severe pain on right side no gallstones seen

yeah if have to call your insurance and see if they will let you go to another Dr for a second opinions.Hope things work out. Bad that we all have this stuff going on and can't find a doctor to really check and find out what's wrong

I wanted to write in to tell all of the women out there about my story with chronic abdominal pain and how we finally found the cause after 9 months. It was something very simple, very overlooked in women, but also very hard to diagnose in women. I am hoping this can help any woman out there still looking for answers..   

I am a 23 year old female, who woke up to stabbing pain over my right ovary in May 2012. After about a week, the pain was radiating up below my right rib cage, as well as occasionally down my leg and to the other side of my body. Over the course of 9 months, I couldn't sit for more than an hour, I couldn't lay on my right side, I was throwing up from the pain almost every day, and could barely eat. I had my gallbladder removed last December, so it was first believed that I was having complications 5 months later. Additionally, after initially seeing the doctor, it was also believed that I could have endometriosis. I was sent to two different gynecologists who decided the best idea would be open exploratory surgery. I had this done in June and nothing was found. 

   I then went to my GI doctor and the surgeon who removed my gallbladder to see if it could be complications from the surgery; the surgeon said no but the GI said possibly and also thought I could be suffering from Crohn's or Celiacs, or had possible scar tissue from the gallbladder surgery. I then went through a colonoscopy, endoscopy, small bowel series, and numerous blood tests.. the results were all negative. I was then sent for an ultrasound of my kidneys to see if I had kidney stones (I have already had 7 in the past), and then for an MRI of my abdomen. The only thing that showed, which was by sheer coincidence, was 4 liver tumors. I was sent to two different liver specialists, waited for months to see if I had cancer and was told this was the cause of my pain; from there I was sent to a liver transplant surgeon. The transplant surgeon told me that my tumors were benign and this was not the cause of my pain. 

   I was sent for another MRI, which showed nothing again but the tumors, and then sent to a urologist. After having a very painful bladder scope to look for IC and a CT scan of my ureters and kidneys, again the results came back negative. After 8 months of every test possible, this was our last resort and off I went to a pain management doctor. The pain management doctor told me there was nothing left they could do for me; I had tried every pain killer, every natural treatment including acupuncture, and every pain patch there was with no relief.    

Finally a few weeks ago, while cleaning my room I noticed my right groin area was slightly swollen. I had noticed this back in May but none of the doctor's could feel anything alarming, except a small lymph node that was slightly sore, which they believed was just inflammation from my pain. That night, I noticed if I pushed on that small lymph node I could duplicate my pain. I sat down and did as much research as I could on abdominal swelling in women and came across an article that changed my life. I printed it off, went and saw my doctor the next day (who was not completely convinced this is what it was) and sent me off to a surgeon. The surgeon listened, was not 100% positive it could be the answer, but went in for surgery and found that I was right...   

I had a small, but extremely painful, inguinal hernia. It was along my superficial nerve, causing radiating, severe pain. I don't play sports, I don't exercise, and I have never given birth, so a hernia what not even a thought that crossed any of the doctors minds. As it turns out, it's not something that is often thought of in women with chronic abdominal pain anyway. I was told that only about 8% of women are ever diagnosed with a hernia because it's just not something doctors look for in women. I am two weeks post-op and while I still have pain from the surgery, my stabbing, excruciating pain has not yet returned. 

Also, in another crazy coincidence, my doctor had a 19 yr old patient who came in a week before me in May with ALL of the same symptoms. We received the same diagnoses, saw all the same specialists, and were both finally told we just had "chronic abdominal pain". After finding out that I could possibly have a hernia, I asked my doctor to contact her other patient to recommend she gets looked at for a possible hernia, and as it turns out, that was what she had as well. 

I know how frustrating it is to live in chronic pain, whether you are young or older. It was incredibly scary to be told at 23 that I had all of these conditions, including cancer, when I didn't. I finally found the answer I had been praying for amd I am hoping that this could possibly be the cause for some of you out there who don't have answers. If any of you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I attached the article I found and brought to the doctor below.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/health/17brody.html?_r=0

it upsets me so much that doctors don't seem to want to listen or help anymore. It's more about money and how many patients they can see in a day. I also do research on my own alot and when I told the Dr this he acted like it made him mad. I'm glad they finally found out what was going on with you. I'm praying that eventually a doctor will find out what truly is going on with me also. Thank you for sharing. I'm glad I found this site. It helps so much to be able to speak with other people going thru the same thing.

Your right.It is just crazy we have to go through all this. I know im not crazy.My sister went through the same thing,it took about 6 to 8 months,tons of tests coming back normal until finally she went to a specialist and they did another ultrasound which showed her gallstones.I have had a total hysterectomy,half of my thyroid removed,2 bladder surgeries,which i will be having my 3rd end of april.I know i have a hatial hernia.I live off gravol so i dont vomit.I take at least 10 ,50mg a day... Im sick of this all.I sick of the pain,and these doctor's.I worked in a multi physicans office.They are family doctors,which are great.But once you see these specialist(that make the real money)it is like they just dont care.Or do not want to push more testing to find the cause.I hope we can all find answer's too.At least we have eachother for support.

Doctors rely to much on their imaging tests. They forget about the number one diagnostic tool. THEIR PATIENTS.

I'm not going to stop til I get a real diagnosis. I also have had a partial hysterectomy appendix removed. Hope everyone has a good night and not in as much pain tomorrow.

Julie ,I go in this mon. @ Tuesday 4 all kinds of tests 2 get 2 the bottom of what is going on. At least she admits there is something wrong...How u been feeling ,same ,?? I will still look 4 u help.. take care ,hope61

P s I may have some answers 4 you after i go next week ,i will ask questions 4 u .:$

Thank you hope. I'm praying you find out what's going on and get the right treatment. I'm doing better today. Seems like I have good days and bad days. I worked today and made it okay. I'm going to drink some hot tea and see if I can rest thru the night. Please let me konw how your test go.

all about $$$$$ and insurance...with most. When it should be about saving a life !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ttus hope61

Thanks hun , you get some rest and I will keep u in my thoughts @ prayers .ttus

I am glad I actually have a place to come to to talk about all of this im the ANON user who has been having the pain got some results back from my hydrogen breath test all NEGATIVE!!! I work in a hospital and had one of the doctor push in where my gallbladder was I couldnt even take a deep breath without tearing up!! I am going to my GI specialist on thursday so hopefully she will want to do something im so sick of the run around

ANON I'm the one who wrote to you before.. I know you said you had a hida scan but ask the GI doctor to do another one.. If they had a hard time seeing it the first time, most likely the nuclear dye was moving at a slow pace into your gallbladder due to some blockage in the gb. If you are having gallbladder attacks which do feel like heart attacks, they can make your bile ducts contract and shrink, which could also be why your gb was hard to see on the hida scan. I had the same thing, the surgeon wasn't convinced and didn't want to take it out and once he got in there he said it was so diseased I had to have had gb disease for a minimum of a year.

I have been dealing with the same gallbladder issues for 3 years. to of which i have been bed ridden. I had my gallbladder removed this January and have expelled over 50 stones now and am in horrible pain. gallstones were never seen. I had a hidascan done 2 years ago and in the middle of the test the technician pulled me out of the scanning machine and had me drink water. The dye was moving to slow. I believe this test was altered in ord to save the tech some time. Im very upset about this. I wouldnt have had to suffer so long if it wasnt for their negligence.

It is sad all the negligence of the doctors and the not caring attitude. Like I was saying in my first post. Dr said my CT scan said I didn't have a right kidney and he acted like I was crazy when I told him it was never removed. He said no it's gone. When I went to a different hosp they took a scan an read what the other doctor put on my CT results. The new Dr was speechless. My kidney is there and i had a infection in it. They still don't think that's where all the pain is coming from tho. I was scared and in shock when the Dr tried to make me believe my kidney was gone and didn't even want to do another scan to make sure. Just sent me home saying I had a urinary infection with pain meds and antibiotics.  I'm going to request a Hidascan. going on 2 months straight dealing with this and 2 different antibiotics. Sick of taking the strong pain meds can't function and I have to to go to work.