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Upper right side/abdominal pain

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 1/14/2011 9:02 PM (GMT 0)
I've had mild to severe pain in my right side since last weekend. Thought it was something I might have eaten but it's getting worse. GI doesn't think it's CD related because I have no other symptoms. I have a PCP appt. Monday but darn this hurts. What the heck could cause pain in the right side other than my CD? I have absolutely no other symptoms -- this is puzzling me. Ideas anyone?
Posted 1/14/2011 9:16 PM (GMT 0)
That's odd for your GI to say since that's where my Crohn's pain is, ALWAYS, and I have severe Crohn's. It may be pain from your gall bladder if it isn't functioning at maximum efficiency. You can get a HIDA scan done and determine if your gall bladder is functioning properly. Gall bladder pain is what prompted me to go to the doc, it was excruciating pain and I was sure I'd just need to have my gall bladder out and I'd be fine. The HIDA scan showed diminished functioning but doc didn't think that's what was causing my ferocious pain and inability to eat and constant D. A few scopes later, I was diagnosed with severe Crohn's. My pain was entirely in my right upper and lower quadrant.
Posted 1/15/2011 3:51 AM (GMT 0)
do you have an appendix? Sometimes the pain starts out high right and then moves lower more specific to the location of the appendix...take it easy til your doc appt!
Posted 1/15/2011 3:44 PM (GMT 0)
For years, I had intense pain in the upper right quadrant. My doctor declared that it had to be gallbladder and removed it--after which the pain only got worse. He decided that the problem had to be entirely in my head, but eventually referred me to a rheumatologist, since he thought that the pain might be an inflammation around my sternum. Rheumatologist decided that I had fibromyalgia (a fancy way of saying 'pain at all your pressure points') and put me on muscle relaxants, which made me feel nice and fuzzy at bedtime--but he couldn't explain to me why the worst part of my condition was my upper right quadrant pain and endless diarrhea and cramping.

Eventually, I got lower right quadrant pain, so severe that, after several days, I could barely shuffle around. I thought I'd pulled an abdominal muscle. My family practice doctor diagnosed appendicitis, but ordered an emergency CTscan before surgery. The scan showed no appendicitis, but a severe ileal obstruction and plenty of evidence of Crohn's.

So yes, you can have upper right quadrant pain with this disease. I don't know, physiologically, why that should be so--and I know that many doctors don't consider CD when trying to diagnose upper right quadrant pain.
Posted 1/15/2011 4:56 PM (GMT 0)
I think it's weird your GI didn't really investigate the possibility of it being a flare-up....though it could be gall bladder, appendix transverse colon or referred pain from other organs that are close.

WIth my most recent flare, I've had some symptoms with intermittent D and a decreased appetite. But my biggest symptom has been excruciating and severe pain that doesn't seem to relent. It started in lower right quad and moved up to the upper right quad. My GI thought it might be the gall bladder, until he examined me and my intestines are so inflamed they are rock hard on the right side.

So your pain might be from your CD. Hope you feel better and get some answers on Monday. Just take it easy until then!

Posted 1/15/2011 4:59 PM (GMT 0)
I am currently in remission, but been having ALOT of upper right rib cage pain. I think I may have some costochondritis (sp?) or possibly its my fibro. It hurts like heck though. I have been putting my heating pad on it and it helps some too. Hugs!
Posted 1/15/2011 11:15 PM (GMT 0)
I've been having upper right quadrant pain for a few months now, sometimes it's sharp and bad, mostly it's annoying.  It doesn't seem to come on fast like I've heard people describe gallbladder "attacks," but it does seem to wax and wane with how much food I've eaten and how full my bowels are (I'm a crohnie who rarely has diarrhea and often goes a few days between BMs).

I am just coming off a flare.  In the worst of it around September my side hurt a lot.  It slowly got better, but not before I complained about it to my GI and he sent me to get an abdominal u/s and a HIDA scan.   The u/s showed no stones, and the HIDA scan result showed a 41% ejection fraction for the gallbladder.  From what I've read, anything between 35% and 75% is considered normal, so that is where I left things.

I know that if I pushed it my GI would do an endoscopic ultrasound and that might show some small stones.  During the HIDA scan the technician mentioned several times that my gallbladder wasn't emptying, or that things were going slowly - this seems to be how my digestive tract works these days.  SLOWLY, LOL.  Anyway, I haven't pushed it and I still have pain, but it is significantly less than it was when I did the HIDA scan.   So I'll just ride it out I think.

My conclusion from all this is that I think I had inflammation around the bile ducts and that is the source of my pain, along with some probable small stones.  My bowel symptoms and joint pain from my last flare are mostly gone, so I presume that the inflammation is mostly gone too and that's why the pain is lessened.  I think that the next time I have a flare this will become a problem again, and I'll have to be scoped.

Maybe this is helpful for you.  I would say your DR is not thinking big picture.  Sure, lots of people get gallbladder pain who DON'T have Crohn's.  But having Crohn's makes you more likely to develop stones and inflammation in this area, and I think it should be investigated further.

Posted 1/16/2011 6:14 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry I haven't responded sooner, Friday evening I was under the influence of Vicodin, it's the only thing that helped. But after I got up on Saturday the pain was better, until I sat up for a while then it started to get worse. The the D started with some mucus, so my bet is a flare starting. I think the pain up under my ribs was more of a referred pain, just because I sit at a desk all week at work. It's currently just at the waist line and right around the anastamosis area from my last surgery. So, I'll call the GI in the morning and cancel the appt. with the primary doc. This is so similar to the pain I had from the stricture that was removed UGH! I'll see what he has to say, but believe me I'm not backing down he needs to schedule some tests to see what is up.
Posted 1/17/2011 9:51 AM (GMT 0)
Dumb question, but how high is UPPER. 

Your guys' pain make me wonder about my own pains on my right side.  My pain is usually halfway down my side, usually from mid-back moving around to the front.  Not every day, not all day and not bothered when I go to bed?.  My worry is Gall bladder.  Which is what I was thinking for you Lamb, but I had hear gall bladder usually hurts up by the should blade?

Posted 1/17/2011 2:58 PM (GMT 0)
No such thing as a dumb question. I can't answer about the gall bladder pain, but my primary doc actually had me do a sonogram of that area a couple years ago to rule that out as the source of pain. It's up under my lower rib cage and is directly related to the way I sit for long periods if that makes sense. Which leads me to believe there is inflamation at or around the neo ileum RATS RATS RATS! I just left the GI a message as they are closed for MLK day, told the nurse to call me asap Tuesday as I don't want this to become a major flare.

I just love spending a paid holiday from work sitting on the toilet................such is the life of a crohnie!
Posted 1/17/2011 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
I sorry Lamb61 you are suffering so. My pain is always all across my ribs and underneath it. I have no other symptoms so I know I am not flaring, but am wondering if this is referred pain from adhesions. I have had two open bowel resections, open liver resection, and the recent kidney surgery. So I am pretty sure in my case mine is adhesions.

Hope you can get in with the GI soon and get things quieted back down. Hugs!
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