SEVERE Upper Abdominal Pain, mosly at night and wakes me from my sleep

Hey everyone.. So it turns out I have Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction..it's extremely rare..if you are suffering like I was its worth researching this to see if it matches your symptoms..if anyone has any questions about it feel free to

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 Sarah

...............so lost atm...

After suffering sleepless nights for the pasts seven months, daily, and after reading your article, the pain is now gone instantly. I have been taking water mixed with lemon juice and vinegar for the last 4 days and already I am a different person now, painfree. Thank you a million times. God bless you.

Have anyone ever thought about hepititis C. I know its a scary thought but if ur liver tests are high. U might wanna get checked out and c whats really going on. Bc thats the #1 symptoms.

Ok so I have been having this pain for a couple of years now and i think its mostly when I drink dr. Pepper at night but sometimes ill drink water and it still happens. Ill be fine all day and once I go to sleep ill wake up tossing and turning until I can't take it anymore. I have a 2 year old and anyone that has a young child knows sleep is very important seeing as my child like to get up at the crack of dawn. I find laying in a really hot bath helps a little but the pain comes back so I have started sleeping with a heating blanket just around my stomach and it helps. I would like to have some answers though, it would be nice to sleep a full night and be able to get up and play with my child in the morning instead of being balled up on the couch rolled in a heating blanket. I have tried antacid pills.

I have had the same experience and symptoms for may years, lay down at night and within minutes there is burning in the upper abdomen just below the rib cage. Standing up relieves it. I am now experiencing the same symptoms late at night when sitting. I have found that Gas-X works (or the Walmart generic, same thing but cheaper), one or two and within 15-30 minutes it eases off and I can usually fall asleep. My gastroenterologist scoped me twice, saw "mild irritation" and suggested Zantac for 14 days. Tried it once and after a day I felt so weird I had to stop. I'm starting to think it is related to slow digestion to where gas builds up and it's pressure giving the pain. I do notice I don't burp as readily as before and this may be part of the problem, gas in the upper regions needing to escape via a burp but can't. Tylonol does not help, small doses of pain pills do work but save them for the worst instances (I use a pill cutter and cut a Percoset into 8 pieces, one piece is enough). The pain will eventually subside, 4-6 hours after laying down (these are times when I don't take anything), and my stomach is gurgling, another indicator of moving gas. I think I'll try the vinegar concoction mentioned earlier. I know what you guys are going through, it's pure misery and no doc seems to have an answer!

I have the same issue along with constant diarrhea right after I eat. I have had every diagnostic test done, Upper and Lower GI done and still nothing has come back. I have an appointment at higher level hospital in Philadelphia August 6th.It is not normal to be 26 and going to the bathroom and sometimes not making it. The pain is awful as well....

Hi all, I hope this will help at least some of you. I had suffered from these symptoms for almost 5 years and they got to the point where I was sleeping only a few hours every week. Did all the tests and doctors had no idea as to the cause. Went on courses of medication for reflux and others with no success. The only thing I have found to be effective is to change my diet to exclude gluten and wheat. Now I have symptoms very rarely and feel moderately normal again. I realise this is not the answer for everyone but hope it is able to help someone.

I also have abdominal pain. For me it just started a couple of nights ago. The pain woke me from a dead sleep. I got up feeling like I had to vomit but nothing I was just gaging. I had a yellowish discharge from my rectum but it didn't smell. I tried to lay back down and the pain came back stronger. I paced for hours crying cause the pain was so bad. This happened again last night then by morning its gone but I feel really sore. I continue to have the discharge through out the day as well as the feeling I have to vomit. My chest also feels like it's racing for dear life. I don't know what to do. I am a diabetic with high blood pressure I'm not sure if its related.? 

I have had exactly the symptoms you all describe for about 8 years.  It started after getting West Nile Virus...I had severe damage to the nerve roots in my spine and when they began healing it was like my GI tract was super sensitive.  If I had any food on my stomach after going to bed, I would wake up 4 or 5 hours later with horrific pain and would start vomiting.  After that I felt much better and would usually sleep the rest of the night. 

I've had all kinds of tests - just had an abdominal MRI today and it looks fine.  The only thing we have found is a lack of innervation in one section of my thoracic spine which is the area that stimulates the vagus nerve.  Apparently sitting or standing keeps gravity working on digestion, but as soon as I lie down, it stops.  Even if I take a nap during the day the pain will kick in. 

Sometimes drinking a glass or warm milk helps, other times I use a rice pack heated in the microwave, but the only thing that really gets rid of it is vomiting which I hate.  A few times it has been so violent that I have had GI bleeding. 

The only other thing I can find that is similar is gastroparesis, often caused by either nerve damage from diabetes or injury to the vagus nerve during surgery.  There is a gastric emptying test and there are gastric stimulators, but nothing seems to be guaranteed when it comes to treatment and some make it worse. 

I have pretty much given up on getting a full night's sleep.  I wake up after about 4 hours, work on the computer, drink some warm milk and wait for it to subside enough to go back to sleep.  Even though it feels like severe gas pains, I really don't have much gas if any.  One doctor said it can be from the intestines twisting because of uneven nerve supply.  The body tries to contract a section to make the food pass through, but part of it is unresponsive so the bowel just rolls sideways.  It makes sense to me.  Just wish I could get permanent relief!

Jan

 

 

I had the same problem went to bed around 10 or 11 would wake up at 3 with the upper abdominal pain into my chest. I figured out what my problem was. When I lived at home my mom bought nothing but Diet soda and i had the pains. When i moved out i wouldn't have them drinking regular soda. A few months ago I started drinking Diet soda again. I've been getting the pains once or twice a week. I have quit drinking soda period about a month ago. NO PAIN sleep all night. I found out it is ASPARTAME poison. Look up side effects of ASPARTAME there are alot and besides it is lethal to your health. Hopefully it helps!!!!

Finally found the cause of my pain...I have told doctors about it for years but no one took it seriously till I started vomiting blood.  I finally got an endoscopy and had a bleeding duodenal ulcer.  Apparently the the ulcer had been there for a long time (no bleeding all those years) and it finally eroded deep enough to cause the bleeding.

They put me on high dose proton pump inhibitors for three days, then a maintenance dose for healing.  As soon as they gave me the first IV the pain in my abdomen AND my back went away. 

Keep pushing for an answer - I lost a ton of blood needlessly and it will take months for me to recover.  I had gone to the ER a week before at my doctor's request and they just gave me a wimpy antacid and said I was fine.  Listen to your gut :-)

 

Jan

The pain that I am reading about, and that I am also having, is on the Left Side upper part of the abdomen maybe described as under the ribs radiating to the back. It is not heartburn it is not a stomach ulcer it is not muscle pain. My symptoms occur at night also, so sever that I can not sleep. I have a hard time putting it into words

Amcroweco, you might want to do a search on something called "slipping rib syndrome" or "Tietze Syndrome."    I have Ehlers-Danlos hypermobility syndrome which causes it and I thought that was the main cause of my pain.  It is still a factor, but nothing like the ulcer was. 

Jan

I am having the same problm, yet it has only been 3 days solid, the pain comes at some point in the night and i wake up, have tried flushing with water, pepto, even a strong painkiller just muffled the pain for a few hours, i sludge around work and thankfully havent had any early moring shifts this week or i could not go in - im an early bird anyway so i have been writhing in pain for 3-4 days and nights...its goes away late afternnon/supper time nad i can eat dinner, at first you think hmmm maybe its gas but it isnt, using hte bathrom almost makes it worse, just continuous belly pain from the top of my abdomen to the bottom, sore to the touch, back pain, using a heating pad now to try and disguise or as i read earlier super hot shower seems to relieve it, also smoked some pot for crying out loud and that did take the edge off but no cure in sight :( going to the hospital this morning aand im sure ill be there all day :( i had this after a pregnancy and my doctor finally said it was endometritus? and gave me a very strong antibiotic, it went away bu the painw as excruciating for a while....plus that is a medical conditon where the lining of your uterus grows on the outside causing pain, it id not a temporary thing but thats all she could figure out. blah. it hurts like hell!