[matt85]

Hi, I need some advice please!!

Im 24 and started having a pain on my left side that felt like an ache type of pain under my left rib cage that was uncomfortable that used to last a couple of hours and then go away ... found out this only happened after I ate 2 much or 2 quickly..I went to the GP and was advised it just seemed like bad indigestion..Since then I have noticed I still get this pain but even without eating. I seem to get this pain, ache, uncomfortable feeling that feels like it's under my left rib cage. I seem to only get it from sitting upright at a table or at a desk when at work or sat having dinner.If I get the pain it seems to go away within 30min from either lying down or walking.Have been looking up to see what it might be and see alot of links to IBS.... When i poke my upper rib cage it feels quite tender and sore in certain places and this is the same on both sides but mainly left side.Not sure if what im getting is anything to do with IBS but want to know what you think? I found out my dad had IBS so thought maybe i have it aswell.

Thanks

 

[Kathleen M.]

There is a bend in the colon on the left (and a matching one on the right, but it acts up less often) that is a really common trouble spot for IBS.Sometimes you even see things written about splenic flexure syndrome because pain at that bend is quite common.You should get a check up and make sure nothing else is going on. You might see if peppermint tea or I use peppermint Altoids with real pepermint oil in them helps with the pain. Sometimes that is enough.

 

[matt85]

Thanks for the reply, does it sound like my symptoms are from IBS?Might go back to GP but felt silly last time when was told it was just bad indigestion.Only other symptom I can think of is a lot of gas but I never get constipation from the other symptoms that I looked at?

 

[Kathleen M.]

IBS is a combo of stool alteration (doesn't have to be one specific type) and cramping/pain/discomfort.On the mild end people may have fairly minor changes (just a bit soft or a bit hard) and some people have more pain issues than stool issues from the mild end to the severe end. Even when my pain was severe the changes to stool were mild. Other people have a lot of stool issues, but the pain is fairly mild.If you have only pain or only stool issues it usually still is functional and the symptoms are treated the same way they are in IBS, but a researcher might call it functional abdominal pain or functional diarrhea if you don't have the combo. In the clinic it doesn't really matter much since all the same medications are used.

 

[matt85]

Thanks ... i Looked up 'splenic flexure syndrome' and my symptoms sound very similar, is this linked to IBS or something completely different?

 

[Kathleen M.]

My sense is that it is part of IBS. Just it happens in that area enough that some people felt they needed to name it.

 

[matt85]

Thanks, might have to go back to GP then!?... i was thinking maybe its just the way im sitting or if its a muscle pain rather than IBS. But its been going on for last 4 months now and starting to be a pain especially as i have to sit down when im at work!

 

[Kathleen M.]

If the pain is bad enough to interfere with life activities it is worth talking to the doctor again and maybe getting some tests and try some medications.

 

[Veronica]

I have had so many different syptoms with my IBS-D. I use to get gas pains all over my abdomin with nausea and be bloated for like three days before any gas would pass either way up or down. I was you young in my teens. Gas pills are very helpful for this. I would take them as soon as I felt the pain in my stomach. (pain right under the bottom of my ribs towards the center where your sternum is.) I cut out milk, soda, and anything else that contained milk. This helped some of the time. I am 45 now and suffer with a lot of different syptoms. Levsin helps too with the all over gas pains. It's best take ASAP.Good Luck it's all trial and error.

 

[Bonzi]

Matt85 our symptoms are almost completely identical. Mine has been going on for about 2 months now. When I lay down or am sleeping, I do not get a single cramp or pain in my side(I usually get the dull ache on the left side. It travels from under the rib, to down near my navel. And every blue moon on the right side)I always look forward to the evening when Im layed out in the bed, watching tv, and not having the least bit of aches. I also find at this time of evening and early morning when Im about to wake up, that I am passing alot of gas, and I believe that being layed out and relaxed is allowing us to expel trapped gas, and relieving the pain.I just realized yesterday that my main issues are when Im sitting here at work, in a chair darn near hunched over! And when Im running, or doing Judo, where I continually move and keep my body working, that I do not get much pain, and its very much like when Im laying in my bed. I too have no Diarrhea or Constipation, and all of my lab work has come back negative(Including Celiacs and FOBT) so my doc has pretty much chalked it up to IBS. Sounds like we have alot of the same issues!

 

[matt85]

Hi, Just an update as i have been to GP, and now Booked in for a blood test and a scan, Interesting that Dr thinks it could be to do with my posture rather than IBS as i only really get the pain when sitting up right.Have noticed in past day though that my diaphragm feels like its enlarged... can really feel it sticking out when i push my hand down from chest to stomach, Is this anything to do with IBS? Hopefully when i have blood tests and scan will find out whats wrong with me!