inside out?

I have had this pain for so long.....I take papaya enzyme and a few sips of water and it vanishes momentarily....and the pain is severe enough to wake me from a dead sleep!

Also - usually happens on an empty pouch

Hope you find some relief - the papaya works for me

Not really that severe, but if the acid thing doesn't work, I will definitely try papaya enzyme.  The sweetness of hte ones I have is horrible, but anything is better than being kept awake!  LOL

Thanks for the idea  :)

Laura

Hi Laura,

This sounds almost identical to what I had a few weeks prior to my surgery. It got worse when I ate or drank anything, so I went to see a specialist to see if I needed to have a scope done.  She told me that she was almost 100% certain that it was caused by my acid reflux and prescribed Rabeprazole for me, which cleared up the problem right away.  When I came home from the hospital, I had a script for 30 days for Prevacid - when that's done, I'll switch back to my Rabeprazole.  I'm not saying that this is what your problem is but it sure sounds like acid reflux or GERD.  Good luck!

Deb