severe Upper back pain between shoulder blades and jaw pain. Not a heart attack.!!! Wondering if it could be gall bladder?

	Asked by Unregistered (Female; 45; Had hysterectomy 2 years ago, Abnormal cells, heavy bleeding and done having children.; Relevant drugs:20 mg lexapro, Adavan 1mg when needed ) on Wed 16, Jul 2008 11:57am
	In the last six months I have experienced 3 attacks. I am not sure what they and neither is my Doctor. The first attack woke me up out of a sound sleep, with a throbbing back pain between my shoulder blades that radiated up to my whole jaw. I am 45, so I assumed that I was having a heart attack, there is a family history. I was admitted, they gave me nitro which did take away the jaw pain but not the back pain. every test came back negative for a heart attack, Had ekg, stress test with the dye all negative. 2 months later I had the same thing happened again, went to hospital, because the pain is absolutely horrible! They gave me nitro which did take a way the jaw pain again. My doctor ordered a catheter, which came back with no blockages of any kinds. The next episode happened about 3 weeks ago, I knew it wasn't my heart, but ended up in the emergency room because of the pain. they gave me 2 shots of something, not really sure what.. for pain, but did nothing! My PCD ordered a scope and I just had that done. I found out that I have inflamed stomach, a small hiatal hernia, and from previous blood work, I have a fatty liver, the count is a little high. Some one recently suggested that it could be my gall bladder. So my question is would a gall bladder attack produce jaw pain? Also, I have never had chest pains with these attacks, I never suffer from indigestion, I don't get stomach aches. They have ruled out heart spasms, esophageal spasms, so far.
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	Answer by Dr Bhupinder K, MD (doctor) on Mon 06, Jul 2009 03:07am: Hello, Gall bladder pain can radiate to the shoulder but not to the jaw.Also since inflamed stomach has been found out,so it could be due to GERD or acute peptic ulcers which might present with such symptoms.I would suggest you to consult a gastroenterologist.In the meanwhile Eat small nutritious meals at frequent intervals instead of a heavy single meal. Exercise frequently and take your dinner atleast 2 hrs prior to bedtime. Also raise the head end of the bed by 2 blocks. To help control the stomach acid, one should not drink alcohol or drinks with caffeine in them, or eat chocolate or spicy or greasy foods .Take some OTC antacid like Mylanta.You can also take zantac(ranitidine)or prilosec(omeprazole).These will help.Also keep your fluid electrolyte balance optimum by drinking lots of fluids. Hope it helps.Take care and regards.
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	Comments: Comment by Unregistered on Mon 13, Jul 2009 01:12pm: I know this post is a bit dated, but i've been having the same pains in my upper back between my shoulder blades since about October of 2007. The pain sometimes begins on my right side just beneath my right shoulder blade, sometimes it radiates around into my side and up into my jaw and sometimes it starts dead center between my shoulder blades right on my spine. Its a very horrible pain, like you said. It feels like someone is cutting me up inside or pouring acid in those areas. The Jaw pain is more discomfort than pain, but its still present. I've had several tests as well. I also came back with a fatty liver, an MRI showed a herniated disk, which the doctor would like to attribute the pain too. A hida scan revealed barely abnormal gallbladder function. Doctor referred me to a surgeon which referred me to a gastroint. Gastroint did a scope and found nothing of relevance. The thing is that the HIDA scan did not recreate the pain which seemed strange to the doctor. I am hesitant to have my gallbladder removed without a 100% certainty that this will solve my problem. On top of that, greasy foods do not set it off. I am curious to know if you've found an answer to your problem, since it appears that we may be suffering from the same thing. Thanks and good luck..
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