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What Causes Recurrent Stomach Pain Followed By Diarrhea And Left-sided Chest Pain?
Question: I've had stomach pains on and off for the last month. The pain is usually right in the center of my stomach just below my rib cage. It also extends to the left side of my upper abdomen. It comes on gradually like clock work, usually in the afternoons and gets worse by the time I lay down to go to bed. Yesterday it came on very strong and started to bother me while I was at the gym. I was in the bathroom for a few hours with diarrhea, which seemed to somewhat help the pain. I was then woken up in the middle of the night with sharp stabbing pains in the same location, it radiated up into my left chest, and I felt the pain in the middle of my back. I was able to get it to go away somewhat by sitting upright and slow down my breathing. Usually antacids help settle it down, but only for a short duration. I've been wanting to be seen by a doctor, but I haven't due to not wanting to pay high medical bills (my insurance won't be active until 2/1). I'm just not sure if I should go in and be checked out anyways since the pain was so severe last night. My stomach has a dull ache today and I have some slight discomfort in my back.
Brief Answer:
Upper GI Endo, Ultrasound and some blood investigations.
Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thanks for your query and an elucidate history.
Noted your history and concerns.
Since you have pains on and off for the last month having severe pain yesterday followed by diarrhea, increase in pain and radiation to the left chest and the back, temporary relief by taking oral antacid, you should seek a medical consultation and if possible to for further investigations.
Ultrasonography of the abdomen.
X-ray of the abdomen in standing position, followed by CT scan if there are positive findings.
Examination of the stool and blood.
Upper GI endoscopy.
EKG as there is a pain in the left side of the chest
This type of pain can occur in conditions like:
Gastric ulcer
Gastroenteritis with acute attack/exacerbation yesterday.
Chronic pancreatitis and there can be more than diseases existing together.
In spite of the insurance problem, it would wise to get these investigations done and to have a clinical evaluation, examination and investigations.
This will give you an early diagnosis to start with so that a proper treatment can be followed to get you symptomatic relief and so on.
Rest of the further investigations can wait till you get the insurance in action.
I hope this answer helps you, please feel free to ask for further relevant queries if you need to or if you feel that there is a gap of communication.
Upper GI Endo, Ultrasound and some blood investigations.
Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thanks for your query and an elucidate history.
Noted your history and concerns.
Since you have pains on and off for the last month having severe pain yesterday followed by diarrhea, increase in pain and radiation to the left chest and the back, temporary relief by taking oral antacid, you should seek a medical consultation and if possible to for further investigations.
Ultrasonography of the abdomen.
X-ray of the abdomen in standing position, followed by CT scan if there are positive findings.
Examination of the stool and blood.
Upper GI endoscopy.
EKG as there is a pain in the left side of the chest
This type of pain can occur in conditions like:
Gastric ulcer
Gastroenteritis with acute attack/exacerbation yesterday.
Chronic pancreatitis and there can be more than diseases existing together.
In spite of the insurance problem, it would wise to get these investigations done and to have a clinical evaluation, examination and investigations.
This will give you an early diagnosis to start with so that a proper treatment can be followed to get you symptomatic relief and so on.
Rest of the further investigations can wait till you get the insurance in action.
I hope this answer helps you, please feel free to ask for further relevant queries if you need to or if you feel that there is a gap of communication.
Note: Revert back with your health reports to get further guidance on your gastric problems. Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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