stomach/back pain? acid reflux???

so for the last... i dunno. six moths i guess. i've been intermittently getting severe stomach cramping and back pain. always on the right side, the back pain feels like muscle problems and it is always right under the right shoulder blade. the stomach issues feels right in the middle of my stomach, just about at the edge of my ribcage.

my therapist has suggested it might be acid reflux or something like that, but i don't know what to do. i'm currently awake right now because this woke me up. i tried throwing up to make it feel better but it just didn't work.

i need to sleep. i slept two hours. i have to be up in two hours.

right now it's not as intense as usual, but still enough to keep me awake. previous bouts of this were so bad that i literally thought i was dying at some points.

i can't just straight up afford doctor visits though. i don't know what to do?

 

Have you considered you might be having gallstone attacks? Do the attacks worsen if you've eaten fatty foods?

If it's acid reflux you could try something like omeprazole (which is available over the counter in The Netherlands) for two weeks to see if your symptoms go down. Remember to read the information in the packet though to see if it's suitable for you/and or compatible with any medication you might be taking.

I hope you can get it resolved, but I think it might have to include a doctor's visit unfortunately :(

 

I have not considered gallstones no. I don't really know if they're worse when I eat fatty foods, I generally barely eat anything at all on a bad day and on a good day it's just one meal.

I'm probably gonna end up going to the doctor anyways, I'm going to see my family next week and I think my dad wants to help me set up a doctor's appointment. He said he'd be willing to pay for it.

After the latest bout of pain I can still feel little twinges of pain every so often on my right side, so it's obviously getting more frequent and worse. I don't really know what to do about it. I should pick up some tums, cuz i'm in the USA and i dunno if i could get some omeprazole.

 

Omeprazole is OTC in the US too, I'm pretty sure. I have gallstone attacks and they sound somewhat similar? Although with mine, I get the pain along my diaphragm/bottom of rib cage (concentrated on right) and it's not localized to just the right blade, but spreads to either side. My attacks also don't last longer than 30 minutes, usually, but I don't know if that's an average number or not.

Edit: yep, OTC in US. Look for Prilosec.

 

i see! yeah my attacks last for.. hours. the one i had when i posted this was... four+ hours long. I've had some last almost six.

they are not short ones, and are SUPER intensely painful.

 

Yeah, agreeing that you should definitely see a doctor. Might be worth setting up/having your parents set up the appointment now so you know it's in place when you're there?

 

they're in the middle of packing up to fly out to help my grandma with a funeral. it's kinda hard for them to do that right now

 

Fair enough. Do you think you could do it? (with help if you need any)

 

i don't know. i feel mostly fine now and there's a lot more important things to deal with. dad said he's gonna help me with it when i'm there which is good enough for me tbh.