What is this pain in my left-hand side?

Symptoms:

Pain in the left side of your abdomen, low down, it comes and goes, it’s sometimes colicky, you have intermittent diarrhoea and constipation. Your period is late and you have severe colicky pain down in the left lower part of your abdomen. The pain is getting worse and you’re feverish. Intermittent pain in the upper part of your left side, worse on eating food, it sometimes wakes you in the middle of the night.

It could be:

Diverticulitis, a condition of the colon where small pockets of the lining push between the strands of the muscle coat. Inflammation can set up in these tiny pockets. An ectopic pregnancy or, more serious, a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, where a fertilised egg is growing inside your left fallopian tube which, if untreated, will eventually burst causing peritonitis. A peptic ulcer, possibly gastric, where the lining of your stomach has become inflamed and eroded by a bacterium, helicobacter pylori, made worse by your stomach acid.

Stop it:

See your doctor to confirm the diagnosis. In the meantime take a medicine to soften your stool and also soluble fybogel. This is an emergency. Call an ambulance to take you to the nearest A&E as soon as possible. You’ll need treatment from your doctor who can confirm the diagnosis. If the cause is h. pylori you’ll need up to a month’s course of several antibiotics.