Having Pain In Lower Ribs During Eating Or After Drinking. What Does This Indicate?

Posted on Wed, 20 Nov 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 20 Nov 2013 Answered on

Mon, 9 Dec 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : The best description I can give of this strange pain I have is when I eat or drink some things I get this strange pain where my left lowest rib connects to my sternum. It has been like this for over a year. I keep telling myself that I am just getting over weight. The most consistent times that it hurts is when I drink ICE Tea or coca cola (I have always drank a lot of ice tea and coca cola. I can put my finger on the spot where it hurt and message it and it feels better. It feels like a surface pain between the skin and the rib. It does not make any since. I am a male of forty years old weighing 190 pounds. feel very healthy other wise. the pain seems very consistent with my eating. It seems to start about twenty minutes after I have eaten something that some organ in my body does not like and lasts until about one or two hours after I have eaten it. It does not seem to have anything to do with the amount of food that I eat. I can manipulate this pain consistently make it happen by drink Nestles Peach Ice Tea. this is so strange to me. I drink about three 20 ounces of Coffee per day with lots of cream and sugar but that does not manipulate the pain it does not make it hurt. I have worked in remote places of the world doing humanitarian aid work had typhoid and malaria at age 7 in Haiti I have worked in Afghanistan now for the past six years. Had a TB vaccination at age seven. my concerns are things like Liver damage, TB and Hepatitis which I am sure I am exposed to a lot in remote places but all my shots are current. I eat everything and anything and no reservations except Alcohol and smoking. I do not smoke or drink alcoholic beverages. Thanks for your consideration and evaluation.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Prasad J (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Gastritis/Ulcer and hernia... Detailed Answer: Hi, I went through the details submitted with diligence. I understand you suffer from a strange ache localized to a spot at the epigastric region (left lower rib connecting sternum). Ache is bought by food intake especially ice tea and coca cola and reduced with massage. Now, there are 2 possible conditions that explains the aforementioned set of symptoms 1. Gastritis / Ulcer 2. Hernia - epigastric hernia or hiatus hernia Since you have had these symptoms for last 1 year, I would like to know if you had consulted a doctor and discussed about the two possibilities. If you haven't done that, it is time you consider visiting them. He/she can perform an upper GI endoscopy as well as ultrasound abdomen to confirm the etiology. Both these conditions are treatable one. I would suggest you to try over the counter proton pump inhibitor such as prilosec OTC one pill a day for 2 weeks. Start exercise with a goal to loose weight. Avoid spicy food and beverages. These should help you until you get to see a doctor. Hope this helps. Let me know if you need clarifications. Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar