Pain in my side...

Hey. I've been paying more attention to what I eat for the past tend days. About 3 days ago at 2 o clock I got a horrible, shooting, tingling pain in my left side, near my stomach. I thought it was just nerves due to my finals, but then the same thing happened at the same time the next day. Finals were over. I've narrowed the cause down to a few things. Any input is greatly appreciated:

1. The consumption of cheese in large amounts (on both days I had eaten mac and cheese at around the same time in the morning. Yes, i know that is a horrible diet, but i was in a hurry. The mac and cheese was frozen, company: Amy's, all organic.)

2. Calorie Reduction (before i started counting my calories, I probably got about 2500-3000. Now I hover anywhere 1300-2000, though mostly around 1600. Did I reduce my calories too rapidly?)

3. Period (I have a weird cycle. Sometimes I get it for two weeks strait, sometimes not for several months. I have it on and off right now)

Other information: I'm pescatarian (vegetarian that eats fish).

I'm a massage therapist and have some nutritional training but can't seem to figure out what caused the pain. Yes, I would go to a doctor, but I have no medical insurance and cannot afford it.

SO...on the third day...I did a test. I made sure to have no cheese in large amounts and...no pain! However, on that day, I went crazy and ate about 2200 calories- but- many of those came from crap taco bell burritos. So, id my body saying no to cheese? Am I building up an intolerance to it? OR was my body saying yes to more calories? OR was taco bell giving me something essencial that I wasn't gettingin my diet already? (haha yeah right)

Sorry this is so long. Thanks very much for any input.

- Jacquie

well not being a doctor I can't tell you what it was ;) but I have had issues with my gallbladder in the past and that tends to cause a shooting pain, for me it's center abdomen above my stomach.  Certain foods trigger the attacks and if you overdo it too much on a trigger food it can put you on teh floor. 

Organic apple juice helped me as well as an herbal product called digestaway which basically ads more healthy flora and digestive enzymes to the gut to aid in digestion.  Perhaps this would help. If it continues to happen however I would find a clinic and have it looked into. 

I don't know a lot about the topic, you may want to google it, but if it isn't just cheese that causes the pain, if it is other dairy products as well, you may be lactose intolerant.

Some people are lactose intolerant when they are little and they grow out of it and some people begin to be lactose intolerant as they get a little older.

Since you don't have medical insurance, I would recommend playing around with dairy products.  Eat a little and see how you feel.  If other dairy products cause pain as well, stay away from them.  Then, as soon as you have insurance, go to your doctor.  He/she can give you a prescription for medicine that will help your body digest lactose.

Good luck.

I used to have the same reaction when eating something with ricotta cheese in it.  I never figured out what the cause was, but new it was the ricotta.  Everytime I ate lasagna, I'd get the severe pain in my abdomen. I started putting cottage cheese in my lasagna instead of ricotta.... no pain!  I never figured out what it was.  I can eat a little bit of ricotta, but I can't go overboard.  I do put ricotta in my lasagna now, because that's the way my daughter and boyfriend like it.  I scrape most of it off. 

Cheese can bind up your system and cause agony from what I've read and heard over the years.  Try to limit how much cheese you eat.  Supplement milk if you can.

You mention finals...  are you at a university?  Do they have a  student health center that you could visit?  It would be a good idea to see someone about your irregular cycle.

Before I went on the pill I used to have pain around ovulation time on one side or the other for a day or two.  Sounds pretty similar to what you had though I'm not sure about the position of your pain.  I have a friend who once had such awful pain during ovulation she collapsed and had to go to the hospital...just to find out that she was ovulating!

I'm in college and a lot of my friends have developed lactose intolerance in the last couple of years so that seems a likely culprit as well.  Seems like your pain was really localized though and you didn't state any other of the symptoms.  It's worth looking into, though.

that would be the area of your body where your intestines are. you are probably just constipated. eat more fiber and drink more water. (cheese helps constipate)

If you have any kind of pain that persists or comes back for more than 3 days, you need to see a doctor.  It could be any number of things.

Hey wow, I had no idea so many people responded to this. The damn website was supposed to send me an email if anyone wrote anything! Anyway, thanks everyone for you advice and suggestions! I had the pain for 3 days and then I stopped eating large amounts of cheese in the morning/afternoon. This period turned out to be the most painful and agonizing one of my entire life, by far. I do not know if the two are related. I have had cheese and it seems to be fine now. I just don't have a ton. I eat the soy cheese instead as often as I can.

It occured to me that it might be lactoseintolerance, but I have no problems with milk. Anyway, everything is under control now. Thanks again.

- J