Abdominal pain

Digestive health
1

I have had abdominal pain for 6 weeks now and i still dont know wht is wrong. It started randomly in the middle of the night, it woke me up at 2am with throbbing stabbing pains on my right side, it lasted for a couple hours then away. That morning i was left with a dull pain running across the top of my stomach, just under the ribs, this pain is constant but sometimes im fine for a day or a couple of hours but then it comes back or i et random stabbing pain on my left or right side of my stomach. The pain is never lower than the belly button and the only other symptoms i have are fatigue and occasional bloating; i was constipated for about two weeks but nwo that seems to have gone away. Because of how the pain started i instantly thought gallstones as did the 2nd doctor i saw and so i had a scan but that came back normal, kidneys, liver gallbladder everything fine, so of course now we dont kow what it is.

Since then the doctors have given me 3 different types of acid reducing tablets, one which i am currently taking is called ranitidine and all 3 have done nothing. I know the pain is in that area but it isnt a stomach acid kind of pain so i dont undertsnad why i keep being given them. I've been given codein too but that doesnt stopthe pain in anyway, half f the time when i take it the pain just gets worse so i just stopped bothering cause it doesnt even dull it. Another doctor gave me buscopan beause somethings the pain is throbbing but that did nothing either. I gave in a stool sample but that came back normal too.

I started to look online and so based on my pain and how it is kind of all over the upper area of my abdomin id say crohns but im not sure. The thing thats annoying me is that most of IBS or crohns or colitits can be tested through blood yet im not being asked for a blood test......Since the stool sample saying normal though, i dont know what to do, i mean im gonna go back to the doctor and just hope maybe i can be reffered to the gastro people.

Im 21, female, have type 1 diabetese and coeliac disease, before you go down the its coeliac route cause ive already got that. I mean i dont think IBS or crohns is related to coeliacs so again kind of odd and so unsure....

any replys would be much appreciated 

2

The pain is also tender and sometimes feels like its slightly higher up on the right side under the ribs. sometimes my back hurts aswell but im nto sure if that is connected or not. I also have headaches.

Again, replys would be appreciated

3

If you have pain under your ribs on the right side, which is tender to touch, then that is a sure sign of gallbladder attack.  Whether or not it shows up on a test.  I had Ultrasound, which didn't show anything, but the tenderness was the deciding factor.  I went in the hospital, had yet another ultrasound,(they wanted their own) then a scope down the throat, which showed nothing except it irritated my pancreas and I woke up with acute pancreatitis for two days before they could take out my gallbladder.  I have to admit now that I have had a lot of other symptoms before and after this 'attack' that did not go away and got worse.  I have since had colon resection due to a severe blockage on the left side.  It showed up on a CT scan.  I had to drink the awful chalky stuff.  But there it was, a blockage.  I hope that is not your problem because even though the surgery helped, now after 10 months my syptoms are returning.  Nausea, pain, constipation, diahhrea, all sorts of crap that makes life hell.

4

Abdominal pain is so annoying since such a big field for reasons. If you cannot sleep or get woken due to pain, it's double bad impact on life, isn't it.

Crohns and colitis or IBS cannot be tested through blood though. Sorry to dissappoint.

You can do blood tests for inflammation markers in general,

if they were up, e.g. CRP or white blood cell count or ESR (red blood cell sedimentation/sinking rate), but they are GENERAL,

like when you think you have fever and measure it.

You don't know why you have fever though.

What is worse:

CRP and white blood cell count/ESR can be normal and one still have inflammatory bowel disease.

Blood tests just assist, are one puzzle piece in the whole diagnose round, but do not diagnose or exclude inflammatory bowel diseases at all unfortunately.

Blood tests are great for other metabolism test reasons and so forth, but for inflammatory bowel disease pretty low in diagnostic value.

There is a STOOL test (CALPROTECTIN), that is quite a good indicator for inflammatory bowel disease. Careful though: it is false negative in 6%.

IBS btw is just a name for something, that has no name.

Meaning it's an exclusion diagnose, if no inflammatory disease (IBD), no reason for pain was found and patient has the cardinal symptoms of IBS (feeling better after nr2 on toilet, changed bowel habits in frequency or consistency).

IBS is painful and malabsobtions may be caused or reason, but it doesn't cause further damage. Hence it is very important to be sure one is put in the IBS draw not prematurely. 

There is definitely no test for IBS, no blood test, no other test.

Scans are great, but cannot see lining inside well. 

I read once about a condition by accient when looking up something else unrelated

- but that would be visible in an upper abdominal scan-

where arteries squeeze the duodenum in between: Duodenal compression.

the pain is stabbing, especially after eating. Gets better if lying on left side, but worse when lying on right side or back due to location.

Have a look at your symptoms please and at your scan report about duodenum appearance. (pretty sure was normal)

You definitely need some tests and a better doc.

I would think of

- basic blood tests (routine electrolytes, blood counts, liver/pancreas enzymes, CRP)

- scopes

- gall bladder scan and function test (=HIDA nuclear med scan, learned about that one here in this forum! seems very clever function test for gall bladder/liver/bile ducts)

- an eye on blood supply to organs in the pain regions 

apparently arteries and veins are visible in CT or MRI when radiologists are told to look at it, maybe it has to be a special ordered angiography (it's still just a contrast medium into arm vein as it anyway is)

- stool calprotectin 

All all the best!!!