Hi Cindy! Good afternoon. I am Dr Shareef, a general surgeon answering your query. From the history you described about your boyfriend, if I would have been your treating doctor, I would have sent him for an urgent ultrasound abdomen to exclude gall stone cholecystitis in which typically the pain stays in the upper quadrant below the right rib cage and may be severe enough to disrupt the routine activities. I am not aware if your boyfriend consumes alcoholic beverages or not. If he does, I would also specify to see the status of pancreas in the ultrasound by the ultrasonologist and also go for a serum amylase and serum lipase estimation. Simple gastritis and hyperacidity may not cause such severe pain abdomen and this is more so if lidocaine is not relieving him of the pain. I would suggest you to give him a proton pump inhibitor, an anti spasmodic, along with lidocaine that he is already on. In case he does not get any relief or if the pain is increasing, then you must take him to the emergency room of a hospital, where he is likely to be admitted for further investigations on which will depend his management. I hope I have answered your query. Thanks for choosing healthcaremagic portal for your health querry. I wish your boy friend a quick recovery.