Rib pain

[Worriedwellornot]

Dear all hope you have had a nice break. I posted here about a month ago about my pancreatic cancer worry and was awaiting blood results. These all came back clear but I'm still convinced that there is more to worry about. I still have the constant pain under my right rib cage and acid reflux despite taking omneprazole daily. I have returned to my GP and asked for H Pylori test, the results of which will be back later this week. I have in the past been diagnosed with IBS but never had the rib pain before. Strangely when lying down I can't feel the pain when I palmate my stomach. It's my first day back at work today so don't know if this is the reason the pain is worse. I am putting off going back to the Drs ad I'm scared to have any further investigations. I would add that I've had 18 separate investigations on nearly every part of my body in last 20 years and there has never been an organic cause for the pain. If anyone else has this rib thing please can you let me know?
I am hoping that a clear blood test means that it shouldn't be a more sinister explanation? :weep:
I feel I have wasted the whole holiday period with this b****dy HA!

[Althea]

Worried, the physical things you describe are completely consistent with IBS, so I don't see any reason to assume it's anything else. What are you doing for your anxiety? If you've been struggling with this for twenty years, it's nothing that's going to hurt you physically as much as the anxiety is hurting you--are you tackling this from that end as well?

[Worriedwellornot]

Hi Althea. Thanks for replying much appreciated. In the past I was prescribed antidepressants which I took for about 2 years. I managed to get off them but am addicted to sleeping pills. I am not good with online type therapies such as CBT but would really like to get some counselling. My HA goes up and down but has been an extremely difficult 6 months during which I have diagnosed lung cancer, ovaranian cancer and my current worry bowel/pancreatic cancer. On my good days I'm normal but bad days are terrible. Luckily I have excellent Drs but as they have to investigate everything it's a vicious cycle even though they probably think everything is normal. At my last appt I cried when my Dr said he was doing blood tests to rule things out. When he saw my worried state he said he was more concerned about my reaction then anything the results might show! It's a horrible thing to have! :huh:

[Althea]

Ah, so you're working on that but haven't found a fit yet. That's a frustrating stage, and I'm glad your doctors are supportive. Are you able to ask them for a counseling referral, or would it be possible for you to look for private therapy?

[hangingbasket]

This rib thing is currently driving me mental!!! I'm trying to be rational.. I really am. But it's SO hard!!
It's there every single day and has been for at least 6 months. It's only my right side. It worries me.
I'm sorry that you're suffering too but I feel soooo much better that other people have the same symptoms. There seems to be alot of evidence to suggest that anxiety can cause rib pain. It just seems odd that its ONLY my right side.
How long have you had this pain?

[Worriedwellornot]

Hi Hanging

I've had the pain for about 8 weeks. It's only on my right side. It's more of an awareness or ache or discomfort rather than a pain. When I press on my ribs it hurts. My other main symptom is the acid taste in my mouth. It's good to know that I'm not alone with my symptoms! Before the ache started I had very bad pain in my chest which I thought was a heart attack. This followed many weeks of a stressful situation at work. I wouldn't mind putting up with the ache if I knew that it was anxiety related. Normally once I get the all clear all my symptoms vanish. It's very weird what anxiety can do. Fishmanpa suggested that it was all acid reflux related.

---------- Post added at 21:17 ---------- Previous post was at 21:16 ----------

Althea

I'm going to look into a private referral. Thank you for your reply :)

[hangingbasket]

I dont mind symptoms once I know they're anxiety related too.
I'm trying hard to stay rational about this rib pain. With the amount of time it's been here now, I'm sure it would have progressed to something more if it was anything sinister.