Pain behind ribs - c word fear AGAIN :(

[snowflake293]

Hi all

I am getting pain behind my ribs that sort of radiates into my stomach and my back and sides. I have had it a couple of days and it started with a bit of fluttering but now has got worse.

I'm quiet constipated at the moment so not sure if that could be causing it? I am other wise well, feeling a bit tired and sick on and off but putting that down to anxiety in general.

My fella said he has the exact same symptoms of me when his anxiety was bad and he said he thinks it sounds like it is muscular. He gave me a back rub (he's a good 'un!) and said my back feels really tense.

Just curious if anyone has experienced this?

Of course I am PANICKING now that I have the following:

Lymphoma/Leukaemia
Pancreatitis OR Pancreatic Cancer
Gall Bladder Disease OR Gall Bladder Cancer
Enlarged spleen due to cancer

AAARRGGHHHH!!!!! :lac::lac::lac:why do I have to keep referring to Dr Google?! So cross with myself. My new years resolution was to STOP doing this and I can't help it... it is PURE compulsion and I pick up my phone or open my laptop and Google without even thinking. So annoyed that I keep doing this to myself.

I just hope this pain eases off cause apart from this I have few 'triggers' at the moment (other than a bit of thrush - which I am amazed has triggered me, THRUSH of all things lol!!!) :doh:

Any support and/or advice would me much appreciated :)

Snowflake xxx

[mummato2]

Instead of consulting Dr Google - go to the Centre for Clinical Interventions and go to the health anxiety modules and start working through those.

Instead of stopping a habit - why not create a new healthier one?

[snowflake293]

Instead of consulting Dr Google - go to the Centre for Clinical Interventions and go to the health anxiety modules and start working through those.

Instead of stopping a habit - why not create a new healthier one?

That's a really good idea, thank you - I will check that site out.

Another thing I have tried doing as an alternative to Google is looking on this site and seeing if other people suffering with health anxiety have had similar symptoms.

I guess I just find it really hard to tell the difference between what are anxiety or 'harmless' symptoms and symptoms I should be concerned over. Basically decided that unless I am puking, fainting or in severe pain that's stopping me from doing stuff I am pretty much gonna be ok :blush:

Its just so tiring been worried like this ALL the time. Really wish I could just ignore all these physical symptoms and sensations!

[debs71]

I've had this for the past week or so. It sucks and is painful and unnerving.

It can be several things: muscular tension - we hold ourselves tight and rigid when anxious, or IBS - pain can actually reach up as high as the ribs, or acid reflux - this is very likely as anxiety creates stomach acid, which is why you see so many posts about this kind of rib/stomach pain on this site alone. The pain with acid can reach your shoulder and radiate into you back. Have you been belching at all? Find the pain is worse or better at meal times?

I use/try several things. Firstly, a heat pad or hot water bottle on the main area that hurts is really helpful and soothing. Secondly, I have been belching for England here, so I am pretty sure mine is acid related, so I have been taking antacids. I take Maalox liquid antacid, and it works wonders. I have also been taking Pantoprazole, however I would not advise this to everyone, as I am certain that this is acid due to having a history of gastritis, and the almost exact same pain, so I have been treating it likewise. It would really be better to get this diagnosis from a doctor before taking anything like Pantoprazole, but a liquid antacid will not hurt just to see of it helps a bit.

I think that anxiety is just driving your worries abou anything serious. If you think rationally, what is the likelihood that this is NOT anxiety-related, and something sinister? There are so many of us here that have suffered the same, so it is a sure-fire bet it is anxiety causing the pain. x:hugs:

[snowflake293]

I've had this for the past week or so. It sucks and is painful and unnerving.

It can be several things: muscular tension - we hold ourselves tight and rigid when anxious, or IBS - pain can actually reach up as high as the ribs, or acid reflux - this is very likely as anxiety creates stomach acid, which is why you see so many posts about this kind of rib/stomach pain on this site alone. The pain with acid can reach your shoulder and radiate into you back. Have you been belching at all? Find the pain is worse or better at meal times?

I use/try several things. Firstly, a heat pad or hot water bottle on the main area that hurts is really helpful and soothing. Secondly, I have been belching for England here, so I am pretty sure mine is acid related, so I have been taking antacids. I take Maalox liquid antacid, and it works wonders. I have also been taking Pantoprazole, however I would not advise this to everyone, as I am certain that this is acid due to having a history of gastritis, and the almost exact same pain, so I have been treating it likewise. It would really be better to get this diagnosis from a doctor before taking anything like Pantoprazole, but a liquid antacid will not hurt just to see of it helps a bit.

I think that anxiety is just driving your worries abou anything serious. If you think rationally, what is the likelihood that this is NOT anxiety-related, and something sinister? There are so many of us here that have suffered the same, so it is a sure-fire bet it is anxiety causing the pain. x:hugs:

I do suffer with acid reflux and have been taking Omeprazole for about 7 years now, as long as I take it every day I am fine but even if I miss it for just one day - I know about it.

The sensation I am feeling kind of feels a bit like being 'winded' it is really odd! Will try some Gaviscon and see if that helps. The pain seems to get worse after I eat but I think some of that might be psychosomatic because I have been Googling :blush:

I do feel like my muscles around my tummy are more tense than usual, and my back and shoulder muscles are quite knotted at the moment too.

Think I just need to take my mind off it! Going to crack on and get all the housework done shortly then have a nice hot bath later and relax :yesyes:

[debs71]

I do suffer with acid reflux and have been taking Omeprazole for about 7 years now, as long as I take it every day I am fine but even if I miss it for just one day - I know about it.

The sensation I am feeling kind of feels a bit like being 'winded' it is really odd! Will try some Gaviscon and see if that helps. The pain seems to get worse after I eat but I think some of that might be psychosomatic because I have been Googling :blush:

I do feel like my muscles around my tummy are more tense than usual, and my back and shoulder muscles are quite knotted at the moment too.

Think I just need to take my mind off it! Going to crack on and get all the housework done shortly then have a nice hot bath later and relax :yesyes:

Ahhhh... Yep, so it may well be some acid reflux pains.:angry:

I've had that winded feeling too, but now you mention that, i am wondering if this could be perhaps gas pains you are feeling? Trapped wind can get as bad as to make you feel breathless/winded. Wind can be all part and parcel of the whole acid/digestive thing.

(I also suffer from bad wind....oh the glamour of it all.:D)

Deflatine is very good as it covers both acid issues and trapped wind.

I think that keeping the mind active does help with symptoms like this, both acid and any possible trapped wind. x:hugs:

[snowflake293]

Ahhhh... Yep, so it may well be some acid reflux pains.:angry:

I've had that winded feeling too, but now you mention that, i am wondering if this could be perhaps gas pains you are feeling? Trapped wind can get as bad as to make you feel breathless/winded. Wind can be all part and parcel of the whole acid/digestive thing.

(I also suffer from bad wind....oh the glamour of it all.:D)

Deflatine is very good as it covers both acid issues and trapped wind.

I think that keeping the mind active does help with symptoms like this, both acid and any possible trapped wind. x:hugs:

Oh yes I have had horrendous wind recently! Not really trapped though, just a lot of it lol :blush: had some Gaviscon so hopefully that will help. I do think an element of it is muscular though as my back is so tense. x

[popejoan]

Hello Snowflake,

Whenever I read your posts I feel like I'm reading about myself. We have so much in common, the intensity of our HA, our mums' breast cancer history, our age, even our worries are in sync.

On wednesday, I felt really really tired, I went to my Gp in the morning for my blood test and when I got home I went straight to bed. I'm super tired lately, all I wanna do is sleep, I have no energy whatsoever. I've been having stomach+back pain for sometime and it got so severe that I had to call 111, they said I have to go and see my Gp in 2 hours which I did, My doctor thought it might be pancreatitis or gallbladder and sent me to hospital right away. I wasn't expecting that at all, I thought they were gonna give me some painkillers and send me home. I think I looked to pale and my urine color was bright yellow, it was like neon color.

Anyway I got admitted to Sau unit and there were other women in my ward with apendicitis, pancreatitis, galbladder and I thought I was more in pain than them, that's when I started to panic. Doctors took bloods, they examined me, they told me bloods came back fine but they'll do an ultrasound in the morning. I wasn't even expecting to be there over night. I got more and more panicked. I told the doctors about my symptoms, I'm itchy all the time, mostly my legs mostly at night but I'm always itchy, I'm so tired, nauseous, out of breath, lightheaded all the time and I lost at least half a stone in a month. They gave me loads of fluids and painkillers.

They took me for an ultrasound scan in the morning, I burst into tears there and all the nurses and even patients waiting for scans tried to help me calm down. I thought they were going to find a tumor in my pancreas. They found nothing, I asked the woman who did the ultrasound if she can see it clearly as I read that it's not always possible to see the pancreas clearly in ultrasound scans. She said I'm very slim so she can see it clearly. Scan showed nothing so they told me I can go home in the next morning.

I told the doctors about how I'm scared of flying and I came back from Turkey 4 days ago and I had panic attacks during the flights. They told me maybe the pain was due to those panic attacks as my muscles were tense for 8 hours (two 4 hours flights in a week) in total. Before I left the hospital I had another panic attack, they saw how my muscles got tense and they told me if it happens again, come back.

Your pain can be due to muscle tension, or another doctor told me that the stomach can have headaches sometimes. I'm convinced I don't have pancreatic cancer but I still think I have lymphoma and the pain was a symptom of that. Your pain can be due to constipation as well. Just know that in England, only 6 women at the ages of 30-34 get diagnosed with pancreatic cancer yearly, it is very very unlikely that you have it at the age of 30.

[Hopefulmi]

I have been dealing with this, paid for a private ultrasound and have blood tests, bloods were fine and ultrasound was clear. No tumours to be seen, no gallstones, all measuring well. My back and belly (just under ribs) have been so sore but think its a combo of tension, IBS type symptoms, costochondritis type inflammation in my ribs (which doc thought was gallbladder problems) and indigestion. Maybe even hunger as I've been scared to eat! I'm sure all yours is just the same, anxiety is so so horrible, it's amazing the symptoms it can cause.

Hope you feel better soon!

---------- Post added at 13:25 ---------- Previous post was at 13:23 ----------

Thanks PopeJoan, that was really reassuring for me too! Sorry that you have been feeling as rubbish too :( HA is wicked

[snowflake293]

Hello Snowflake,

Whenever I read your posts I feel like I'm reading about myself. We have so much in common, the intensity of our HA, our mums' breast cancer history, our age, even our worries are in sync.

On wednesday, I felt really really tired, I went to my Gp in the morning for my blood test and when I got home I went straight to bed. I'm super tired lately, all I wanna do is sleep, I have no energy whatsoever. I've been having stomach+back pain for sometime and it got so severe that I had to call 111, they said I have to go and see my Gp in 2 hours which I did, My doctor thought it might be pancreatitis or gallbladder and sent me to hospital right away. I wasn't expecting that at all, I thought they were gonna give me some painkillers and send me home. I think I looked to pale and my urine color was bright yellow, it was like neon color.

Anyway I got admitted to Sau unit and there were other women in my ward with apendicitis, pancreatitis, galbladder and I thought I was more in pain than them, that's when I started to panic. Doctors took bloods, they examined me, they told me bloods came back fine but they'll do an ultrasound in the morning. I wasn't even expecting to be there over night. I got more and more panicked. I told the doctors about my symptoms, I'm itchy all the time, mostly my legs mostly at night but I'm always itchy, I'm so tired, nauseous, out of breath, lightheaded all the time and I lost at least half a stone in a month. They gave me loads of fluids and painkillers.

They took me for an ultrasound scan in the morning, I burst into tears there and all the nurses and even patients waiting for scans tried to help me calm down. I thought they were going to find a tumor in my pancreas. They found nothing, I asked the nurse if she can see it clearly as I read that it's not always possible to see the pancreas clearly in ultrasound scans. She said I'm very slim so she can see it clearly. Scan showed nothing so they told me I can go home in the next morning.

I told the doctors about how I'm scared of flying and I came back from Turkey 4 days ago and I had panic attacks during the flights. They told me maybe the pain was due to those panic attacks as my muscles were tense the 8 hours in total. Before I left the hospital I had another panic attack, they saw how my muscles got tense and they told me if it happens again, come back.

Your pain can be due to muscle tension, or another doctor told me that the stomach can have headaches sometimes. I'm convinced I don't have pancreatic cancer but I still think I have lymphoma and the pain was a symptom of that. Your pain can be due to constipation as well. Just know that in England, only 6 women get diagnosed with pancreatic cancer yearly, it is very very unlikely that you have it at the age of 30.

Thanks for your reply hun, gosh I am so sorry you had to go through all that! Sounds horrendous, you poor thing :weep: I can totally relate to how you feel having scans etc... I always go into meltdown mode and cry/need a lot of reassurance.

Thank goodness you are doing ok now and don't have anything going on with your pancreas, you must have been really worried.

You are right we do have so much in common, I am sorry to hear you have been having such a tough time - but it is a comfort knowing I am not alone.

My fella keeps telling me that a lot of the pains I feel, in his opinion, is due to muscle tension. I think he is right too. I feel so much better either when I have had some diazepam or had a little drink cause both seem to relax my muscles!

Sex helps too lol (sorry for that is TMI) and sex is one of the few times I can let myself go (so to speak lol) and not worry about my health problems. Unfortunately though I am off it at the moment due to thrush. Nice! lol.

What sort of things help you relax and take your mind of c word fears? Really keen to try out new techniques to help me cope with this as I feel like I am losing my mind at times!

Also re the flying fear - my boyfriend had horrendous flight phobia to the point he thought he wouldn't be able to go home to Ireland for his sisters wedding last year, but he did it! He did take some diazepam on instruction of his GP and that helped. Funnily enough we're off to Turkey end of April which is a MUCH longer flight and he is convinced he will be fine this time and said he is going to try it without meds. Getting over the fear can be done :)

xx

---------- Post added at 13:34 ---------- Previous post was at 13:30 ----------


I have been dealing with this, paid for a private ultrasound and have blood tests, bloods were fine and ultrasound was clear. No tumours to be seen, no gallstones, all measuring well. My back and belly (just under ribs) have been so sore but think its a combo of tension, IBS type symptoms, costochondritis type inflammation in my ribs (which doc thought was gallbladder problems) and indigestion. Maybe even hunger as I've been scared to eat! I'm sure all yours is just the same, anxiety is so so horrible, it's amazing the symptoms it can cause.

Hope you feel better soon!

---------- Post added at 13:25 ---------- Previous post was at 13:23 ----------

Thanks PopeJoan, that was really reassuring for me too! Sorry that you have been feeling as rubbish too :( HA is wicked

Thanks Hopefulmi - glad to hear you are ok. I agree, HA is wicked and is totally destroying my life at the moment. To a degree I think I have let this happen, although I am trying my best to tackle it (meds, CBT etc...) I am really stuggling...

Last night I broke down in tears before bed, I was looking at my boyfriend and just thinking how much I love him and how scared I am of anything happening to me and me leaving him on his own! I know that sounds daft but it just set me of panicking and shaking, felt like I was going to have a panic attack but didn't.

The stomach/back/rib symptoms seem to be quite a common thing for HA sufferers which is reassuring, although I am still worried something is wrong as now I can feel fluttering/stabbing type pains in my back :weep:

It just feels never ending at the moment.

x

[popejoan]

Thank you so much, yes it was very very scary and I was all one most of the time there. I have no family here and I only have few friends and my boyfriend. He works during the day so he couldn't visit me until 7-8 pm.

What I would recommend is healthy eating and good supplements. Take some vitamin b, magnesium, lemon balm capsules, chamomile tea. Buy some epsom salts and take relaxing baths without adding anything else in the water. Try breathing techniques, breath through your diaphragm and exhale very slowly. Another technique is when you're doing daily chores for example, focus on it. For example when you're doing the dishes, focus on your senses, like "the water is warm to hot, the diswashing soap makes my hands feel soft, the plate is round and smooth, this mug is pink and it's medium sized" focus on what you hear. If your mind goes to cancer fears again don't punish yourself and start over. Take yoga lessons and maybe acupuncture.

I'm off to Turkey again at the end of April myself. Going to Marmaris as my family lives there. Your boyfriend might have control issues like me, I think my HA is partly because of my control issues as well. I can't deal with the idea of somebody else is in control and he/she is responsible of my life. I have trust issues as well, I can't bear the idea of not knowing what's going on inside of my body and this is a huge part of my HA. I'd recommend beta blockers for your boyfriend during flights. They are harmless and they don't have to be taken all the time. xx

---------- Post added at 13:49 ---------- Previous post was at 13:45 ----------



Thanks PopeJoan, that was really reassuring for me too! Sorry that you have been feeling as rubbish too :( HA is wicked


You are very welcome, I'm glad I could help. Thank you, Ha is very wicked. The pain is real and none of us here is exaggerating the pain or making it up. I constantly feel like there is something wrong with my body and it hasn't been diagnosed yet. I moved onto lymphoma now as I'm itchy all the time :( Hope you feel better soon, hope we all do. x

[snowflake293]

Thank you so much, yes it was very very scary and I was all one most of the time there. I have no family here and I only have few friends and my boyfriend. He works during the day so he couldn't visit me until 7-8 pm.

What I would recommend is healthy eating and good supplements. Take some vitamin b, magnesium, lemon balm capsules, chamomile tea. Buy some epsom salts and take relaxing baths without adding anything else in the water. Try breathing techniques, breath through your diaphragm and exhale very slowly. Another technique is when you're doing daily chores for example, focus on it. For example when you're doing the dishes, focus on your senses, like "the water is warm to hot, the diswashing soap makes my hands feel soft, the plate is round and smooth, this mug is pink and it's medium sized" focus on what you hear. If your mind goes to cancer fears again don't punish yourself and start over. Take yoga lessons and maybe acupuncture.

I'm off to Turkey again at the end of April myself. Going to Marmaris as my family lives there. Your boyfriend might have control issues like me, I think my HA is partly because of my control issues as well. I can't deal with the idea of somebody else is in control and he/she is responsible of my life. I have trust issues as well, I can't bear the idea of not knowing what's going on inside of my body and this is a huge part of my HA. I'd recommend beta blockers for your boyfriend during flights. They are harmless and they don't have to be taken all the time. xx

---------- Post added at 13:49 ---------- Previous post was at 13:45 ----------




You are very welcome, I'm glad I could help. Thank you, Ha is very wicked. The pain is real and none of us here is exaggerating the pain or making it up. I constantly feel like there is something wrong with my body and it hasn't been diagnosed yet. I moved onto lymphoma now as I'm itchy all the time :( Hope you feel better soon, hope we all do. x

Thanks hun. I am so sorry you had to go through all that on your own, it must have been really tough. I almost always have to have someone with me for any sort of medical appointment now as I go to pieces at the moment, I can't stand the anticipation of any kind of bad news or being told I need tests. I am having blood tests soon as its likely I have rheumatic arthritis but that isn't worrying much HALF as much as my cancer fears! It's really weird!

I have done a few yoga classes and it does help but the last few times I went a bit lightheaded. Apparently it's to do with the breathing. I will keep at it, swimming helps too - I am going tomorrow.

Being 'mindful' and 'present' really helps me, I find music, crafts, simple chores etc... all help take the focus off my symptoms/fears.

I will mention beta blockers to my boyfriend but I'm pretty sure he can't take them for some reason. Will definitely mention it though.

Feeling really tired this afternoon, have lots of chores to do but all I feel like doing is sleeping!

Hope things improve for you hun and I am always here if you need somebody to talk to xx:bighug1:

[popejoan]

Thank you so much, I'm here if you need someone to talk to as well xx