Stomach disease

Hi, I've been experiencing this uncomfortable feeling in my ribcage and sudden pain just beneath it. I am not satisfied also everytime I breath, seems something blocking the way. When I press my ribs, I feel a little bit relieved. Seems that gas is also present. I've been experiencing this quite a while. Maybe for 4 months now. when I take a deep breath, I cannot really understand what I'm feeling in my abdomen-center. They told me that it's just my mind working, but it's not. I feel anxious about what I feel. I also feel discomfort in my throat. I have done chest xray, KUB ultrasound, t3,t4,tsh and cbc but all negative results. I also feel back pains. Please help.

Hey there, I see that this is your first post , so welcome to the forum!

To me, what you are describing doesn't scream Crohns, but that doesn't mean its impossible. What side is your discomfort on? Or is it more in the center?

You mention discomfort in your throat, is this like a burning or scratching feeling or something different? I ask this because I am thinking about the possibility of GERD. This is a condition where the valve that seperates the throat and the stomach is weakened or relaxes when it shouldn't, allowing the contents of the stomach to flow back into the throat. This can cause pain and discomfort in the throat and under the center of the rib cage, especially when pressed. Here is some more information if you would like to take a look at it.

I would recommend asking for something called a barium swallow. In this test, you drink a substance called barium which shows up on X-rays. Multiple X-rays can then be taken to follow the barium through the esophagus and down into the stomach. If there is any reflux, the barium will flow back into the esophagus and this will show on the X-ray.

This would then allow you to have further testing such as an endoscopy (thin, flexible tube with a small camera at the end is inserted into the throat and stomach through your mouth) or to start treatments.

My son has crohn's in his stomach and esophagus and often had this feeling. He was treated with a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) that helped with that feeling and healed the area. He had ulcers in this throat and stomach at his scope. Certainly this would cause symptoms. The only thing that showed his disease was an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy. His CT scan and blood tests were all pretty normal at the time. He did have crohn's in other areas of his digestive tract so a stool study showed Protein losing enteropathy. This just meant there was protein in his stool which should not have been there. Inflammation can cause you to lose protein and this is why the scopes were ordered. I would ask for a fecal calprotectin, which detects inflammation in the stool and is more sensitive then blood tests for some. It would be possible, from what I understand, to get a low reading on that as well if your disease is just in your very upper
GI tract.

If you are continuing to have these symptoms, I would not be satisfied until they checked a few more things. I hope you get some answers soon and are able to feel better.(((Hugs)))

along with what everyone has already said, I am wondering if you have some type of arthritis in your back or ribs. I have a very difficult time breathing sometimes, feels like my ribs are preventing my lungs from expanding. Have they checked your blood for inflammatory markers? My pain is always on the outsides of my ribs, but I know someone whose pain is in the same location as you and she describes it the same way. It could be worth looking into

Hi, it's me again. I don't worry sometimes in my throat since the discomfort would go. However, the discomfort I feel is some what like tightened feeling. I worry about in my rib cage. It seems that my rib cage portion just below my breast is some what pressed (seems that a belt is worn on this part that seems like tightened) and I could feel pain when I pressed it. If I described this portion of my body-the stomach and rib cage, it's seems that it's different from normal. Is there any possibility that I do have arthritis in my rib cage? the center of my stomach is really bloated which causes difficulty of breathing. Some says its just my mind working, but it's not! sometimes I feel like I'm dying.. please help and thank you for your support!

Yes it is possible to have arthritis in the back and ribs, I've recently been having investigations for just that myself. You know how when you run too much and you get a stitch/pain in your stomach, is that kind of how it feels in your chest?

yes, i feel that way sometimes. I really feel that it's more on having too much gas. When I press my stomach, there's really gas present. I could really feel that it sounds like hungry.

Okay, well it may be crohns, but there are also a number of other possibilities, so keep pressing your doctor, the test i mentioned before can be used to help look for signs of crohns so that might be a good way to go, or maybe an MRI or CT scan.

Its not a permanent fix but many people find that peppermint and ginger are good for settling the stomach. peppermint is especially good for bloating/gas. Its not a long term solution and should not be used instead of medical treatment, but it may help you cope with your symptoms until you can get a diagnosis. Drinking milk is also good for heartburn as it neutralizes the stomach acid, again, not a permanent fix, but might help in the short term.