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You mention that this pain occurs particularly after drinking coffee
or alcohol.  I may be way off base on this one, but a pain in the
left side, just above the belt, that worsens upon drinking alcohol
could possibly be an indication of a little pancreatitis.  I'm not
an M.D., so I want to reiterate that I could be way off base with
this 'diagnosis'.
 
                                Barbara Kuehl, Ph.D.
                                Dept. of Educational Psychology
                                University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee