Abdominal pain (only at night)

For 10 months, I've suffered mild lower abdominal pain (a cramp-like feeling). It only occurs at night, and will go away when I wake up and walk around. I occassionally have mild acid reflux but a double dose of Protonix has done nothing to help the night abdominal pain. An upper GI endoscopy found nothing wrong. In any event, the pain is not similar to the burning sensation of reflux. It doesn't seem to be related to alcohol or certain foods, though sleeping with my back elevated does seem to help. Sound familiar to anyone?

i have this same problem

i have the same problem i usually go to sleep around 11 and wake up around 1 or 2 am with a pain on my lower left side it seems to lessen if i get up and pee... so everynight i get up and pee then i go back to sleep and after 3 hours the same pain comes back. When i lay on my back the pain seems to subside but when i lay on my left side the pain increases.... ive had a pelvic ultrasound,stool tests,urine tests and everything is negative., but obvioulsy there is something wrong because i cant sleep 8 hours straight!!

I have this same problem and it's been going on for just over a year now. My pain comes on if I lay on my back or stomach. I go to sleep between 10-11pm and wake up 2-3 hours later with pain so bad i can hardly move to get off the bed. The pain lessens after I get up and go the the bathroom to pee as well. I have occasional pain when laying on my right side so I spend most nights trying to sleep on my left side. I get 4-6 hous of sleep every night.

It took me a year to finally get my doctor to take my pain seriously and run some tests but they didn't show anything wrong. I have made an appointment with an OBGYN for this weekend to see if the pain might be, as my Mother would put it, "female problems". I see a Pain Management doctor for Sciatic Nerve problems and I described my pain to him and he suggested that it might be caused by a Prolapsed Uterus. This is when the uterus starts to drop from its position in the body and presses on the cervix and vagina causing lower abdominal pain. The need to pee might be caused by a urinary tract infection. I was told that this is not uncommon with a Prolapsed Uterus.

I will be seeing the OBGYN to see if he ends up with the same diagnosis as my Pain Management doctor (without telling him what the other doctor suggested). If he agrees, then hopefully they're right and we can get this taken care of soon.

writer1 wrote:

For 10 months, I've suffered mild lower abdominal pain (a cramp-like feeling). It only occurs at night, and will go away when I wake up and walk around. I occassionally have mild acid reflux but a double dose of Protonix has done nothing to help the night abdominal pain. An upper GI endoscopy found nothing wrong. In any event, the pain is not similar to the burning sensation of reflux. It doesn't seem to be related to alcohol or certain foods, though sleeping with my back elevated does seem to help. Sound familiar to anyone?

Get tested for the bacteria H pylori. I had the same problem and found out I had this bacteria and after going on anti biotics my symptoms were gone.

Dear writer1 -

I am having exactly the same problem. A mild cramping lower abdominal pain that wakes me up 5 or so hours after I go to sleep - no pain at all when I first lie down to sleep. Seems similar to the feeling you have if you need to urinate, but there's no good relationship (I might have a lot or only a little urine on any particular night when I get up).

Please post if you (or anyone else) has had a resolution to this problem!

Thank you.

I'll throw my hat in the ring on this one...

Same problem. Mine started 4 nights ago and it's been every night. I notice that after dinner my stomach starts to feel 'sensitive' then after a few hours asleep I'm up in pain. Laying on my stomach, back or left side and it hurts; right side is bearable. Deep breaths or palpating the area cause intensification of the pain. Sitting up or standing and it feels ok.

I thought it was appendicitis and went to the doc (after 2 nights). They did blood work for kidney function and a CT scan. Not appendix, not gall bladder; "everything looks fine". Next step is GI series... mystery continues.

I've had the same problem for about a year now. It started as nighttime pain in my back, but I've gradually come to believe that the cause is in my digestive tract. I've also heard from acupuncturists, yoga instructors, etc., that "stomach" problems often cause back pain. Now the pain is mostly in my abdomen. I wake up a few hours after going to sleep, with my stomach feeling bloated. Even before all these symptoms started I noticed that I was passing much less gas than I used to. Initially that seemed like a blessing, but now I think maybe not . . . Anyway, if I get up and read for a while the pain seems to subside. I seem to get my best sleep - with vivid dreams and everything - in the morning when I should be up and about. (I'm 42 and my work hours are currently flexible.) It's driving me crazy not to be able to sleep through the night. A lot of people on many sites have posted comments about very similar conditions, but nobody ever comes back with answers. So if anyone here does get to the bottom of their condition, please come back and post. I suspect that my condition is somehow related to IBS (with chronic trapped gas and constipation possibly causing the nightly pain) and/or a hiatal hernia. I have been diagnosed with mild cases of both of these in the past. I feel that the root cause is probably lifelong over-eating. I'm not overweight, but in my family we were all encouraged to eat a lot as children ("How about a third piece of pie, with ice cream?"). I think my love of good food and tendency to eat until "sick-full" led to my IBS and that it has progressed to this. I've been doing better over the past few years, but I still love to eat. My sister swears I should go on a macrobiotic diet (and take up yoga) to "heal my gut." Macrobiotic food can be delicious, but it is a big commitment in terms of time. A macro diet would also mean giving up many of my favorite foods. Oh well. I'd be curious to know if anyone relates to my comments about GLUTTONY.

Hi,
I have what appears to be very similar. I am in high hopes that a solution can be found.
Problem: Every night about 3:00am (give or take 2 hours) I wake up with bad pain in my side or back. The only way to relieve it is to elivate my upper body.
This has been going on for at least 6 months, but I did have problems before that.
Originaly before the last 6 months, the pain was in my left side (more like in my stomach area and not my back) This would happen off and on. It then progressed to pain in my back also, and now the pain is every night.

I finally figured out when I wake up with the pain, I just get in the recliner and sleep. After sitting up for 15 minutes or so, the pain subsides.

I am 100% it is related with laying down, as sometimes I go direcly to sleep in the recliner, and have no pain at all that night. I suppose I can get a reclining bed, and sleep that way for the rest of my life...but I would like to know what is going on and hopefully fix the problem.

I have had a colonoscopy, and just left from a CT Scan. I am hoping they find what the problem is. I am currently seeing a GI doctor.

Please if anyone has found a solution, please let me know.

Thanks,
Tim

Hi,

I'm the same, it's getting worse as the years go on. Been to see a specialist about my adrenal glands but drew a blank. Would love anyone on here who had a useful diagnosis to write again. I now sleep 3 for 4 hours a night and can't sleep on my right side at all.

I'm back at square one after seeing a specialist and my GP desn't seem to have much idea. Incidentally I was also diagnosed with high blood pressure which was inconsistent (really high then normal on different tests) so hope that helps someone with a diagnosis.

Steve