Hi Peter,
Where is your pain located exactly?
I had severe pain that would start in my stomach and radiate through to my back, radiating throughout my back and sometimes the sides of my stomach. I also felt the need to burp during the pain, which would last for up to 12 hours at a time. It was excruciating. This was made worse after eating, especially a high fat meal. The pain was so bad I could not find any comfortable position, lying down, standing up, I could not deal with it.
I did some research and self diagnosed myself with gallbladder issues. After experiencing this pain coming and going for 9 months, I eventually went to the ER where they diagnosed gallstones and a fatty liver. The 2 organs are connected. Your gallbladder stores the bile that your liver creates and dumps the bile into your colon to digest food. If you have problems with your gallbladder, severe pain can ensue in your abdomen.
The doctor advised me to remove my gallbladder. I find that doctors only want an easy fix and don't address the root cause of anything, ever.
After a lot of research, I started taking milk thistle daily and have found that the pain has gone away within hours, only coming rarely and 1/100th of the severity, can be treated with advil. Milk thistle detoxes the liver. The liver filters all the toxins out of your body and filters all of your blood every 3 mins. If your liver is fatty or not functioning at optimal levels, a lot of issues can start. It is estimated that approximately 70% of North Americans have fatty liver which is the first of three stages of liver disease. These statistics are staggering. Milk thistle is a natural remedy and has been clinically proven to reverse liver disease and damage. I would suggest trying milk thistle if you are as desperate as I was. I bought the more expensive stuff from a health food store and paid about $30. You can probably get it much cheaper over the counter at a drugstore. I used both types and find them to work similarly.
The jury is still out on whether gallstones can be treated naturally, but I'm willing to try, especially now that the pain has subsided. People are under the impression that the gallbladder is an unnecessary organ, however, this is not the case. The gallbladder holds the bile. Without it, bile is constantly dumped into your colon without any rhyme or reason. This increases your risk for colon cancer as well as ongoing conditions that cause severe pain and the inability to digest food properly.
Gallbladder illness can also lead to pancreatitis which I have not had, but can also cause severe pain in the abdomen. Pancreatitis is treated with clear fluids and strong pain meds until the pain subsides and sometimes results in long hospital stays.
Something I found recently was gallbladder massage. Your organs are not fixed inside of your body and move around, somewhat. I found that pressing in the area where the gallbladder is located (on the right side right below your rib cage) when the stomach pain starts, with 2-3 fingers and massaging in a circular motion helps ease the pain, sometimes within minutes. I press down hard and sometimes just hold it down for several minutes.
I am not a doctor, and in no way am giving medical advice, just my 2 cents.