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I Have Suffered Upper-right Quadrant Pain And Malaise On And

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Posted on Tue, 1 Dec 2020
Question: I have suffered upper-right quadrant pain and malaise on and off for 2 years. It starts off as a constricting band of pain around my liver area and moves around my back.

MRI and ultrasound show no issue with liver or gallbladder, and my endoscopy showed my biliary ducts to be ok.

My doctors are stumped and the constant flu-like symptoms when it flares upare beginning to really crush my morale. I even tried looking into diabetes, parasites and more, but these all came back negative.

Do you know of anything else it could be?
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Follow up: Dr. Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi (0 minute later)
I have suffered upper-right quadrant pain and malaise on and off for 2 years. It starts off as a constricting band of pain around my liver area and moves around my back.

MRI and ultrasound show no issue with liver or gallbladder, and my endoscopy showed my biliary ducts to be ok.

My doctors are stumped and the constant flu-like symptoms when it flares upare beginning to really crush my morale. I even tried looking into diabetes, parasites and more, but these all came back negative.

Do you know of anything else it could be?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
Kindly more information is needed.

Detailed Answer:
Hello dear and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.

The pain in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen can be related to many medical conditions.
I see through the query that you have already excluded intestinal causes.
Another possible cause can be an infection of the right kidney.
Kindly more information is needed to help through the diagnosis.
Do you have a fever?
Do you have burning while urinating?
Do you have any bulge in the upper right quadrant?
I will be waiting for your response to help you better.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Kind regards!

Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi
General &Family Physician

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
doctor
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi (0 minute later)
Brief Answer:
Kindly more information is needed.

Detailed Answer:
Hello dear and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.

The pain in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen can be related to many medical conditions.
I see through the query that you have already excluded intestinal causes.
Another possible cause can be an infection of the right kidney.
Kindly more information is needed to help through the diagnosis.
Do you have a fever?
Do you have burning while urinating?
Do you have any bulge in the upper right quadrant?
I will be waiting for your response to help you better.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Kind regards!

Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi
General &Family Physician

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi (7 hours later)
Thank you very much for your response.

To answer your follow-up, I don't have any notable fever and do not struggle to urinate. Though I have no bulging stomach the crest of my ribcage on the upper right quadrant can be quite sore to the touch when symptoms present.

Symptoms normally come on like this:

-feeling of a "bruise" inside my URQ , roughly where my liver is.

- pain deepens and radiates through to my back after a day or two.

- I begin to feel malaise and lose appetite. Sometimes I will struggle to hold up my head and want to sleep all day. The pain will now make my ribcage tender to touch.

- normally a total of 3-4 days of this before I now just feel incredibly fatigued, and the pain subsides (and becomes the "bruise" feeling again).

These episodes occur 1-3 times every month for the past 2 years.

Thank you for your continued help.

-Tommy
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Follow up: Dr. Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi (0 minute later)
Thank you very much for your response.

To answer your follow-up, I don't have any notable fever and do not struggle to urinate. Though I have no bulging stomach the crest of my ribcage on the upper right quadrant can be quite sore to the touch when symptoms present.

Symptoms normally come on like this:

-feeling of a "bruise" inside my URQ , roughly where my liver is.

- pain deepens and radiates through to my back after a day or two.

- I begin to feel malaise and lose appetite. Sometimes I will struggle to hold up my head and want to sleep all day. The pain will now make my ribcage tender to touch.

- normally a total of 3-4 days of this before I now just feel incredibly fatigued, and the pain subsides (and becomes the "bruise" feeling again).

These episodes occur 1-3 times every month for the past 2 years.

Thank you for your continued help.

-Tommy
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi (13 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Probably intercostal neuralgia.

Detailed Answer:
Hi again dear XXXXXXX

The examinations that you have done, rule out most abdominal issues that can cause the pain.
In my opinion the pain can have a neurological cause.
It can be related to intercostal neuralgia. It is caused by irritation of the intercostal nerves, which are below the ribs.
You should consult a neurologist to confirm the diagnosis.
Meanwhile, I suggest using lidocaine patches to treat the pain.
I also suggest using capsaicin cream for local application.

Hope it helps.
Take care
dr.Dorina Gurabardhi
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
doctor
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi (0 minute later)
Brief Answer:
Probably intercostal neuralgia.

Detailed Answer:
Hi again dear XXXXXXX

The examinations that you have done, rule out most abdominal issues that can cause the pain.
In my opinion the pain can have a neurological cause.
It can be related to intercostal neuralgia. It is caused by irritation of the intercostal nerves, which are below the ribs.
You should consult a neurologist to confirm the diagnosis.
Meanwhile, I suggest using lidocaine patches to treat the pain.
I also suggest using capsaicin cream for local application.

Hope it helps.
Take care
dr.Dorina Gurabardhi
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
doctor
Answered by
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Dr. Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :2013

Answered : 13592 Questions

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I Have Suffered Upper-right Quadrant Pain And Malaise On And

I have suffered upper-right quadrant pain and malaise on and off for 2 years. It starts off as a constricting band of pain around my liver area and moves around my back. MRI and ultrasound show no issue with liver or gallbladder, and my endoscopy showed my biliary ducts to be ok. My doctors are stumped and the constant flu-like symptoms when it flares upare beginning to really crush my morale. I even tried looking into diabetes, parasites and more, but these all came back negative. Do you know of anything else it could be?