My body hates me.
Thursday night, not long after dinner, I felt a bit sick. Not really sick, but I had a pain in my stomach. At first I assumed that Murphy was messing with me--going for a replay of the Denny's Episode.
But after a few hours, I realized it was something entirely different. The sensation reminded me of the pains I had before my gall bladder was removed last year. A slowly building dull pain in my upper-right abdomen that eventually became quite intense for an hour or two and then would slowly go away.
The differences this time were that (1) the pain wasn't nearly as bad, and (2) I no long have a gall bladder.
Figuring it was just some odd problem, I went to bed hoping that it'd be gone in the morning. I woke up yesterday morning to find that it was mostly (but not completely) gone. It wasn't so bad that I couldn't eat, so I had a banana and muffin for breakfast. I went about my morning routine and headed to work.
Sitting at my desk, the pain got worse and I started to feel very, very warm. The pain got worse. I decided to try waiting it out. But after 30 minutes I gave up and decided to go home. There was no way I was going to get anything done anyway.
I arrived home and sat in the Lazy Boy recliner with a laptop on my lap. The pain got worse. Then it occurred to me that I could have picked it up from someone. After all, on Thursday, I had picked up the Friedl's from the airport. They had been in Japan for 6 weeks and there was a bit of sickness going around while they were there.
I gave up and laid down, hoping to sleep it off. No luck. It was too damned hot to sleep. So I laid there, annoyed and in pain. For hours.
Eventually I got up and went back to the computer but wasn't really able to focus. Most of the night continued this way. I tried laying down and/or sleeping on the bed, couch, and even the floor. (The floor was nice and cool as the cooler air came in.) It still hurt.
After a while, I noticed that the pain wasn't getting any better but it also wasn't getting any worse. It still reminded me a lot of a gall bladder attack. I began to wonder what could cause such a thing. What if the clamp/staple/whatever that they left in place when they disconnected my gall bladder had come loose? Maybe it had hooked on something and was now tearing up my insides?
Who knows. I'm no doctor.
I considered going to the hospital. Several times. But each time I told myself that I couldn't stand the thought of sitting in the waiting room for 2-3 hours (though the air conditioning would be nice). I convinced myself to give it just a couple more hours. Around 1:30AM, I moved back to the couch and was able to get comfortable. I slept there, on and off, for about 3 hours. I woke up feeling a bit better and decided to go to bed for real.
Waking up this morning, I felt better. I was terribly hungry (hadn't eaten for 24 hours), thirsty, and generally worn out. I did the dishes and had some breakfast (peaches and a banana). The pain is virtually gone, but for some reason it feels like it could return at any moment. That's probably just my paranoia. I hope.
Like I said, my body hates me.
Posted by jzawodn at July 19, 2003 09:02 AM
Jeremy, I know what it's like to wish internal organs would get better on their own. I did it and it didn't work out that way. It's just human nature to wish things would get better. Go to the emergency room and tell them what happened. Let them do their tests. It's better to know. FWIW, YMMV, IANAD, MMLM, etc.
I've talked with some medical folks this morning. They asked me a ton of questions and ended up saying, roughly, "Since you have no symptoms now, there's not a lot we can do. But if they recur, call us back or head to the hospital."
Well, at least I live a whopping 4 minutes from the local hospital.
Meanwhile, it felt good to eat this morning. The lack of food and sleep are still dragging on me, but that'll slowly get better.
I hope it isn't something serious, and good luck in the future. But this sounds like something that should seriously be checked out by the doctor.
A couple months ago I had something similar to what you describe. It was a pain in my torso that wouldn't go away, and it ended by my puking my guts out so I suppose it isn't the same. Thats the closest to experience what you said you had.
Anyway, good luck.
Bloggers without gallbladders. We should make a club.
:-)
-Russ
(gallbladderless since 1996)
interesting...your weekend sounds exactly like the one i had before they removed an 8mm X 8mm X 6mm stone from one of my ureters...
that comes and goes too.
Weird! What you describe is very very similar to what I was feeling last Thursday night. It drug on through Friday (I took a sick day) and was much better over the weekend, though I could still feel it. It got worse again sunday night before I went to bed, but it feels alright again today (Monday morning). I can still faintly feel it.
I thought I got it from something bad I ate. Basically it was just stomach pains. They came and went, but sometimes got excrutiatingly painful. I didn't eat much at all for 24 hours after it hit. I wanted to eat, but it felt like eating made it worse, so I didn't.
Jeremy, last time I heard those symptoms, it was trapped wind ;)
No -- seriously, that sounds serious -- the "feeling hot" part especially (ie. a temperature). I think getting it checked out if it recurs is top advice. Is there any "phone a doctor" services over here in the US? they're great for those kind of "I have a mystery pain in the middle of the night" cases; often they can say "go straight to the hospital" or "take an aspirin" effectively based on what you describe.
I had my gallbladder removed 3 months ago and the side pain/breastbone pain comes and goes still. They are trying to figure out why. Said my clamps may be moving which will cause similar symptoms.
I'll take the on/off pain over the 24/7 nausea any day along with the severe adominal pain. The weight gain is ticking me off though;-)
Hoping someone out there who had gallbladder issues can comment. I am scheduled for a hida scan with cck in two weeks . My doctor strongly feels that my syptoms are indeed my gall bladder but I am frightened it could be something more serious. Question is for my peace of mind...Does a diseased gallbladder cause pain also in the middle upper area and could is cause pain also near the belly button as well as upper right area. I am also experiencing a warm sensation on my right side. I feel mild pain to moderate WITH ANY FOOD. If anyone could tell me that this is standard typical Gall baldder problems?
thanks Karen
