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I Have A On And Off Pain Underneath My Right
Question: I have a on and off pain underneath my right rib cage. Sometimes it goes hours without hurting. Wondering what is causing this
Brief Answer:
Can be due to gastritis or angina.However sounds more like gastritis pain.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for choosing "Ask a Doctor" service for your query.
Have seen your details,
You have not mentioned your age,sex and smoking habits which is very important in giving a differencial diagnosis.
Considering your history there are two possible causes-
1)If you are a non smoker non alcoholic and female less then 60 years of age or male less then 50 years of age then very likely the cause of off and on pain is acid peptic disorder( it's the most common one).I would suggest you to take over the counter Omeprazole tablets twice daily along with antacid like Tums thrice for 10 days and see how pain responds to it.If pain responds to antacids get a endoscopy done to rule out inflammation of gut called gastritis.
2)In case you are male above 50 or female above 60 smoker and alcoholic and the pain on right side responds to rest(on resting for 10 minutes the pain goes off ) it could be stable angina.Angina means pain caused due to blockage of blood supply to heart.To confirm it you need to consult a cardiologist or MD and get these two baseline tests done-
1) Tread mill test
2)2d echo of heart
combined together they are more then 85% sensitive in ruling out cardiac problems like angina.
Hope I was helpful and easy to understand.
Follow ups are welcome.
Do rate the answer.
Thanks.
Can be due to gastritis or angina.However sounds more like gastritis pain.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for choosing "Ask a Doctor" service for your query.
Have seen your details,
You have not mentioned your age,sex and smoking habits which is very important in giving a differencial diagnosis.
Considering your history there are two possible causes-
1)If you are a non smoker non alcoholic and female less then 60 years of age or male less then 50 years of age then very likely the cause of off and on pain is acid peptic disorder( it's the most common one).I would suggest you to take over the counter Omeprazole tablets twice daily along with antacid like Tums thrice for 10 days and see how pain responds to it.If pain responds to antacids get a endoscopy done to rule out inflammation of gut called gastritis.
2)In case you are male above 50 or female above 60 smoker and alcoholic and the pain on right side responds to rest(on resting for 10 minutes the pain goes off ) it could be stable angina.Angina means pain caused due to blockage of blood supply to heart.To confirm it you need to consult a cardiologist or MD and get these two baseline tests done-
1) Tread mill test
2)2d echo of heart
combined together they are more then 85% sensitive in ruling out cardiac problems like angina.
Hope I was helpful and easy to understand.
Follow ups are welcome.
Do rate the answer.
Thanks.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj
Answered by
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