pain in left lower rib cage

I use to post on here under different name (ky hurst) I can't remember my password it's been so long. I was doing so well I almost forgot I had lupus. My gp even told me to take a break from the plaqunil. Well that lasted for about a yr & then bam! Now I am having trouble with blood sugars getting low if I don't eat every 2 hrs. My left rib cage is slightly swollen & it hurts down low towards my side & sometimes in my back. I've had ct & they say it is not pancreas. what can this be? I do go see endocrinologist in 2 days it is just driving me nuts! I also have been without rhuemy for 2 yrs. I will be going to see new one next wk. If anyone has any Ideals or simular symptoms I really would like to hear them.

Thanks ginny. I was begining to worry even more with no one responding. Yes the spleen is on the left but would'nt they be able to tell it was swollen when they done the ct?

I am sorry you are feeling bad again I have of pain under my left rib and it's caused from costochondritis which is inflammation in the cartilage between the ribs, it can also pop up in the breastbone, which is quite painful. Mine is usually painful when I am flaring and feels like a knot and is painful to press on. The first doctor I told about it which was only a GP said it was my floating rib..............LOL!!!!!!

Please let us know how your appt goes.

No my gp has never even looke at my stomach much less felt it. He is totally useless. yes it does feel like it pops at times or catches on something. The strange thing is I can feel all under my ribs, no pain. It will be hurting on left & out of the blue it will hurt on the right bottom. No it can't be gallbladder I had it removed. It does bother me at night sometimes if I try & lay on either side. I have been in major flair for 6wks so maybe my ribs are inflamed. Sometimes it hurts to breath. I sure am glad I found a rhuemy to take me next wk. I will never ignore my lupus again. I have been really stupid about this disease. I even tried to tell the er doc I thought they misdiagnosed me. I know he thought I was stupid. He told me biopsies are a sure thing.

Sometimes your liver can swell and pop out from under your rib cage. The doc can feel the bottom edge and they call it the liver ridge. Because the edges of the liver on the left and bottom are thin, they are a popular site for damage, most people get damage in the thin edges of the liver first working toward the center. The liver also hurts through the back. The actual liver doesn't hurt, but it pushes on nerves.

Also, like the other posts said, the spleen can be enlarged, often along with the liver, or most commonly, the stomach is bloated due to stress. I am having that problem as my liver disease progresses and prilosec helped because it stopped the stomach acid, which wascausing irritation and bloating.

Does anything like mylanta or prilosec help? Sometimes stomach pain doesn't feel like the normal stomach pain.

Both tylenol and ibuprofin are very hard on the liver, if your liver is inflammed, which sometimes happens on certain meds. Ibuprofin really irritates the stomach.
I tried antacid and then knew it was my stomach, but I still went to the doctor to palpate. I have the opposite problem, pain on the rightside.

I have alot of pain in my rib cage and it turns out it s from enlarged lymph nodes. You havethem everywhere. A CT scan can help. A gi doc can also help with stomach problems.

Well, I hope you get it figured out soon so your out of pain.

Hester, thank God they looked! With me, they didn't even offer to bx anything they found on the PET scan. Did they find cancer? I have lymph nodes swelling up bymy ear and jaw, near the parotids, they swell up and hurt real bad, then go down, then swell up again. Its hard to show the doc, but hurts alot. My ENT might bx it bt it will just be a needle bx and that won'tshow follicular lymphoma, which would be what I would likely have due to such slow slow progression. I had some gall stones come out whenI first took isoniazid, but I think this is more from radiating pain near where my last liver bx was. Maybe there's a nerve there. Supposedly the liver doesn't hurt, but it swells and presses against other things that do hurt. The gall bladder and liver are pretty well tied together. My mom says when the gall bladder is bad,you can't eat eggs. I don't knowif thats true or not.