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Quinnbeth

1y ago

Chronic Abdominal Pain: Seeking Answers

I’ve been struggling with chronic abdominal pain for three years now. I’m always back and forth to the gp for it and I’ve had ultrasounds, gastric emptying scans, pelvic and internal examinations and blood tests and they tell me I’m in perfect health. But I know something is not okay somewhere in my body. I keep going back to my gp and they either try to tell me it’s my periods (which I don’t have due to the mini pill) or my anxiety (which is caused BY my stomach pain). The pain is usually lower abdominal or upper left (my left) abdominal. I get very bloated and gassy, and I feel extremely ill leading up to bowel movements (these are normal bowel movements, nothing wrong with them particularly just the lead up.). I get nauseous all the time and my appetite is either huge or non existent. I also struggle putting weight on, I’m sitting at 8st 9lbs at the moment and I’m 5’3”. Anyone have any idea what’s causing my problems?? Or has anyone had a similar experience?

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Aria17

1y ago

No problem! No gagging with the endoscopy- you'll be asleep/unaware by the time they put the scope in. Nausea isn't common with that type of anesthesia, the way it is with general anesthesia, but I always request it anyway because of my phobia. The endoscopy truly isn't too bad ime. For colonoscopy prep, I would ask your doctor what your options are. For example, you might be able to take laxatives in pill form vs drinking a bunch of liquid laxative, which will probably be easier and more comfortable. When you know what kind of prep you'll have, definitely Google it for tips! If it's a liquid, people often suggest things like keeping it as cold as possible, and that was really helpful for me. There's not a great way to make diarrhea a better experience, but I always make sure I have something like reading materials or a movie queued up in the bathroom to distract me. You can try to make your surroundings as comfortable as possible- candles, soft lighting, maybe a blanket/pillow nearby in case you can't go far but don't want to stay on the toilet the whole time. For me, the stomach cramps hurt at first, but after a bit it's just gross, lol. I also take my anxiety meds beforehand, and make sure that I keep hydrated as much as possible. And after the prep is all finished, I often do feel good for a few days, like my body has gotten rid of a bunch of stuff that might have been sitting around in my digestive system, since I'm often constipated. Not good enough to do it all the time, of course- but it can sort of help press the reset button, if that makes sense? So that's the silver lining. I can understand having fear around it, but it truly does feel different for me when the cause is laxatives and not food poisoning or something, because I know it's supposed to be happening. I know this is a hard process to go through, especially with this particular phobia, but it's not as scary as it seems. Good luck- you got this ❤️
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Quinnbeth

1y ago

thank you so much 🥹 you’ve made me feel so much better about both procedures. I still don’t know wether or not I’ll have to have them yet as referral to gastroenterology has a 70 week wait 😭 hopefully I’ll be able to sort out my phobia a little bit by then. Thank you so much again ❤️
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Quinnbeth

1y ago

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I went back to my GP last week and he’s referred me to a gastroenterologist who will most likely do a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. I have severe health anxiety and emetophobia so I’m very scared for those procedures, but hopefully there’s things they can put in place to help calm me down a little bit. I still don’t have a diagnosis but this is a step in the right direction. I was prescribed mebevrine 135mg and esomeprazole 20mg, but I’m scared to take them. Thank you all so much for all your advuce
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Aria17

1y ago

I'm so glad you're getting help! Haven't been on those drugs, but similar ones, and they do help without any side effects. I also have emetophobia and was very scared for my first colonoscopy and endoscopy. I've had 3 of each now and have never tu. The colonoscopy prep is not fun, but it's essentially planned diarrhea and stomach cramps, without the nausea factor (at least for me)- feels not as upsetting when it's expected, if that makes sense? Once my stomach felt a bit sore from the upper endoscopy for a few hours after, but again, no tu. It didn't feel sore like stomach upset, more like a sore muscle. More than likely the anesthesia you'll be given will be like laughing gas or twilight sleep, which is a lot less likely to cause nausea afterwards. You can also ask your doctor to give you anti nausea meds beforehand. They can give them through IV, or do a SCOP patch (stuck on behind your ear, usually used for motion sickness), or both. And bonus: the sleep after you get home is the BEST NAP EVER. Seriously! Your colon is cleaned out and re-set, your sleepy drugs are still in your system, and you get to be done for the day. I always hate the prep, but I cherish that nap.
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shoe

1y ago

Ohhhh sounds like lots of people agree I'm the comments! I'd say Gastritis or Duodenitis or IBS or a Reflux disease aka everything I have so I definitely feel your pain! Some stuff is purely symptom based, some things sadly don't have a test 😕. COULD MAYBE be extrem anxiety and need a diet change.
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Mac2

1y ago

Hey! Could be IBS I just got diagnosed because I was constantly nauseous,bloated,gassy and constipated, not sure if you have the same but maybe try asking your gp for a referral for a GI dr (gastroenterologist) Always trust your gut!
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monkey1

1y ago

I am having the same symptoms unfortunately I am also having the same problems with doctors they don't know what is wrong with me. I have seen four doctors now each have sent me away to a new one. My next doctor is the chiropractor to see if maybe my hip allighnment is causing me pain but I doubt thats going to help since its something in my stomach I think. I hope you find out whats going on with you. Sorry im not much help no answers yet.
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BbyBunnny

1y ago

I could be IBS, maybe a sugar intolerance. I have fructose malabsorption (or fructose intolerance) and Im bloated all the time and experience extreme stomach pain. Its a simple sugar test where you breath in a bag every 20-30 mins for 3 hrs (sorry idk the name for the test)
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Aria17

1y ago

I have similar symptoms, and for me I think the culprit is chronic gastritis. (I do also have IBS, GERD, esophagitis, and a history of mesenteric adenitis and duodenitis, soooo... sometimes hard to pinpoint exactly what's going on in there. But chronic gastritis seems to fit the most with what you're describing.) I've had this show up on multiple upper endoscopies, 10+ years apart. If you haven't had an endoscopy and/or colonoscopy yet, that might help you get some clarity. As for the causes, I think some of the most common ones are H pylori, and pernicious anemia. I have the second, so I'm taking 1000 mg of B12 orally every day to see if it helps this time around. You can also get B12 injections. Since I started taking it regularly, I've seen a decrease in pain, although I still feel like I'm in a healing stage and have to be careful about what I eat. My GI also wants me to be taking iron daily but I can't quite stomach it yet. I hope you can get some answers. It's so incredibly frustrating to be told that everything is fine and normal when you KNOW it absolutely is not
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shoe

1y ago

I concure!
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Zubzil

1y ago

It could be IBS. IBS can cause anxiety or increase due to stress. Foods can also worsen IBS
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chinchillafurgirl

1y ago

Have you ever gone gluten free? Your symptoms could be signs of an intolerance to a food, and gluten is very common allergen. When I finally cut out gluten it made a world of difference to my digestion.
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Quinnbeth

1y ago

I’ve tried reducing the amount of gluten I eat just to see if it made a difference but it still did nothing
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Quinnbeth

1y ago

hi! I haven’t cut gluten out of my diet but I’ve had celiac disease tests done and I’ve also done a food allergy test and gluten was given the all clear. Dairy was also completely fine along with your other typical allergies/intolerances like nuts and fish etc

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