Right Flank/Side Pain Distress: Thank you all for your support

Thank you all again for being so supportive! I have felt like a hypochondriac for so long (I may be a bit) and having a group like this to lean on now means so much and has already helped me so much! Truly thank you!

Anyways I am wondering if any of you have had a right flank pain (liver, gallbladder, right kidney area) that tends to be pretty consistent? This pain actually started in 2011 after my son was born but didn’t become this consistent till a few or couple years ago. I have had a HIDA scan (2011 or 2012), a few right flank ultrasounds (most recent (3/2019), and numerous CMP blood tests and everything is normal.
My white nails with the rims of course have made me more nervous about cirrhosis as Terry’s Nails (research says they’ve been seen in cases of cirrhosis) is what they look like and this pain rarely leaves under my ribs. Ginger seems to help a bit nothing has made it go away. It’s worried me a lot apparently and would love to hear from you all.

Again thanks for everything!!!

Hi, Savedbygrace,

It sounds like you have had all the proper testing done. It's pretty normal to be concerned about pain and changes in your body, whether chronically ill or not. And those of us with Lyme deal with that stuff on a daily basis. Please don't feel self-conscious about having perfectly understandable responses to what's happening to your body! That said, if health anxiety is a troubling symptoms for you (been there) then there are ways to help ease that. But I know this was not the point of your post....

I have pain in that area consistently, and I had fears of so many causes, including major organ issues, various cancers, and nerve entrapment. It was hard to figure out, because the pain felt somewhat deep and did not necessarily correspond to movement and muscle use, and it could be achy or sharp or tingly. It didn't correspond to eating except occasionally toward the end of the day when my abdomen would be more full. For me, hard though it was for me to accept, the pain is structural. My craniosacral therapists were able to identify inflamed liver ligaments and diaphragm tension, but no other organ issues. I figured out some bizarre stretches and had to change the way I sit all day long (noooo hunching or slouching! no reclining while holding your head up!). From deconditioning with this illness (maybe combined with something about the infections themselves...) my muscles in my abdomen are very reactive to use, and have started to cramp on the inner abdominal wall (hence not always corresponding to movement the way I assumed they would if the pain were structural in nature). Ligaments, tendons, and muscles all can get inflamed and very painful. Have you seen a bodyworker, like a craniosacral therapist, PT, or skilled massage therapist who can help you figure out whether all those structural elements are working together properly? Or help figure out where exactly areas of tension and imbalance are?

Obviously I cannot say for sure what is causing your pain, but I know I was very resistant to the idea that the pain in the same area being structural. (It really felt deeper and scarier.) When I saw the phrase "under my ribs" it resonated, because that's where the pain got the worst for me. Good luck solving the mystery!

My nails are on the pale/white border and my middle fingers have a tiny moon. On some of my nails too are the rims. Seems like it’s gotten a tiny bit better. I’ve asked multiple doctors about them and none of them seem super concerned. Just that I need some more iron with my low ferritin level. Liver though, none seem worried about.

I’ve had a endoscopy done in April and they saw chronic gastritis in my stomach but no real reason why. Only thing that came back abnormal was severe lactose allergy. Other than that the endoscopy looked pretty normal. Greasy foods do seem to upset it a bit more but I will have the burning even on an empty stomach or even with waking up in the morning. I’ll even have it at night. Like I said it’s pretty consistent.

Thanks for brainstorming with me!

I haven’t stopped all dairy completely and what’s weird is for many years I haven’t had major symptoms with it at all. Just an occasional stomach ache or upset stomach. I don’t have an ulcer either as the endoscopy didn’t show that. Just consistent burning. It sometimes will move off into the side of my ribs as well and so it’s frustrating. Hopefully one day it will subside but I guess for now I have to try to not worry about it.