Abdominal pain; what is this? Scared.

[villanelle75]

I know you are all going to tel lme to call my doctor, and I have, but it is before business hours hear so I am waiting for a call back from a triage nurse. I'm scared and in pain, and hoping for some info, and also looking to pass some time.

Late yesterday evening, I started havign a pain in my right side. It was pretty mild and I only really felt it when moving around. It felt a bit like a mild gas pain, though it was further off to the side than seems normal for that, but I didn't think much of it. Most of the time,I could hardly eventell ti was there, unless I was moving around, in which case it was only about a 2 on a scale of 1-10. No big deal at all.

I woke up at 3 am and when I rolled over, the pain was fairly intense. I tried to move around to get comfy, but that made it worse. By about 630, it was bad. If I'm in a comfortable position, it's okay, though I defintiely know it is there. If I move wrong or take a deep breath, it is suddenly so bad that I let out a moan/yelp/gasp and I lose my breath for a moment. The deeper the breath or the worse the movement, the larger the area of pain and the more intesne the pain, but it is still very focused.

As for what movements, other than deep breaths, that trigger it, it seems to be things that engage my abs, though if I jsu tsit up straight and try and flex my bas, it does nothing, so I can't really pinpoint what movements make it bad.

I also feel a bit like I need to have a BM, though that could be unrelated, I guess.

It is pretty far over to my right side, just above the level of my belly buttom. I looked up apendicitis on the good ol' net and it doesn't soud like the pain is in the correct area, as best I can tell.

As I said, I've already called and am waiting for a nurse to call me. Does this sound familiar to anyone? This is weird, and very painful as well, so I am freaked out.

[Asha]

i was thinking appendix, but my scar is below my belly button, but i am not sure if the scar is exactly where the appendix is located. when i had ruptured appendix i was vomiting all the time, so if you do have appendictis it probably hasn't ruptured yet. in addition, i was unable to walk with my rupture. though, you would want to catch it before that bc once it has ruptured it can be life threatening.

the pain actually sounds similar to cyst pains i have had.

like you said, i am going to tell you that you should go to the dr.

[kalogrias]

Honestly, it sounds like really bad gas to me -- I get it a lot, and it's really painful. More painful in reality than one could imagine gas could be.

[j*east]

That sounds scary. I have no idea what it could be, but if you're so freaked out that you can't think of anything else, i.e. work or whatever you had planned for the day, please go to the ER. For me, that level of freaking out means I need to get help ASAP. Good luck, and I hope you feel much better soon.

[villanelle75]

I guess I am patly afriad it is just gas. Of course,that would be the best outcome as it is totally beging, but I don't want to make a big fuss, go to the ER, call in sick to work, etc., and then have to explain to my boss that it was gas!

[MLA]

I guess I am patly afriad it is just gas. Of course,that would be the best outcome as it is totally beging, but I don't want to make a big fuss, go to the ER, call in sick to work, etc., and then have to explain to my boss that it was gas!

Don't let fear of embarrassment get in the way of taking care of yourself. What if it's NOT gas? You need to get to the ER or Urgent Care clinic.

[LittleFredPunkinHead]

I guess I am patly afriad it is just gas. Of course,that would be the best outcome as it is totally beging, but I don't want to make a big fuss, go to the ER, call in sick to work, etc., and then have to explain to my boss that it was gas!
If it does turn out to be just gas, you don't have to feel compelled to go into detail with your boss. Just tell him/her that although the pain was severe, it turned out to be not too serious and they were able to give you something for the pain at urgent care. (Assuming they have you take something like Gas-X or whatever.)

[snowzilla]

I'd go straight to the ER. What I thought was just really bad stomach pain when I was 19 turned to be an appendix that needed to be removed via emergency surgery. So please, don't wait. Danger to your health trumps potential embarassment any day.

Besides, if it is just gas, what a great story to tell your friends over a beer this weekend. ;)

I really hope it IS just gas. Feel better!

[KAF]

Based on what you're describing, there is a possibility it could be a bowel obstruction. Have you felt nauseaous(sp?) or been vomitting? Have you had a change in your BM frequency? Those are all symptoms of a bowel obstruction. I hope it's not because I've experienced it and it was very difficult. Hopefully your doctor will be able to find out what is wrong quickly....

[villanelle75]

Just got home from the ER.

When I spoke with my doc's office this morning, they told me to come in immediately. Doctor poked around and aksed a few questions and said it was most likley acute apendicitis and that I should go to the ER. the Er did a CT scan and foudn nothing, so it wasn't apendicitis. Doctor said I had a ruptured ovairan cyst. I couldn't tell if that was a real diagnosis or a diagnosis of exclusion, but she sent me home with a perscription for pain killers and told me I'd be sore for a couple days and then I'll be good as new.

[pocket]

Ouch! But woo-hoo to the painillers!

[villanelle75]

Yup. I'm pretty much stoned right now. She gave mme a choice and I ooted for the Vicoden. Strangely, everythign still hurts just as much; I just seem to mind a lot less!

[laura]

I'm sorry to hear that.

Though I thought with ovarian cysts, the main ceased when they ruptured? Or do I have that backwards? My SIL had that and I swear she was in terrible pain for hours and hours and as soon as the cyst burst, she was fine almost immediately. I've had cysts that hurt, but none of mine have ever ruptured.

[pocket]

I've heard the opposite - cysts don't hurt except for the fact that they push everythign else aside. If they rupture, it kills, and keeps hurting until the blood and fluids drain away naturally - usually 24-48 hrs. It's not dangerous, it just hurts.

[laura]

Gotcha - it's been a few years, thankfully, for me + cysts!

[MLA]

Glad to hear you're okay, V. I was worried about you!

[kalogrias]

Glad to hear you're okay, too.

[j*east]

Whew. Glad everything is OK. :)

[villanelle75]

I am waiting for a friend to come pick me up and take me to the ER again. I could probably drive myself, but when I have a moment of pain, it's prety intense.

The pain last night got way worse. At one point, I woke up to a very localized, ever increasing pain in that same spot. It just got worse and worse, and then it felt like something tore through something else, and then the pain went back down to a tolerable level. But when I reached behind me to grab my water and vicoden, the movement caused me to feel like someone had stabbed me. And today, the pain is still worse. It still isn't there all the time, but movement, deep breaths (sometimes) or sometimes nothing at all, causes the stabbing feeling.

I called the Er, who told me to call my doc's office, who was totally incensed that the ER didn't do an ultrasound to get a definitive diagnosis. They told me to go back to the ER though, because they don't have the ability to do all the test I'll need. I'm going to a different one this time, though I have copies of all my tests from the yesterday. This time I amgoing to the military hospital, where I am hoping they will be more willing to give me more tests.

I am not totally convinced this is an ovarion cyst. They pain just seems to be in the compleltey wrign place. It's way up above my belly button (off to the side), just below my rib cage.

Anyway, I guess it will be another day spent waiting in the ER, but hopefully this time I can get some answers. And I'm going to try and be much more aggressive if they try to blow me off again.

[missy329]

Sunds like it could be gallstones. I had to have my gallbladder removed and your symptoms sound a lot like what mine were.

Hope the Dr's are able to figure it out soon!

[MLA]

Oh no! I hope that they figure out what's wrong at the ER today and that you get it taken care of. It's terrible that you're in so much pain. :(

[Asha]

i hope you feel better soon and they figure out what is causing this pain.

[LittleFredPunkinHead]

Ugh! I'm so sorry you're having to go through this again. I hope they figure it out quickly and you're feeling better very soon.

[PinkMartini]

Bumping this up to see how you're doing V

[villanelle75]

Ehhh. I'm okay. No better, really. Still have pain, but I've trained myself not to move in the ways that really cause pain. I am also exhausted constantly, and I take about 10 naps a day, falling asleep at the drop of a hat.

I had a doctor's appt today and even though he is stumped, he's the first guy who seemed to take this seriously and he seems to want to help me find an answer. I have pelvic and abdominal ultrasounds scheduled for thursday, so hopefully that will give me some answers.

[skyblu]

Yuck, how horrible to feel so much pain!

Abdominal pain can be a big stumper, because it can be so many things! Organ pain, or muscle pain, or even referred pain (it hurts on your right upper quadrant but it's the left ovary, or whatever).

I hope they can figure it out soon.

[lbs27]

I'm so sorry that you're going through this--pain is bad enough without the added worry about what's causing it. I hope your tests tomorrow bring you some answers and relief. Let us know how you're doing!

[MichelleRenee]

I had something very similar a few years ago. the pain was just excruciating and I couldn't figure out why the doctor couldn't find anything. It finally got so bad I went to the ER.

After an ultrasound to check for gall stones they decided to do a CT scan of my abdomen. That came back normal too. The only thing that came back positive was a urine test. I had a kidney infection. By this time the pain was on my side but had spread so it was up under my ribs too. I am not entirely sure about this, but my anatomy teacher told me that some nerve groups are so large that you can feel pain in one place when your infection is actually somewhere else.

Anyways, they gave me a REALLY strong antibiotic and within a week I was fine. But for the week that I had the pain I was convinced it was something terrible.

Good luck figuring it out. Stuff like that is annoying. Especially when your doctor keeps sending you home and you have to keep going back just to be told it's nothing!

[Scooter]

Sorry they haven't found any answers yet. A few years ago I had a similar pain, but a little lower, same side. It lasted for a week or so, but would come and go. Sometimes it was as painful as you've described, and one day it was so bad I ended up crying on my way home from work. Went to the ER, did ultrasounds to check for appendicitis or an ovarian cyst (whole or ruptured)--nothing.

The next summer I had a laparoscopy to check for endometriosis, because it grows like webs, attaching to various organs, and is a common cause of unexplained abdominal pain. For me it turned out not to be endo, just a scarlike bowel adhesion, there for no apparent reason. But it's something to talk to your ob about as a possibility, if the gall bladder etc end up ok.

[villanelle75]

Nothing showed up on the ultrasounds (internal and external pelvic, and abdominal). I am 90% better, so my doctor seems to think we should just let it go and move on. I hate doing that, because it leaves me worried that there is something wrong and that needs attention, but that hasn't been discovered. But when I talk to my doc, he seems so convinced that it isn't necessary to do anything else, and that there isn't any logical next thing to try anyway, based on the symptoms.

I no longer have any pain, and the exhaustion seems to be slowly easing. There is still a vague feeling of something in the area where the pain was. It isn't pain anymore, or even discomfort, but it just an awareness of something in that area. If that doesn't go away soon, I'll go back to my doctor and see if there are anymore tests, and try to be more aggressive, something I find hard to do with a medical professional who knows more than me and is telling me there is nothing else we can/should do. But for now, I wait.

Thanks everyone for the good thoughts!