I have been having stomach problems for years. My stomach feels uncomfortable and bloated. If I am trying to get to sleep I have to keep changing my position, when I change positions the feeling briefly goes away and I try to quickly fall asleep before it comes back. The best way I can describe the feeling is that my stomach feels like it needs to rumble but it won't. When my stomach is rumbling I feel better, I find myself so relieved to feel rumbling. I've tried eating different things, and different foods don't seem to correlate with the uncomfortable feeling. I've also tried lying on my left side and this had been the most successful treatment I have found, occasionally making my stomach rumble and taking the uncomfortable feeling away. I have seen a gastro-intestinal specialist for 2 years. I have had 3 colonoscopies and an MRI, nothing was found. He suggested gluten free diet, I tried this and found no change. He now wants to do another colonoscopy and I don't want to do another, the preparations are terrible and they haven't solved anything during the previous 3. I have tried all sorts of medications including antacids, anti gas medicine, and anti-inflammatories. I used to smoke cannabis and it helped, possibly because I was too high to notice the pain lol. I now get drug tested for work so this isn't an option. I am so sick of this feeling. Sometimes I can't play with my daughter because my stomach hurts. Sometimes I am up most of the night tossing and turning or constantly twitching my foot to avoid the pain. I hope someone has some advice.
I’m not sure what an fourth colonoscopy would tell you when three previous ones showed nothing. Maybe you need an endoscopy to examine your stomach instead. It could be that your problem is stomach related rather than something to do with your bowel. Do you have stomach pain or bowel habit change? Tell your GI your concerns about the colonoscopy prep.
Instead of seeing the same doctor who wants to give you so many colonoscopies why don’t you get other opinions or go to a hospital emergency room where they have equipment that independent doctors do not have for a proper diagnosis and treatment?
u might have a food intolerance or be sensitive to certain foods. the only way to Che k is to cut certain things out. example no dairy for 2 weeks to see if symptoms go away
They have done a gastroscopy to examine my stomach each time the colonoscopy was done. I wouldn’t really describe it as pain per-say, more like extreme discomfort to the point where I need to move/shift position. If I am moving around I feel fine, when I sit or lay down the discomforts begins immediately. My concerns with the prep are mostly the inconvience of it without seeing results. I have to drink a substantial amount of this liquid that purges my bowels in order to clear them of any discolouration so they can see clearly during the colonoscopy.
I saw multiple doctors before getting a referal to the specialist. I spent 6 months on a waiting list to see the specialist. I have tried getting a referal to a different specialist and have been turned down because I am already the patient of this specialist.
This was done after the gluten free diet. I have tried multiple different diets, as well as writing everything I eat down to try to find a correlation. It doesn’t seem to matter what I eat, the result is always the same.
Also, my bowel movements have always been regular.
Hi dave37627
How much food do you eat before bed? Perhaps your digestive system is having a problem digesting your food. If you are eating large food portions try eating a little and often…
Do you cook from fresh or do you eat processed food? If you do eat processed meals, switch to home prepared foods.Ready meals contain chemicals that can upset the gut. Eat little but often and don’t eat late at night.
Try a hospital emergency room. They can’t turn you down for any reason.
What about bacterial infection? Did they test for hpylori?
Rumbling, bloating, sitting initiates discomfort, and moving solves it, are some symptoms that match.
Have you tried the fodmap diet? Also do you drink alcohol? Some people have stomach problems when they drink and if they cut it out their stomach can get better. It doesn’t mean they can never have a drink, but they just expect bloating and pain when you do. Also if you smoke, smoking or quitting smoking can affect some peoples tummies. Carbonated drinks, even fizzy water can affect some people. Artificial sweeteners and sugar can be a problem for some. It is a matter of cutting individual things out for a while and seeing if things get better. Have you tried any IBS medications? They can sometimes help people.
We try to eat very healthy in our house. Organic fruits and vegetables and fresh meat (we are rural folk so get most of our meat from local farmers.) I usually don’t eat at all before bed.
I’m not sure how this would help. I can drive to the city and wait hours in the ER but for what? The specialist has access to all medical equipment the ER does, and then some.
I’ve been eating small and often for awhile. I agree with you that my digestive system is having trouble. If I miss a meal and my stomach starts rumbling at me it feels amazing, as weird as that may sound.
I had never heard of the FODMAP. It looks like something to definitely try. I have spent a lot of tome tracking what I eat to try finding a correlation to the timing of my symptoms, but it never occured to me that I should look into their digestive properties.
I haven’t been much of a drinker in the past few years since my daughter was born. I haven’t tried IBS medications, all of my doctors ruled IBS out based on the fact that my bowel movements are consistently normal. I never have to rush to the toilet or anything like that.
I would have to ask my doctor if I was testes for that. They have done all sorts of blood tests without finding anything irregular.
You said in your post that your stomach was hurting and were having to twitch your foot to avoid the pain. This would suggest that the discomfort you are experiencing is pain. Try painkillers again or an anti spasmodic like Buscopan which is designed for IBS. Since you haven’t tried an antispasmodic, this might be your next option. Ask your doctor about this. Do you experience bouts of constipation? With IBS, you can get constipation or diarrhoea only or a mixture of both.