Hi,
I have been suffering with severe abdominal pains for a few years now that are getting worse and more frequent. The pain starts in the upper abdomin and moves around to my back and i feel great pressure on my chest. Pain killers dont help, all I can do is pace the room for hours and sometimes shower because the heat relieved the pain slightly. I used to get the pains maybe once evey few weeks but in december 2009 they began to get a lot worse. I had many visits to the doctors who thought maybe it was acid so I started a treatment for that which did not help. After weeks of agonising pain and missing work the doctor refered me to a specialist to check for an ulcer. This test came back negative and they suggested I have an ultra sound. The ultra sound showed some stones in my gallbladded and i had it removed in March 2010. Thankfully the pains went away but started back again in December 2010. I got them maybe once every two weeks. after christmas things got a lot worse, i started getting the pains every day and every night, waking me from a deep sleep and sometimes causing me to vomit. I went to the emergancy room where i had bloods done and an ultra sound. everything came back fine. i then had a CT which also came back fine. followed by urine and stool tests and an MRI which also came back normal. finaly I had an EUS to check for stones in the bile duct which again, came back normal. the doctors are completely stumped and have now diagnosed me with IBS. Eventhough I do not have irregular bowel movements?? I have not slept a full night in months and just want some answers :-( ive tried giving up dairy, carbs etc and nothing is workin. i keep a food dary but cannot see a pattern. I take anti spasm tablets to try relieve the pain but they only seem to be taking th edge off it and its usually too late by the time I take them because the attacks are the most painful at the beginning. Does anyone have any ideas or answers??
I have been suffering with severe abdominal pains for a few years now that are getting worse and more frequent. The pain starts in the upper abdomin and moves around to my back and i feel great pressure on my chest. Pain killers dont help, all I can do is pace the room for hours and sometimes shower because the heat relieved the pain slightly. I used to get the pains maybe once evey few weeks but in december 2009 they began to get a lot worse. I had many visits to the doctors who thought maybe it was acid so I started a treatment for that which did not help. After weeks of agonising pain and missing work the doctor refered me to a specialist to check for an ulcer. This test came back negative and they suggested I have an ultra sound. The ultra sound showed some stones in my gallbladded and i had it removed in March 2010. Thankfully the pains went away but started back again in December 2010. I got them maybe once every two weeks. after christmas things got a lot worse, i started getting the pains every day and every night, waking me from a deep sleep and sometimes causing me to vomit. I went to the emergancy room where i had bloods done and an ultra sound. everything came back fine. i then had a CT which also came back fine. followed by urine and stool tests and an MRI which also came back normal. finaly I had an EUS to check for stones in the bile duct which again, came back normal. the doctors are completely stumped and have now diagnosed me with IBS. Eventhough I do not have irregular bowel movements?? I have not slept a full night in months and just want some answers :-( ive tried giving up dairy, carbs etc and nothing is workin. i keep a food dary but cannot see a pattern. I take anti spasm tablets to try relieve the pain but they only seem to be taking th edge off it and its usually too late by the time I take them because the attacks are the most painful at the beginning. Does anyone have any ideas or answers??
First, I do not have an answer. I was searching the web because of the same exact symptoms. I have not started any treatment and have ignored the pain for a long time. Now I am at the point where i can't sleep at night. It is odd to feel basically fine all day, lay down to sleep and boom these upper abdominal pains and cramps. I am going to call a doctor today and get started, but I imagine a long similar path like yours so instead I have been ignoring the pain. I hope you get some helpful answers soon, I will be watching the thread and will update you as I begin this journey behind you. Thanks, hope you feel better. - K
I have been having something similar recently, I will be fine throughout the day and then as soon as my head hits the pillow, pretty much bang on 4 hours later my stomach, just underneath my ribs will wake me up and start hurting, spreading around to my back. This has been going on for 4 days now, every time 4 hours after I start sleep. The pain varies in strength and the pains have different lasting times between 10 minutes and 2 hours, I find ibuprofen and a hot water bottle take it off very fast (only tried that last night), I'm just hoping this is some kind of bug, I hate hospitals ahah :-D
My doctor told me i have "reflux" look into that, I just saw her yesterday and I'm just starting to figure this all out. But she suspects "reflux" I have not had time to look it up yet. She gave me some meds to help -
i really sympathise with you, u havd describe everything i have bn goin thro,scince i was 2o an im now 26,my docs did the exact same to me as you and guess what i still dont know whats wrong,it must be the worst pain ever especialy when u feel normal during the day then once asleep to be awakend by whatever it is is nasty,i hope u find out soon if you do could you post bk please,:)
I just came across your post and it was like I was reading something I should have written. My symptoms are the exact same as yours. Have you found a diagnosis or relief? I am in complete misery my severe pains happen at night and the whole next day after a episode from the night before wipes me out with pain lingering from the night before.
I have similar problems, they took out my gullbladder and its still there
It is nice to see there are other people with this same problem. Mine has been going on for about 5 years. 1st year Dr. ordered upper Gi that showed the Hiatal Hernia. Upper abdominal pain 4 to 5 hours after going to sleep onlu occasional so we let it go. 2 yrs later same problem another upper GI same diagnosis. Last Spring 2011 frequencey increased. Went back to Dr and ordered scan of Gallbladder that showed sludge. Not being convinced it was gallbladder he ordered HIDA scan for gallbladder function. Bile would not leave gallbladder so he ordered ECRP. Had this performed at Clevelnad Clinic and first attempt they could not get into common Bile duct. Order Cat scan and MRI both normal. So did another ERCP canalated come bile duct and ran ballon through with very minimal debris found. Went home felt fine for a few days but pain returned. Went to GI Dr. who ordered Stomach emptying test which was normal. Said to try 2 protonix a nght and evening to relieve pain. Tis did not work, asctually tried new drug which made symptoms worse. he then referred me to surgeon who took Gallbladder out.. Tis has been 6 weeks and pain is the same or worse than before. I am at wits end about this. They have done every test possible to rule out any nasty things going on but i still have the problems. The pain wakes me up every night 4 to 5 hrs after going to sleep, geting up and drinking anything and sleeping in easy chair subsides pain fairly quickly. If I stay in bed pain will somtimes quit on its own. I have ordered a wedge to sleep on to elevate mny upper body so we will see if this works. Anyone else have solutions?
In my family, heavy eating was very much encouraged and now, i believe this is the cause of my stomach problems (I am not overweight, either... i am 5'6 and 110 pounds).... I have has extremely intense stomach pains once every few months (always at night) over the course of the last four years (it started at the age of 12 and I am now 16). I, too, have back problems (I have lower back scoliosis, but only 8 degrees, so it's not a big problem).
Also, i dont know if this is related, but when I was 12, I had excruciating stomach pains during the day (very strong attack) in the lower right quadrant of my abdomen (where the appendix is). I have all symptoms of an appendicitis, so we rushed to the ER.. When we got there, they took a white blood cell count and they were through the roof (which is normal during an appendicitis attack because the white blood cells are trying to fight off all the toxins).. They drowned me in a non-stop stream of morphine to ease the pain and were going to take out my appendix. I dont know what happened after that, but as i began to regain consciousness, they had taken a ct scan (i think thats what it was) and found out that my appendix was perfectly intact. There was no rupture whatsoever. After about 8 hours, I was beginning to feel a little bit better and the nurses were convinced i had been faking the whole time. I was infuriated. How could i fake my white blood cell count, then??
anyway, when I got back to my personal physician, he was livid as well. He couldnt believe that they didn't just take out my appendix right then and there. He sent me to every gastrointestinologist in town, but none could figure out what was wrong.. now, I have the same extreme pain once every few months (always at night) where I find myself writhing in pain, but a few hours later, it goes away like nothing happened.
I currently dont have health insurance so I dont want to make my parents take me to the hospital.. i try not to tell them when It is happening, because i know my mom will want to take me, but it costs 16,000 dollars a night at the hospital. i cant afford it
Did you ever find any answers as to why you still have the pain even after surgery. I had my gullbladder removed 3/27/12 but still have the same pain even worse pain meds. dont eally help. at first my bloodwork 3 weeks later showed high liver enzyme numbes hadmy bile duc stretched out liver numbers been down last two blood test but pain is still here.
I have had this same thing since I was in 4th grade, and I am now 50.. About every six months, I get it. I can feel it coming on hours before hand, and I ready myself for the night...The night is the worst. It lasts for about six hours each time now. I take excedrin PM when I feel it, because I know I will not sleep. Nothing has helped and no answers have come through the years. Im guessing it is a gallbladder attack.. And , test for H Pylori. I have been treated twice now for H Pylori. Seems it comes back abd is hard to eradicate. Good Luck.
holy cow!! I am sooo glad I am not the only one suffering from this! I have had ultrasounds, x rays, ct scan, blood work, urine test, everything no one can seem to figure it out! I was diagnosed with reflux and anxiety! But nothing fixes it! I wake up from a dead sleep with stomach and chest pain! Sometimes I have a hard time catching a deep breath. I hate it I have gone to the hospital three times in the past two weeks and they do EKGs and tell me well your not dying and then make me wait by the time they start examining me the pain is gone! Im not sure what is going on but I really wish someone could figure it out! If anyone gets any answers please please let me know! As of right now Ibuprofen and water subsides it but just isn't good enough.
I'm really happy I found this! these upper-stomach pains started happening to me three months ago when I came back from working up north and we have not been able to find out what it was. It always happens at night, at first it would happens hours after I layed down I'd wake up with a severe stomach-cramping feeling that would rapidly increase and make me feel like I am about to vomit though I never actually would. Once I sit/stand up long enough it goes away. But now it will come 20 minutes after I fall asleep and at first sleeping sitting up helped but now it even happens then. The odd time it will come during the day, but minorly. My doctor thought it was my acid reflux that I already have (I had blood and urine tests done and they were fine) and he put me on ant-acids for 5 weeks which he thought would give my esophagus and stomach heal whatever acid damage had been done which helped make the pains less frequent but they did not go away like he had hoped. I am going for an ultrasound and an upper GI series gastric exam in a month so hopefully that tells me something! Although it sounds like from your responses if it is gallstones the pain won't necessarily go away after they are removed :|
At my last doctors appointment a couple days ago the receptionist (about my age - 21 ) said she had similar problems and it was happening during the day too and she just stopped eating dairy completely and it went away. I am going to try that for now and I will let you know how that goes.
Has anyone looked into Giardiasis being the issue? It does not always cause diahrrea and causes abdominal cramping as it is an infection in the small intestine. Mine began the night I got home from up north, I had drank from a water fountain in an airport where the water had been trucked in from the lake. The attacks started coming really bad a week later and have not gone since and apparently it takes 7 days for the symptoms to start. I have never had diahrrea or blood in the stools but it could still be an option and apparently the symptoms will last for years if it is not treated.
This may not be it at all but it is worth a try if you have not already been tested! It does not show in blood or urine work ,you have to get three stool tests done.
This may not be it at all but it is worth a try if you have not already been tested! It does not show in blood or urine work ,you have to get three stool tests done.
I have the same thing going on. I will be fine for a month. Then out of no where it hits. Usually in the middle of the night. It's last usually about 10-12 hours. I can't lie down or I have the violent urge to vomit. If I swallow it's worse. I can't eat. I had my gal bladder out a year and 5 months ago. They say it's reflux I take the meds and still get the attacks. I had a berium x ray which came back that my stomach and esophagus is good. Blood work normal. Nothing helps for the pain. The ER even gave me morphine and nothing. So I just deal with it when it happens If any one who reads this can give me answers plz plz e mail me at _[removed]_. I am about at my wits end with it all.