Abdominal pain (only at night)

I've had loads of tests and no specific diagnosis given. It has also been suggested that I try gluten free or Paleo diet. I'm about to try gluten free

Have the same problem, no doctors ever take it seriously have had some luck with an herbal called mastic gum, kept it away for 5 years or so but now its back. But try mastic gum for some relief, take it for at least 3 months it does work.

Hi everyone. If you have the same problem as me, then be sure to drink cold water once the cramps start to occur. This has been a miracle cure for me.

I've been experience this for over a year now. Gluten Free diet is my next step. My doctor has no answers for me either. Been through a bunch of tests....all negative results.

Please someone figure out what is wrong. Everyone believes I'm full of c**p whenever I speak about this same problem. I went to the doctor once and they had no idea what it was, and I think they thought I was lying. I am only 16 years old so I think that's why everyone doesn't believe me.

At my wits end. This has been going on for nearly 2 years now. The severe discomfort in my abdomen and low back only occurs at night...roughly 2-3 hours after I fall asleep. My only relief is to get up and walk around. Passing gas or going to the bathroom seems to expedite the relief process but I'm not entirely certain....it just seems to. Like many have said, I too have found that sleeping on my recliner downstairs provides a pain-free night. I only have to be propped up a few degrees. As long as I'm not flat on my back or sides, I'm ok. It's the strangest thing that the smallest amount of incline can make such a huge difference. I'm just tired of sleeping in my recliner! Colonoscopy, CT scans, stool tests, and blood tests have all come up negative. I'm certain it has something to do with my digestive system but I can't figure out what it is. I've stopped eating past 6:00 PM to see if it would help, it doesn't. I hate to admit this because I'm generally in control of my feelings/emotions but having to go through this for the past couple of years, its hard not to feel depressed about it. Wondering if others are feeling the same way. Throughout the day I feel great! I dread going to bed each and every night because I know what is in store if I don't sleep in my recliner. I'm going to try a Gluten Free Diet starting tomorrow to see if it works. I'll keep you posted.

one yeqr ago.will u see this?? u need probiotics in a high dose and maybe dose yourself for parasites!!! HOPE THINGS ARE BETTER. I FOUND OUT I WAS WHEAT INTOLERANT AND THE ABOVE .GET AN ORGANIC HEALTHY DIET GOING .HOPE THAT HELPS

You might ask to be treated for oral thrush (an overgrowth of yeast/fungus in the mouth) with a rinse-and-swallow type of medication like Nystatin, so it goes through your stomach and intestines. To me, the symptoms and timing make sense: the fungus is feeding off of your dinner and producing gas that is getting trapped and causing cramping. It probably can't hurt to try the Nystatin and I have a feeling it might help.

I just replied to this whole chain, but wanted to rely to you in particular. If your tongue (even way at the back) has any whitish sections at all that could possibly be thrush (an oral fungal infection), I would really ask your doctor to treat you for it. Look at those big taste buds at the back and see if there's any white. Also, do you have cracks in your tongue? (This is normal in about 2% f us.) If so, spread the cracks and look inside them. Is there any white there? These are indicators of thrush . . .

Hi i also have been suffering from these lately, since I relocated house temporarily. I have suffered from Gas and ulcers in the past and have changed my diet lately for the better, but the cramping in the stomach has just started, It feels like slightly bloating or trapped gas, at first i thought I may have had a cold in the kidneys but no. In the past when I suffered Gastric attacks I found elevating the mattress slightly from the waist up helped, I might try that again, 62 YO male. Could it be common medicine we are taking, like Cilazapril; Clopidogrel; Lipitor; Pantoprazole (which I just reduced lately as this started)?

A possible solution…

Firstly, I’m grateful to everyone who has posted in this thread. I thought I was the only one suffering this problem, and reading through all the posts has enabled me to find a solution (scroll to the end now if you don’t want to bother reading though this post).

Now, a few comments to preface this. Firstly, I do not think for one moment that this will be a solution for everyone, as I suspect there will be several different underlying causes that have a similar manifestation of symptoms.

Secondly, to those who feel that they have been let down by their medical services/doctor and/or have been labelled as a no-hoper heartsink patient, that was me too. I understand this phenomena well and eventually gave up on doctors as it became quite clear that they were not going to be able to help me with the mysterious malady.

My background: I’m a lecturer in psychotherapy and formerly a registered nurse in neurosurgery and accident and emergency. I work in pain research as well, design treatment protocols and I am regularly a speaker at medical and psychology conferences.

But clearly my doctors think I’m an id**t; I see it on their faces and I hear it in their voice, even if they don’t actually say the words.

The symptoms: low level diffuse abdominal pain, not that bad in itself, but interrupt sleep, typically waking up 2pm-4pm in mid sleep cycle, unable to get back to sleep. Chronic constipation, no matter how much fibre, magnesium salts etc I take. Additionally, probably as a result of the constipation (i.e. full colon pressing on bladder), I have to use the bathroom much more frequently than normal and sometimes don’t pass all that much. This immediately resolves for a day or so after taking a laxative, only to return.

This has been going on for over ten years and in the last 2 years has been getting worse and worse. However, during this temn year period there have been some lengthy chunks of time where all symptoms have disappeared, only to return, with no identifiable changes in my diet, behaviour or circumstances to cause the variation.

Anyway, here’s the investigations and treatments I’ve had:

- abdominal ultrasound- multiple stool cultures- all the blood tests known to man- gastroscopy x2, plus biopsy- colonoscopy plus biopsy.- tests for coeliac’s- full allergy screening- food intolerance elimination diet (nothing found)- strict adherence to FODMAP (zero improvement)- treatment for helicobacter pylori- generic treatments for parasite and microbial infection- medication: H2 inihibitors, ranitidine, fluoxetine (which did wonders for my mood, which wasn’t great from all the lack of sleep).

There’s probably others to add to the list.

Now, here’s the feature that misled me for so long. I increasingly travel a lot for work and am often away from home. During these trips away, I have absolutely no symptoms.

Thus I started thinking about all the variables.

- Maybe it’s the water - so I bought bottled water. No different. I even tried washing in only filtered water, no difference. So ok, not the water.- Maybe it’s the dishwasher leaving residue on the plates. Washed all item in the sink before using them. No difference. So not the dishwasher.- Toothpaste, toiletries, etc. Nope. not that.- Pets, we have a load of pets at home. Tested for all those, so not that.- Household cleaning products - switched all of those to “organic”. No difference, not that.- Maybe it’s my wife, but no, she regularly travels with me so it’s not her.

Scratch head time.

Then i spot on this thread that someone else reports the same issues that the problem only ever happens when they are at home. Someone else suggests changing mattress, chiropractic got a mention.

aha!

I pull out my dusty neurology books and check the spinal nerves. I discover that thoracic Birkett’s lymphoma can manifest as abdominal pain because the thoracic nerves serve the abdominal area. Folks, I know you are reading this at 2am in the morning and are feeling quite vulnerable right now, but please stop panicking this instant. Berkitts lymphoma would have killed you a long time ago and really is the least likely explanation for anything. I’m just taking you down my train of thought here.

So, I don’t have Birkitt’s but i was a nurse for 10 years. Nurses get bad backs…a lot. I don’t have a bad back, but I do have mysterious abdominal pain where there is clearly nothing wrong with my abdomen.

Oh yeah, did i mention that I’m apparently a bit of an expert in pain treatment.

Duh. I’m such an id**t. Golden rule: The thing that hurts is not necessarily the thing that is injured.

I go to see a highly regarded chiropractor the next day (I usually regard them as quacks). I explain my hypothesis: I’ve got a minor compression in my thoracic spine causing abdominal pain and I give him the full story.

He looks at me like I’m crazy. Tells me that he doesn’t think this is a likely explanation for this problem at all and is quite keen for me to leave again, he evidently doesn’t really want me as a patient.

I insist that I’ve had so many treatments that I’d hoped would fix the problem that by now I knew first hand all about false hope, desperation and placebo (one time I was 100% certain that it was an undiagnosed ulcer, i told everyone. I was so relieved to have a diagnosis and treatment….but alas, no luck. Evidently, I didn’t have an ulcer.)

He did the back cracking thing. I noticed a significant change in my posture as I was walking home again.

That night, i awoke with abdominal pain as per usual, contemplated getting up and going to the lounge as usual, but next thing I know it's 630am, evidently I hadn’t been awake for very long. The same for the next 3 nights, until seeing chiropractor again. More back cracking. That night, slept through no problem.

And here’s something else, on the knuckle of little finger of my right hand and on my left big toe I’ve had heavy callouses, that seem to have no reason to be there. Moisturising them daily became normal, otherwise they crack and get really sore. They’ve been there for about 5 years.

2 weeks on, they’ve gone now, just a mark on the skin which is fading daily.

So anyway, thats that, it seems.

For those who skipped to the end.

It *appears* to be originating not from my stomach, but from my back. All tests clearly show that there is nothing wrong with my guts, so i checked my thoracic spine to see if it was a nerve problem, so far, 3 weeks following spinal manipulation the problem is resolved.

- I pay more attention to my posture, changed my office chair.

- I’ve changed my mattress (turned it over) am buying a new one this week (I’ve delayed because good mattresses are horrendously expensive, and I want to be more certain before spending the money).

I have extreme lower stomach and back pain every night usually after sleeping three to four hours. I ge t up go,pee and drink a glass of room temperature water and try to go,back to sleep the water helps sometimes but not always. I find if I sleep in a recliner I sleep an hour and wake up off and on all night but the pain goes away. If I just stand up for a few minutes the pain eases off but when I lay down agin it stays with me until I fall asleep usually after an hour or so I wish it would go away. Sleeping on a slanted pillow hasn't helped. I will be going to a specialist and I hope he can help me out. Ps I am 76 and this problem started a couple of years ago and it continues to get worse

After two years of all these symptoms and blood tests that came back negative, an endoscopy that didn't show much - hospital sent me for a scan and I have gallstones! Lots of tiny ones. I'm 31 and slim build so don't fit the usual description for someone to develop these. Still waiting to see consultant!

Hello and thanks for this post which somehow shed some lights.. i have been having this for the past week and yesterday night has been the toughest,because it came back twice this time ! thought the second time it was less intense. It is good that i only got this only a week because I can remember that this started with me having some pain in my back.. which gradually subsided, but then i noticed that he pain was "inside" and not at the back.. then it's what you all know about waking up and having that pain, which constipation, passing of gas, then pain going . SO i will follow the two advice, the only thing that come to my mind is that I bought a new truck and each time i finish driving i do come out of it with a lower back pain. I'll stop driving it for a while and see what this does.

Got same thing in right side, I also have a lot of gas in my abdomen, but pain at night is more than 1 year old. Went to a GI Doctor, he examined me thoroughly, he ordered an abdominal ultrasound. I am going to go meet him today, lets se what he says, ultrasound is normal though.