Hi everyone, I'm usually on the ulcerative Colitis forum... but.....

Hello everyone,

I am usually on the Ulcerative Colitis forum, but I am having new symptoms that I don't think are related to my disease.... For the last few months, I've been having pain on the upper right side of my abdomen... The pain is located mostly underneath the ribcage and can sometimes radiate through to the back and up to my right shoulder... it comes and goes and sometimes I feel like I have a fullness there, like there is a golfball, or a few golfballs inside me or something like that... i've also had some incredible heartburn and that comes and goes as well. I notice this more when I eat meat... It started out just every once in a while but now it's pretty constant.. I don't have the heartburn every day but the pain and fullness is pretty much there all the time, every day for the last few weeks. I don't have SEVERE pain, just annoying pain and to be honest, the heartburn when I have it makes me feel worse than the other symptoms....

Does this sound like it could be my gallbladder?? I don't have health insurance and from the research I've done on the internet, gallbladder disease usually produces pain worse than childbirth they day and I don't have pain that bad... I was just curious if anyone else has had gallbladder problems that don't produce severe attacks, but more of a constant chronic pain and fullness....

If worse comes to worse, I'll just have to bite the bullet and go to the ER and pay whatever they bill me for... lol...

Any feed back would be appreciated!!!

 

Hey Red! Ya, that's what I was thinking too... I'm just a little tight with money for a few more months and I don't have health insurance right now. I'm afraid of what an ER would charge me to get my abdomen ultrasounded..... UGH.... I just haven't heard of a gallbladder causing Constant discomfort, only "attacks" which most people say are worse than childbirth and I don't have that type of symptoms.... I'm totally confused and going to try and see a clinic doctor in town tomorrow and maybe get some help.... :(

I've known three people to have their gallbladder out and all of them told me they have a constant pain or discomfort in that area but yes the attacks were excruciating. My best friend was one of them. She never got "attacks", she just had a constant ache and discomfort. She had her surgery about 6 months ago and she has been doing great. But scans and tests showed her to be just below the acceptable levels (I forgot what they were) but it was enough to make the doc remove her gallbladder.

I understand you don't have insurance but perhaps you can make some sort of arrangement with the dr. Many drs. And hospitals will reduce the cost of procedures and testing for the uninsured.