Abdominal pain (only at night)

I have had an udiagnosed stomach pain/bloating/pressure /heartburn acompanied by slight nausea for 20 years that only happens at night between the hours of 3-6pm. I am lucky if I get a few hours sleep. I have to get up and cannot lay down again unless I use ice cubes wrapped in a dish towel on my diaphram. This enables another 2 hours or so. Everynight I am plagued by this. All endoscopies have been normal incl bactria tests as well as normal colonoscopies and ultrasounds ext.iI have tried every remedy herbal and othewise with no success. All acid blockers and anti heartburn pills ext do not work! Any one else experiencing such symptoms?

hello friends i too feel the same problem too...some time even while sitting or going to sleep or even in the middle of my sleeping hours i feel a mild pain in left side near by stomach...
also met doctor done all ultrasound but nothing found checked kidneys everything
now from few days i feel that when the food is digested in stomach and is moving to another organ dont know which one that path is what creating problem.kindly friends consult ur doctor about this i think friends join together so that we can get the solution and help each other.
please reply at my email if any progress and chat through email and solve this out as soon as possible ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** private e-mails not allowed **
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I had the same thing happen for 4 months. I would wake up around 12:30 with pain right under my left rib cage and across my belly, so I would take 2-4 Tums and fall back to sleep. An hour or so later the same thing would happen..that went on 4 to 5 times every night. I finally got scared and went to a doctor. He said it sounded like a pinched nerve in my back. The treatment plan was; everyday lay over with my back on my exercise ball for 2 minutes (looking up at ceiling) then sit and cross one leg over the other (Indian style) and press my knee down for 20-30 seconds. This would give a good stretch to my back. Lo and behold after the first day of doing this my stomach pain no longer haunts me at night.

These posts found familiar.... I can go to sleep at 10 or 10 30pm and wake up around 12 30 am with lower left side pain and bloating. My belly looks 4 or 5 months pregnant. I have constipation and I guess ibs - c which who knows bc that is so hard to diagnose. My test for gluten intolerance was negative. I usually lose about 1 or 2 hours of sleep every night when this pain sets in. Pain is relieved by expelling gas..My friend has suggested taking a magnesium supplement pill which I started yesterday. I am 54 and also take calcium for osteoporosis so we are thinking the bloating maybe caused by the calcium. So now I am taking the calcium and magnesium tablets with night time meal. So will see. I am desperate to find relief and to be able to sleep like a normal person. It has been so long that I forgot what that feels like.

I have the same problem. Waking up after a few hours with abdominal pains that dont go away unless i sit up. Ive had it since 1997. Been to a lot of doctors, but no solution.

Tonight (after 13 years) i actually think i cracked it!

Its the toothpaste. If i only use dental floss, and brush my teeth without toothpaste i dont get the pains as bad (or almost no pain) I use normal Colgate toothpaste.

Going to see if i can find a toothpaste without fluoride, as that could be the problem.

Could some of you maybe test this and see if it helps you out as well?

So far it sounds like elimination of toothpaste or checking h pilori might hold a key. I get a lot of relief from a dose of gas X or generic simethicone around the 2-3 am wakeup, and sometimes it lasts till 5 or 6 o'clock. It takes a half hour or so to take effect. One other thing i've noticed is with a light (healthy?) dinner I get gas pains for sure, but with a good substantial meal (with fat) I sleep all night. Another help is melatonin, with a small 300 mcg (that's microgram, not milligram ) dose. Mellatonin is commonly sold in WAY too large a doses, unless you LIKE to be dopey when you get up! My experience anyway.

I have the same problem. I am a 23 year old female with Crohn's disease. I had a flare up recently but am taking prednisone and I've drastically changed my diet (specific carbohydrate diet- hard but worth it). I am doing great right now; all of my pain and symptoms are gone- EXCEPT at night I wake up with awful abdominal pain. At first I thought I had to urinate and then it would get better but now I'm not so sure. It happens if I lay on my back or my stomach. It helps on the sides. I wonder if it's simply the pressure of gravity pushing on my stomach and intestines that's making it hurt, or if it's more serious.

Morten has solved the problem for me! Flouridated Toothpaste was the culprit. Story has it that flourine crept into our water and toothpaste in the '50s as a profitable means of disposal for a dangerous process byproduct material. The stuff is toxic in rather small quantities anyway. Thanks Morten!

I had the same pain for about 3 months and recently feel much better.  Several years ago, I had my gall bladder removed due to occasionally severe pain.  When I started getting pain recently, only at night and mostly in my right side, it reminded me of the pain I used to get from my gall bladder.  So I went to the doc and had blood work and a ct scan, nothing showed up.  He ordered a colonoscopy and I thought long and hard about it.  I never went in and continued to have the pain.  I started thinking that the pain may not be in my digestive track but in my back.  I commute over 2 hours everyday and sit at work too.  So I started working out and strengthening my core.  Within a few days my symptoms were gone.  I have had other inflammatory issues, like planter fasciitis, which hurts the worst in the morning but after you stretch it feels better.  The symptoms I was having in my right side/back seemed to match up with feeling ok after I got up and moved around.  If you haven't tried exercise yet, I would give it a shot.  Worked for me!  Good luck

Hi, I am glad to see the recent posts. I have been having the same problem for over 16 years. Every night I get up after around 3 to 4 hours of sleep (depending on when I go to Sleep) and feel the pain in my abdominal area. Most times it is not a sharp pain or a pain that can be described well. It is an irritation and I cannot go back to sleep unless I get up and pass urine. After I pass urine I can go back and fall asleep fast. However, I then get up every two hours after that with the same sensation. SO i end up passing urine atleast 4 to 5 times a night (8 hours sleep) though my bladder would be holding very little urine. The pain is not pain from the bladder as we all know. I feel it is pressure applied on the diaphragm by either the stomach or some other organ (for me if I drink aerated water or wine, I get a sharp pain near my shoulder blades as it is the gas in the stomach applying pressure on the diaphragm - explained to me by an Urologist). I sometimes get the pain near my kidney area. Over the years the pain has kept changing form. Lying in an inclined position did help in the early years, but of late, it only provides a little relief, but does not take away the pain completely. Showing my Brother-in-law who is an Urologist this blog helped me to convince him that my condition was not psychotic and he arranged for CT Scans as a preliminary test which showed everything normal (many of you have had the same results). I do exercise though I am a little overweight and am a 46 year old male and have changed my diet numerous times but never could eliminate this problem. Earlier on, I used to get this more often in the summer, but I don't think that is too relevant as now I have it year long.

Ive had a very similar problem to the posts on here, i firmly believe it is diet related,and only occurs at night whilst asleep due to pressure on the abdomen and being in a horozontal position. An acidic diet, over eating, speed eating ,eating within 3.5 hours before betime, and eating a processed diet which is highly acidic will cause this problem in my experience. This problem was driving me nuts because i was tired all the time, i changed my diet, eliminated coffee,tea which were Big contributors, eliminated all processed foods, ate smaller portions, ate slower and stopped eating SMALL DINNER 3.5 hours before bed time, this is a digestive problem for most people who posted on here. I am currently problem free and sleep straight through to my alarm now, every time i start losing my dicipline with diet i relapse, good luck guys.

jim

Hi, I had this problem and lasted a couple of months! I'd wake up at the same time every night, about 4am with really bad stomach cramps and would have to walk around for about an hour and it would then go away! It all started from when I had tried vitamin drink called Berocca, tablets that dissolve in water. I had only took a couple and stopped as thought it might be those that had started the pains at night. It took over a month for the pain at night to stop, but haven't had the pain since and have not took any other vitamins since! I hope this helps u!

After reading all the postings and responses here, it seems to me that there are several different issues.  My comment is to the posters who go to bed at night and wake up 2-3 hours later with a pain in their left side, lower abdomen.  The pain occurs every night and it is only relieved once you urinate.  It is difficult to describe the pain but the closest I can come to it is as if something is resting on a nerve and as my bladder fills it puts more pressure on it causing more and more extreme pain.  The pain goes away instantly once you get up and urinate.  This happens several times during the night and the result is exhaustion. To those people.. I feel your pain!... I've had it for over two years.. I've been poked and prodded everywhere, ultrasound, CT scan, MRI, colonoscopy ,the had a look inside my bladder with a scope, so, I've been there and done that with no success at either identifying the issue or solving it.. I also was given a pain medicine that was supposed to be specifically for the bladder, that didn't work either..  It was after ALL that I started looking on the internet and found this site..  I tried limiting my liquid intake... no change.  I tried not eating 3 hours before bedtime, I tried the cutting out the fluoride via no toothpaste with fluoride and it didn't work for me..  A few weeks ago I had a stomach bug and couldn't eat and found that while I had the bug, I didn't remember having the pain.  Sounds strange, didn't remember..  Got better and went back to my old schedule, or lack there of with eating while still trying to watch how much and when I drank.. About a week ago I was exhausted and went to bed early without eating... I did wake up with the pain but found that when I changed my position..the pain gradually lessened and I was able to get back to sleep without getting up and urinating.  I didn't connect the eating with anything but after that I tried changing my position when I woke up with the pain and found that if I could wait a bit the pain gradually went away..It would happen again and I'd do the same thing and more than not.. I wasn't getting up and having to urinate more than once for the night..   The past couple of nights I've stopped eating anything 4 hours before bedtime and limit my liquid intake to sips after say 6 pm... I woke up once the night before and shifted my position and was able to get back to sleep.  Last night the SAME!  I woke this morning not feeling that dragging feeling..  Obviously this is not a real experiment but, I wonder if some of you with this issue would try this and see what happens... None of the medical professionals seem to be able to figure it out/help, perhaps we can help each other?

I have also come to believe that it has to do with the food that we eat and our digestive process. Recently I started taking Probiotic foods like probiotic curd to help in increasing the bacteria required for digestion. I have also noticed that my frequency of getting up has come down to once a night and in some cases twice a night. Earlier I had to get up atleast 4 to 5 times. Also, the pain has changed and I can stay in bed longer without having to get up immediately. So I intend to investigate this aspect further to see if there is any further improvement. 

I have same problem and have had for years. I feel like it is trapped gas which becomes  painful as the movement of the colon slows at night due to inactivity. My pain is always on left lower side of abd...I have history of  ibs with constipation. I have had numerous tests..stomach and colon scopes, HIDA scan and gall bladder ultrasound, test for celiac disease.. all negative.  A friend of mine's GI doctor suggested 2 laxative pills to take at night so i am taking those now, these i hadnt used before. Also adding bread to my diet at lunch and eliminating or limiting red beans and peas, broccoli, cauliflower and any of the known gas producing foods. It is trial and error but this approach has definitely improved my symptoms. At least some nights i dont have pain and am able to sleep better. It is miserable and frustratnig to not sleep and then have to stumble in to work. .