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Who has severe right side attacks of pain?

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 12/20/2009 9:24 AM (GMT 0)
I have not been diagnosed yet. I have had years of these weird "attacks" that have sent me to the hospital, urgent care, and the many doctors over the past 8 years. The "attack" starts with severe lower right side pain. There is an intense pressure to have a bowel movemment  but I typically do not really have to go. Every emergency visit the doctors think it is my appendix which gets ruled out after blood work and a CT scan. This last "attack" did not start with severe pain, rather nausea for days and days with one bout of diahrrea. I thought I had stomach flu. went to the doctor and got an antibiotic because she said maybe diverticulitis. Antibiotic didn't work. Sometimes the pain would try to start but I warded it off with 600mg Ibuprofen.

Two days ago the Ibuprofen didn't even work and I had to take a Darvacet which held the pain at bay. Now I am exhausted from battling the pain and the mental anguish of not knowing what the heck is wrong in my body.

My pain is localized to one spot in my lower right pelvic area. The ony thing there is my ovary and my appendix. recently saw a surgeon who ruled out my appendix. I have been to the gyno many times (had hysterectomy in 2006 but they left my ovaries). He put me on birth control pills but still the pain and "attacks" keep coming. 

Main symptoms:

Pain (lower right side)

Nausea

Full very fast

Gas

Bloating

Fatigue

I do not vomit and I have only had three bouts of diahrrea in 6 weeks.

Does it sound like Crohn's?

 

Posted 12/20/2009 2:59 PM (GMT 0)
That sounds about how I felt right before my diagnosis. I had weekly doctor appointments and soo many tests before they finally diagnosed me with crohns. I was actually getting an ultrasound to check my ovaries when they noticed my intestines were out of whack down there on that lower right side and very tender (where all my pain was) I was really in pain, very fatigued, nauseous with no appetite.... but they never really thought Crohns before then because I never had really bad diarrhea. After that ultrasound I was sent for a colonoscopy and it was confirmed that I had crohns. Good luck and hopefully you don't have it!
Posted 12/20/2009 4:03 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks SickandLucky for your feedback. I sometimes feel like I am going nuts. Sometimes the pain is so bad and it is always on the right lower side and I can touch the exact spot that hurts but I rarely have diahrrea ans I almost never have constipation.

Last year the rheumatologist said I have a high Immunoglobin M which he said is high only when infection is present and maybe my body was attacking itself. But, again, no definite diagnosis. He told me to go to the gastroenterologist but back then I was afraid of a colonoscopy. Now I am ready because it has been so long with these symptoms and this flair up has lasted almost 2 months! I have a colonoscopy scheduled for January 14. I really hope they can tell me what is wrong.
Posted 12/20/2009 4:08 PM (GMT 0)
The same thing kind of happened with me when I had my first flare. I thought it was something female organ related. My gyno did laproscopic surgery and when he got in there he said my intestines looked like they had been turned inside out. I was having the pain, diarrhea, and could not eat a thing (but in my head it just felt like it was gynecological). I usually always have the lower right side pain and I think most of us do with Crohn's. Good luck to you in finding answers.


*hugs*
Posted 12/20/2009 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
For me it was almost a relief when they told me I had Crohns because it was like oh! I'm not crazy!
Then it kinda set in it was an incurable chronic illness and I wasn't as impressed. But it was good to find out what was wrong in order to move forward, treat it and hopefully get it under control.
Anyways never feel like it's in your head! The pain is real, all of us here know it and are here for support. Good luck with your colonoscopy, I hope you get your answers and some treatment! Keep us updated :)
Posted 12/21/2009 4:28 AM (GMT 0)
I have suffered with this exact same pain since I've been 16 years old. Birth control stopped it in it's tracks. It was always assumed to be gynelogical pain.  Only happens to me once, twice, sometimes three times per year for about one to three days.  Unbearable pain, sometimes vomiting, feels like I'm being stabbed over and over in the lower right. Fast forward to about age 40, and my gyno finally took me off birth control (due to my age) and removed my ovary and my appendix (due to pain).  No pain for about a full year. Thought it was over, then the pain again.  He said to me GEE maybe it's Crohn's. Go get a colonoscopy. In 25 years of pain and even some ER trips for pain, NOT ONE DOCTOR ever suggested anything like this to me.  I couldn't believe it when he said that! I have googled and googled for years to figure out what this pain is and have come up with nothing over and over.  Now, I still haven't gotten around to getting a colonoscopy, but my 9 yr old girl was just diagnosed with it!)  Funny thing is, I have no other symptoms. I'm not pale, not skinny, not fatigued (except when pain strikes), not malnourished, not anemic, not feverish, no body aches, no stomach pain, no diarrhea, etc etc.  So...I'm still guessing.

Posted 12/21/2009 2:25 PM (GMT 0)
My daughter had mild RLQ pain for two years while docs were busy saying it was all in her head. They said because she was an A student, she must be very driven.

Then, as a freshman in college, she ended up in ER because of the pain and vomiting - they thought it was appendicitis but the catscan showed the appendix was fine; however, there was narrowing, otherwise known as a stricture, in the small intestine, a sign of Crohn's. 

When she was finally correctly diagnosed, she took it well because she was relieved that it wasn't her mind that was the issue. 

Posted 12/21/2009 3:02 PM (GMT 0)
MoobyDoo and njmom, Thanks for your input. It shows I am not alone. I too, have heard over and over for the past 8 years that maybe the pain is in my head. I have been told because I work 2 jobs and go to school and am a wife and mother that maybe I am stressed and need anti-depressents. I am hopeful the colonoscopy will show what is wrong, and yet I am fearful it will show nothing and I will be back in the same boat of not knowing. It's in God's hands so I will just push forward one day at a time.
Posted 12/21/2009 3:51 PM (GMT 0)
Nosilla - Hang in there. I tend to look at it this way... I have suffered on and off with this for more than 25 years. If I do end up getting scoped, and it does turn out to be Crohn's, it will be a relief to finally know what this is that has plagued me for soooo long.  I have lived with it thus far, so I don't feel that getting a diagnosis will make my feelings about it any better or worse.  I do hesitate to get a diagnosis, however, for insurance purposes.  We just tried to apply to another healthcare plan that is cheaper than our current one, and they said they would not cover any of my daughter's Crohn's related expenses for 12 full months!  WHAT!  That was a deal breaker.
Posted 12/22/2009 1:07 AM (GMT 0)
One thing that is often overlooked is endometriosis. It can spread to the intestines. One fertility doctor even said that anyone with a IBD diagnosis who has symptoms that worsen during periods probably has intestinal endometriosis.
Posted 12/22/2009 3:11 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Keeper,

I was diagnosed with adenomyosis (basically endometriosis but in the uterus lining). They found it after my hysterectomy. My gyno put me on birth control pills 8 months ago because he said if I had endometriosis it would help. I am currently still on those pills but having the worst "flare up" of whatever this is. Do you know if they can see endometriosis in the intestines during a colonoscopy?

Posted 12/22/2009 5:32 AM (GMT 0)
No, it does not show up on a colonoscopy. Here's the link for the article - he seems to think that it can be diagnosed by symptoms, but you should have a look at the article: http://www.infertilityphysician.com/endometriosis/intestinal.html
Posted 12/22/2009 2:18 PM (GMT 0)
I have been diagnosed with crohns by colonoscopy and ct and I find that at times my CD also varies with hormonal shifts ie/ ovulation, menstration etc
Posted 12/22/2009 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
That article says that there is an estimate that 5% of all women have intestinal endometriosis. It would not be too unlikely that you could have Crohn's and intestinal endometriosis together. Inflammation from the endometriosis could easily make the Crohn's act up too.
Posted 12/23/2009 3:15 AM (GMT 0)
Does menstruation trigger Crohn's flares?  I saw recently on an episode of Dr. Oz show that many many women complain of diarrhea during this time of the month. Maybe that could make someone mistakenly think it is Crohn's, or a flare of it?
Posted 12/23/2009 11:49 AM (GMT 0)
I would go and see a GI doctor and have them test you.
Good luck!
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