Stomach area pain which increases on taking deep breaths

Dear Ask The Doctor: For the past 2 weeks I have had stomach area pain as if something is swollen. When I take deep breaths, the pain is felt. When I try to sleep at night, the pain is the worst and often I have to get up and walk around and finally sit up to sleep to be comfortable. I seem to be passing more gas than normal. No fever. It doesn't bother me much during the day. I am 60 years old and walk 3 to 4 miles a day.

Dear Richard: It is difficult for me to say exactly what is the cause of your abdominal pain because of the unspecific nature of your history. Stomach pain and increased flatus could be due to multiple causes. The most probable causes could be gastritis, gall bladder stone or appendicitis (depending on the location of the pain). You have also mentioned that you have asthma, sometimes chest infections may present with abdominal pain which aggravates when you take deep breaths. I would advise that you get yourself examined by a doctor. You may be required to do an abdominal ultrasound, urinalysis, chest x-ray and a GI endoscopy to further determine the cause of the abdominal pain.