All very familiar symptoms. The behind the shoulder blade pain you mention was a strange one and in my case due to my pancreas.
No doctor ever put that together until after the fact. But, your body really sends you warning signals in unexpected places.
It seems clear as day collating symptoms now, doesn't it? As in your case, for me was a mystery for the best part of a year.
I thought to mention to
@SeanQHX1, hoping to shorten the agonies of the what the heck is going on?? phase
Not wanting to hijack this thread, hoping this info is useful in your (self-/) diagnostic process:
Once symptoms had become chronic, nine months from onset, GP just performed a lower abdominal exam, lab tested blood and stool for inflammatory bowel disease markers,
then when that came back clear, had no further suggestions despite what I now know to be classic symptoms of something amiss in the biliary system.
Eight months before that I had been prescribed heavy duty antibiotics for the same symptoms (fluoroquinolnes - perhaps you can picture what happened next. Spoiler: nothing good for my ligaments), which another two GPs & two A&E (ER if you're outside of the UK) urology docs thought could be an upper urinary tract infection or kidney stones, as I'd recently had a lower urinary tract infection.
When no good came of that, I *cough* self referred to a urology clinic (went and sat in the waiting room grimacing all morning and refused to budge!), they gave the kidney all clear and suggested "back pain".
Nonplussed, I decided my symptoms were having developed fibromyalgia / costocondritis -- due to family history --
and lay at home passing gallstones over xmas/ny 2018. Not recommended.
In June this year after five weeks of severe diarrhea and rapid weight loss, a locum GP I'd not met before /finally/ gave me a manual upper abdominal exam, and referred me directly to the upper abdo surgical intake ward.
It was a bit of a shock at that stage because, due to all the medical naysaying, from multiple quarters, I hadn't allowed myself to consider anything was seriously wrong, outside of The Usual (M.E., POTS etc) / working to accept the new muscleoskeletal pain business.
The point of my story is both to commiserate, to affirm that you are the best and only arbiter of your body's processes and whether they are running as they should,
and to advise gathering as much info as possible, logging even seemingly unrelated symptoms, and staying your course -- stamina allowing -- when suffering is dismissed.
I know that's no new strategy for an M.E. patient, and clearly you're already working on here,
@SeanQHX1. You will find leads, and hopefully some relief won't be far behind.
@BeADocToGoTo1 , have you already shared your experiences with pancreas trouble this elsewhere on the forum, that you can link me to?
When I continued to have chronic upper abdo pain, post cholecystectomy, I also considered my pancreas. Spleen too.
Are you taking something like oxbile supplements and pancreatic enzymes with food to help break down food better into usable nutrients?
I'm under the care of a medical herbalist at the moment - some mast cell activation-like symptoms are making supplements as well as pharmaceuticals impossible,
but I'm slowly acclimatising to low doses of upper and lower digestive (liver/biliary, mouth, oesophagus, stomach and gut) and lymph-supporting herbs.
Very slow stabilisation and the beginning of gains only recently, with regards weight loss, liver colic and other biliary grumbles. Touch wood.
Very much hope things are moving in the right direction for you also.
