Alright, so here’s the deal. For the last year or so, I’ve had periodic pains in my abdominal area. It’ll come and go, usually lasting anywhere from 2-4 days at a time, and it’ll come as frequently as every 1-2 months. Since it’s started, the pain has moved to my lower right abdominal area.
It’s a rather sharp pain, and farting or going any sort of bathroom “number” makes it feel better. If I take Ibuprofun, it helps take a lot of the pain away from it.
Today I saw a doctor, and she thought she pretty much ruled out appendicitis (which I was really sure it was, but I’m not the Doctor.) She kept asking about bowel problems are stuff like that, and was telling me that I probably didn’t get enough fiber and water. I tried to assure her without sounding like a dick that I was well aware of my dietary and nutrient intake, and that my fiber and water was adequate.
So, as much as I’ve heard not to try and get any sort of diagnosis over the internet, does anyone (prefferably someone who’s actually a medical professional,) have any sort of idea of what it could be? I had an abdominal X-Ray today, but they were saying we may not know until tomorrow. I don’t think I can do leg day today, which I’m pretty bummed about.
It sounds like you have a mild form of diverticulitis.
Particularly look at the second paragraph under “Presentation”, which describes your symptoms almost exactly.
Some people with diverticulitis only get symptoms when they eat a particular food. For me one trigger is raw almonds. I only get problems if I eat raw almonds, broccoli, and some other seeds.
Pay attention to what you eat in the hours before an attack of this pain. I bet you’ll find a pattern.
[quote]AlteredState wrote:
Diverticulitis is usuallu more common in the older person. It is also more often located in the left lower quadrant, not the right.
I would have said the symptoms sound like some form of low-grade, intermittent appendicitis. The fact that removing colon distention (by farting, crapping) and/or reducing inflammation, reduces the pain, seems to back this up, since the appendix is a ‘dead end’ and not a ‘through vessel’
However it could be illeocecal junction inflammation or bowel inflammation, similar to crohns or UC. But if this were the case, the farting wouldn’t alleviate the symptoms I don’t think.
When the ‘attack’ occurs, do you notice any tender, palpable mass in the area?[/quote]
If you check the wiki I linked it does say that sometimes diverticulitis occurs in the lower right quadrant. The fact that passing gas and having a bowel movement helps also indicates diverticulitis.
it could be a junction issue as well, but since “attacks” are so far apart, even by months I would look for a trigger event like a particular food.
The X-ray results should rule out or confirm appendicitis.
[quote]Split wrote:
i hear you should go to a doctor and not refer to internet forums for medical advice, but what do i know.[/quote]
I did. And I said I was only looking for opinions, not a diagnosis.
Anyway, thanks for the input. A fried of mine who’s going to school to be a doctor was theorizing it could also be Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or something to do with the intestine.
No, you actually won’t find out what’s going on because a plain abdominal xray is pretty much useless in your case.
From the description you gave this is most likely IBS although one cannot really diagnose on such limited info.
What you really need is a CT of abdomen and pelvis with IV and oral contrast. And possible a colonoscopy but this really doesn’t sound like IBD like Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis. You can get one as an outpatient if you doctor orders one or you can get one really fast (hours at most) if you go to the nearest ER and give the symptoms you have and than lie a little like everybody else and say:
you had nausea and vomiting intermittently as well as diarrhea and/or blood in your stools
you lost some weight recently
you have uncontrollable pain described at least 20 out of 10
you have close relatives with history of early colon cancer or, even better, carcinoid
Looking a the wikipedia site, doctors don’t know what causes it and yet they are willing to treat it via SURGERY? Basically it’s a symptom that been named, but has never actually been ‘treated’ because the real cause isn’t known.
Damn - I’m not going to a doctor with headache if this is how they do things…
Okay - Apparently I’m full of shit. Literally. I don’t know what the exact issue was, I was at work all day, so I didn’t talk to the doctor myself. She just said something about taking some laxatives when I feel it coming on. Lame.
[quote]MightyMaus wrote:
It sounds like you have a mild form of diverticulitis.
Particularly look at the second paragraph under “Presentation”, which describes your symptoms almost exactly.
Some people with diverticulitis only get symptoms when they eat a particular food. For me one trigger is raw almonds. I only get problems if I eat raw almonds, broccoli, and some other seeds.
Pay attention to what you eat in the hours before an attack of this pain. I bet you’ll find a pattern.
Than again, I’m not a doctor. So what do I know? [/quote]
I have that crap
it hurts bad
finding out what it was was even worse for me
headed in the thad me drink that stuff and did a ct scan,didnt say anything about the enima after to scan the lower part.
