Xrays normal. I'm torn

[XanaDUer2]

Yay, normal. Boo, this is really happening the pain is real its been going on a month, and i was hoping for some explanation. I am still consulting with the GI DR. I may need more sophisticated tests or something. I am not crazy. Thank you all.

[tanyev]

1. Do you eat dairy and/or gluten?

I throw this out there because I noticed a huge improvement in vague/general GI issues when I gave up dairy quite a few years ago. Things went well for years and then just recently I started having random pains in different mid-body areas, including near the gall bladder. I finally tried avoiding gluten and it got much better.

You can just try avoiding them for 2-3 weeks and see if you notice any change. It’s an easy thing to check, because if things do improve you can reintroduce one or the other and see what happens.

Hope you get it figured out! Best wishes.

[XanaDUer2]

2. Ty!

I eat lots of yogurt. Sometimes breakfast lunch and dinner. Stopped drinking milk.. I'll have to check this out. Thank you

[tanyev]

3. In hindsight, I probably had minor dairy issues

even when I was younger. But it wasn’t until my late 30s that I really started having problems. I loved dairy products, so it never occurred to me to try not eating dairy until I read Why Doesn’t My Doctor Know This? It’s specifically written for IBS and Crohn’s, but there are a lot of things that I found helpful.

ETA: author David Dahlman

[Warpy]

4. Lactose intolerance is one of the most poorly diagnosed things out there

There was no doubt in my case, milk was doing horrible things to me by the time I was five and I hated the stuff with a purple passion. Still do.

A trial of going dairy free won't cost anything and since you're eating a lot of yogurt, that could well be the problem. Yogurt is reduced lactose but not absent lactose. A week without any dairy products should tell you if that's the problem. If it is, don't despair, health food stores now carry a lot of vegan dairy substitutes, including yogurt.

I hope it turns out to be this easy to fix.

[NNadir]

5. Been there, done that.

After extensive scans including catheter visualization and biopsies, I was told there was nothing there. The GI guy said "take ompeprazole" which I do.

I have a family history of esophagus cancer, resulting from Barrett's esophagus, a genetic predisposition. Unlike my father and uncle, whose initial cancers were esophageal, I don't smoke. Smoking can trigger the genetic disposition.