Hi there, I am hoping to see if any of you ladies have had anything similar, or any suggestions on what else to ask my doctor. I have had a pain in my lower intestine area now for 2 1/2 months. Two different doctors have ruled out gallbladder, liver and appendix issues. I have had an ultrasound for ovarian cysts and hernia. Our last idea was several antibiotics to treat diverticulitis. I didn't have the usual symptoms, but my mom and 2 sisters have it. The good news is that things got better. The pain mostly went away, (now its more annoying and pressure like sometimes) definitely not sever at all anymore and not all the time. I have more of an appetite, TMI no more constipation, and I can lay on that side. The bad news is that I may feel 90 to 95% better, but I still can't sit a certain way, jog/run/ do yoga, or lift anything heavy. Now that I am about 3 weeks done I am also noticing more mild pressure and slight pain more often (part may be due to a lot of stress) My doctor's next step is a CAT scan, which I was really hoping to avoid because we don't have decent health plan coverage ( it figures it got cut just this year) I am hoping that because I did respond so well to the antibiotics that we are on the right path, but I am terrified that it could be something worse like cancer ( my doctor has mentioned that usually there is no pain and you just feel bad ) I am also now going on a trip out of the country and am terrified that I will get there and something will go terribly wrong all of a sudden.( paranoia due to just loosing my young dog 5 days ago to an auto immune issue in only 24 hours) I know its crazy but I am not sleeping and am up almost every night after only 3 or 4 hours of sleep. I am tired, feeling crazy and just plain sick of not being able to manage my stress, due to not being to exercise only walk. Please try to be gentle I need to sleep, but any ideas would be great. Thank you in advance.
Thank you for all your ideas and encouragement. I am looking into a lot of the suggestions and am still most likely going to go ahead with the scan, just for my peace of mind as well. I was able to really exercise for the first time this weekend, so I am feeling much better about life in general now. Take care mommies and thanks again for your time. :-)
Hi--
I was going to say the same as Susan below me. Have you considered an alternative to traditional medicine? If so, I can recommend a great Doctor in the Denver area that I would not only trust with my own life, but that of my children. My oldest was a wildly sick baby and western medicine didn't help at all. This doctor, however, was able to do what others could not. Let me know if you'd like his name.
J.
A good friend of mine had ulcerative colitis and 3 bowel surgeries in a year. Her cousin had the same thing but not as bad. Another friend had diverticulitis and wound up in the hospital every time she ate the wrong thing (popcorn, anything with seeds, and so on). She also had gall bladder attacks - everyone in her family had digestive issues.
The first friend is pain free now for 20 years as is her cousin, and the 2nd friend for 10 years. They did it with nutritional supplementation using patented products with many clinical trials. You have nothing to lose - you are spending a fortune on tests and and medications, and nothing's working really well. You could be pain free and worry free. I'd be happy to connect you to these women.
Try Ultimate Aloe juice. What aloe does to your skin...it does to your insides as well....it heals all around. It's all natural and may solve the problem.
:)
I'm sorry you are going through this!!!
You could have developed ooooh damn - I can't think of it - colonitis, I believe it's called or the Celiac disease - eating Gluten products.
Asked to be tested for Colonitis and Celiac disease....that's where they "hit" you and there are times when the pain can double you over.
DO NOT GIVE UP!!!
I experienced a similar thing several years ago and the docs could find anything either - What I decided it might be is Irritable Bowel Syndrome - which can't be diagnosed using any tests. I started taking daily psyllium (sp?) husk (2 table spoons mixed in water - gross, but whatever) and that seemed to help. The symptoms went away gradually over a short period - I think a couple weeks. If you try it, make sure you drink LOTS of water, or it will only make it worse. Good luck.
Before you try Aloe Vera juice, please research it. The Mayo Clinic website has some good info about ingesting aloe vera. (They don't recommend it.)
I have digestive issues and after having many, many invasive tests was diagnosed with IBS. I take peppermint oil, citrucel tablets, and avoid certain foods. Lettuce is the worst food for me!
Stress also makes the pain worse. I do yoga, take long walks, and try to make sure I get some "me" time frequently. Knowing I can finally control the pain is the biggest stress reliever. You said you can't do yoga right now. Is there any exercise you can do?
I wish you luck getting a diagnosis. Not knowing can be the worst part! I've had mysterious symptoms all my life, and I've found the stressing about it makes things worse. Easier said then done, I know!
There could be a million medical reasons for this (I agree with the polyps BTW, try changing your diet, like gradually exluding certain foods)... but for me, after having 3 kids and split abs, I sometimes lean or bend the wrong way and I literally feel like I'm pinching my guts between my ribs and my hip bone. Is that what you're feeling at all? Or is it crampy pain? Either way, I DON'T think it's cancer, just because that would have shown in your lab work forever ago, so breathe easy :) Feel better! Try stretching more, this helps for me. I have a pull up bar that I'll hang on to and just hang by my arms to stretch everything out and put my guts back into place!!
Something that you could try is going to a holistic doctor. It may sound crazy, but it's well worth trying out a different type of medicine. Chinese, kinesthiology, etc. There are iridologists, nutrition therapists, and those who practice chinese medicine. Sounds kooky, but you never know. I've gotten a lot of help. My nephew was going through a lot of pain, nausea, and no one could figure out what was going on. All tests, scans, everything they tried came back negative. When to a holistic nutritionist who found out his liver was stressed and cramping. Put him on supplements and he got better. Sounds crazy, I know, but the reason that it didn't show up on tests was because it wasn't "that" bad yet. It had to be a little worse before the test results would show anything. So when you are in desperation for answers, you could try something like this. I don't think it can hurt. :) Good luck. Google for places in your area, and those like chiropractors and massage therapists may know of places to refer you to. Or people who work at health food stores.
I had a blockage in my intestines that really hurt bad and they did a double dose of the highest antibiotics along with a sleeping aide. Within a month it all went away completely. Since then I took Cascara regularly though. Which is a natural medicine you can pick up just about anywhere that trains your intestines to clean out properly instead of taking the diarrhea or constipation pills that cause your intestines to constantly contract which will make it so they don't know how to work after awhile. Anyway, I took 2 cascara at night before bed and the next morning the body works. I don't have the need to take it anymore since my intestines were retrained in how to work properly by taking the Cascara.
girl I work with had something similar and I forget the medical term but something to do with pollups in her intestines. Turns ou when she ate seedy things (ESPECIALLY tomatoes) her intestines had a hard time passing them, hence constipation and pain.
Have they checked to see if you have a hernia. I had the same pain before my hysterectomy and when they went in they found the hernia that was very bad. It did not show up on my CT. Hang in there!
