Hello. I'm a 38 year old male in relatively good health, or at least I thought. I am 5'6 and weigh 175 lbs. Doctor has told me that I am at least 20 lbs. overweight. I have also been told that I may have metabolic syndrome based on the fact that my triglyceride levels are high, my hdl (good cholesterol) is low, and I carry a large amount of fat around my abdomen. Doctor told me that metabolic syndrome is basically a precursor to developing diabetes. All that being said, several months ago I had an abdominal ultrasound done because blood tests showed that my liver enzymes (ALT) were elevated. The ultrasound showed that I had an 8mm stone or polyp in my gallbladder. They weren't sure which it was. They basically told me not to worry about it unless I started feeling pain. Fast forward two months later: in August I ended up in the ER because I had really bad abdominal pain and nausea along with a 102 degree fever. While at the hospital they did an ultrasound on my abdomen which showed the "polyp or stone" in my gallbladder. They also did an abdominal CT scan which did not reveal anything else other than the gallbladder issue. Based on the imaging, the ER doctor told me that he thinks what I have is a polyp and not a stone. He said it was attached to the wall of the gallbladder. He also said that polyps do not cause physical symptoms. The doctor pretty much told me that I was experincing some kind of virus. Anyway, he did recommend that I follow up with a gastroenterologist to discuss the gallbladder polyp. I couple of weeks later, I saw a gastroenterologist and he also concurred with the ER doctor and said it was a polyp. This doctor was also adamant that polyps in the gallbladder don't cause symptoms. He did say that my choice was to either take the gallbladder out through surgery, or have it monitored with yearly ultrasounds to make sure it's not growing. Apparently, from what he said there is some malignant potential with polyps. I decided against the surgery and went on my merry way. The problem is almost everyday, I experince indigestion, extreme gas, bloating, and upper back pain around both of my shoulders. I sometimes feel sharp pain by my ribs on the right side. Lately though I've been feeling a cramping-like pain underneath my left breastbone that extends down towards my left rib . The pain is not excruciating just annoying, and it basically comes and goes. I guess assessing it all my chief complaints are back pain, abominal pain, and really bad indigestion. From what I've read, classic gallbladder symptoms. My queston is could this possibly be a gallstone and not a polyp? The polyps supposedly don't cause any symptoms, but I'm experincing a lot of symptoms. Has anyone else experienced left-sided pain with gallbladder disease? Does this sound like the gallbladder? I thought the pain should be felt mainly on the right side. I'm contemplating going back to my primary doctor right now to get more answers. I want to be sure it's the gallbladder before doing surgery. What else could be causing these symptoms? I'm sorry for the long post, but I'm just really frustrated with all of this. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.