My internist suspects that I may have some gallstones due to location/quality of pain and nausea that seems to come and go at will. I've also been having a lot of gas and multiple bms everyday, although not diarrhea. can that be another symptom of gallstones?
Here are the symptoms of gallstones: steady pain in the right upper abdomen that increases rapidly and lasts from 30 minutes to several hours
•pain in the back between the shoulder blades
•pain under the right shoulder
•prolonged pain—more than 5 hours
•nausea and vomiting
•fever—even low-grade—or chills
•yellowish color of the skin or whites of the eyes
•clay-colored stools
I'd also have your internist check you for appendicitis. these are the symptoms for appendicitis:
The abdominal pain usually
•occurs suddenly, often causing a person to wake up at night
•occurs before other symptoms
•begins near the belly button and then moves lower and to the right
•is new and unlike any pain felt before
•gets worse in a matter of hours
•gets worse when moving around, taking deep breaths, coughing, or sneezing
•loss of appetite
•nausea
•vomiting
•constipation or diarrhea
•inability to pass gas
•a low-grade fever that follows other symptoms
•abdominal swelling
•the feeling that passing stool will relieve discomfort
These symptoms also mimic these diseases too:
•intestinal obstruction
•inflammatory bowel disease
•pelvic inflammatory disease and other gynecological disorders
•intestinal adhesions
•constipation
Typically, symptoms of gallstones include localized pain and nausea (which you've described) and steatorrhea (fatty stools). this often causes stools to be very smelly and sometimes rather loose. Multiple BMs per day and excess gas can be signs of gallbladder disease, though your symptoms should be evaluated with a seperate physician if your confidence in your internist feels shaky.