Pain in upper/mid left abdomen for 5 days...

This is really to the point where he needs to see a doctor – even if I knew what was wrong with him, how would my proper diagnosis help? He can go to urgent care and ask about a payment plan, but if it’s not going away and it’s severe enough that he has to stop doing what he’s doing to deal with it, it’s really doctor time.

Yeesh, it might be an appendix issue!

Hernia, intestinal gas or a little alien clawing it’s way to the surface. He can see a doctor without insurance but the visit will probably cost him about $50.00 which will be well worth it. You can call around to a bunch of local general practitioners and ask what visits run for an uninsured patient.

Thanks guys, yeah he’s been more gassy than usual too so it could possibly be intestinal gas…but I was afraid it was something more serious from the way he was reacting to the pain…hopefully we can find a doctor that takes in uninsured patients so at least he could get a general diagnosis!

You’re not going to get a decent opinion on here or any other website—in fact any such opinion will probably be detrimental and possibly dangerous. The only way to properly diagnose it is to be seen by a medical professional. And I speak as probably the most qualified expert on this subject on Fluther.

Go to the damn ER. They will see him but you will get a bill. Having bad credit is better then being dead.

edit: and we have been here before.
http://www.fluther.com/30017/ever-have-constipation-so-bad-that-it-hurt-to-move/

I so sorry you live somewhere that healthcare is only for the well-off.

Abdominal pain is very very difficult to diagnose without a full hands-on and history. I don’t think this warrants a trip to the ER.. that’s just costly and unnecessary for something that is not acute and the ER people don’t appreciate that and you won’t appreciate the bill you’ll get. If he’s eating, pooing and not throwing up, it’s not really an ER case.

You do need to get him to a walk-in clinic or state or teaching hospital of some sort to see a doctor about it. It could be anything from an ulcer, irritated stomach lining or a hernia to something more serious.

The thing with pain in the abdomen is that it can be what is called ‘deferred pain’ meaning the pain is in one place and the problem causing the pain is somewhere else. A trained physician needs to feel his abdomen and ask some questions for a diagnosis and we’re not able to do that here on this Q&A board.

It could be appendicitis. If his appendix bursts, he will be in danger of losing his life. There is no way to tell without a blood test. he needs to go to the ER.

You said upper left-mid abdomen… that’s more where the spleen/pancreas is. The appendix would be lower right abdomen.
Has he started eating fiber enriched foods? Or eaten sorbitol/malitol lately? Some people can’t eat the fake fiber that’s so popular in current foods nowadays and it hurts when it hits the colon. That’s one possibility, but like the other posters say, the only way you’ll know is to go see a doctor.
let us know he’s ok!

It might be a gall stone. Mine hurt like that, but on the left side for over a year, before i had tests to find out what it was.