Suggestions for dealing with constant stomach/abdominal pain & nausea?

Hi all,

I'm not even sure where to post this anymore, as I feel like my symptoms have gotten out of control, but the Crohn's board has always been my home base so I figured I'd start here.

In general, I've been very lucky with my Crohn's and have only had two major flares (ie, lasting 6+ months) in the six years since I was diagnosed. In May, I started noticing my symptoms increasing, as well as my joint pain (I was diagnosed with "inflammatory arthritis" during my 2009 flare) and my headaches getting worse (I have had chronic headaches for years, but the intensity and frequency were increasing).

Crohn's-wise, this meant more D, more abdominal pain, and more nausea. But in the past month, the pain (which this time around has tended to center around my navel but is also often in lower-left quadrant) and the nausea never really go away. Obviously there are fluctuations in intensity, but it has certainly impacted my quality of life. The worst is when I wake up in the morning (I feel absolutely horrible every morning) and when I go to bed. I also can't lie on my stomach at all anymore, which I don't remember ever having a real issue with, except when really sick. I also have a lot of back pain, which I'm pretty sure is caused by the stomach pain. No, I'm not pregnant. I'm 100% positive about this.

I'm having a pill cam small bowel series in eight days, which should hopefully give some answers (I was diagnosed via a pill cam in '06), but I was wondering if people had any suggestions for relief for the pain & nausea now. I've been drinking ginger and peppermint tea, which have helped in the past. I'm wondering if some of this could be GERD or ulcers (I was taking a ton of ibuprofen for a few months for headaches-my last gastro said I didn't need to worry about ulcers). My throat does often hurt in the morning (which I had assumed was just from sleeping with my mouth open). I also have a fair amount of stress in my life currently, which cannot really be changed, but I work out as often as my health permits (which right now is 2-3x/week).

My current daily meds are 2g Pentasa, 50mg topamax (currently titrating up to 100mg), 100mg trazadone, .5-1mg klonopin.

Thanks for the help.
vitaka

Those are my problems - the lower left quadrant pain (I get crampy waves when pooping that kind of feel like I'm passing shards), the constant nausea (though to be fair, I am not eating well which makes it worse), and the thing with not being able to sleep on my stomach. For some reason if I sleep on my stomach (or even on my sides!), it triggers something and I have to GO. I spent a lot of months just sleeping on my back, which made my lower back hurt more and put pressure on my rectal area.

I can't really suggest much for these problems... except try to eat if you can. If the nausea is unbearable, have your doc prescribe you something for that. Some teas can help, too. I use a heating pad on my stomach some nights when it gets crampy and even though it doesn't completely take it away it does feel nice. That and a long warm bath. If your pain isn't too bad and you can lay on your side, maybe get a body pillow or hug one while you sleep so your tummy kind of rests on it? That's what I do. Then I can also kind of somewhat sleep on my stomach if I turn over a little more.

Hope you feel better soon!

I second zofran for nausea. Prescription pain meds are a good short-term solution. I take tramadol as needed, it is mild but effective.

hello, I know were your at I dealt with constant gut pain for 2.5 years, taking low dose darvacet to get through my work day, went to colal / rectal. surgen, who did a sigmoid scope.. he asked how i was going to the toilet and how many times a week? I said maybe once every 2-3 day`s with nothing but pain all day and most of the night, and partial blockages about every 8 weeks. went to ER, for them once started throwing up and it wouldn`t settle down, found out left side pain was from my sigmoid colon and half my rectum was colapsed flat and basically dead, head sent me to scedhual a resection.. lost my sigmoid and half my rectum, now I go to the toilet 5-10 times every day, in the morning and in the evening. have had pain from the very first bowel movement after surgery. my primary DOC, sent me to pain mgnt. cuz of the daily pain now when i eat and before, during and after going to the toilet, and it wakes me up every morning, to run to the bathroom, and have to sleep on my back , or my gut`s start to turn.. thats better than enamas just to go, my sigmoid punched through the pelvic floor and turned petrified from what the surgeon said, try to get a ( CT- ENTROGRAPHY ) scan they can see the whole intestine alot better, your probley due for a resection?? just saying get it checked out now, before it gets worse, doctor told me I should have seen him sooner, instead of dealing with all the pain and ER-trips, could have saved more bowel, he said I`ll need a colostomy, before too long. please go get it looked at, my recovery was a long painful trip because I waited.....

I do not have the diarrhea. I actually have the other side of Crohn's where the inflammation is so bad that i can't go. I have severe pain in my stomach and abdomen and swell up like I am 6 months pregnant. I can't seem to put my finger on what makes it worse. Bottled water doesn't agree with my system. I currently only take 2G pentasa 2 x day.

I also have joint pain in random areas of my body as well.

I have had GERD for 14 years now and would advise you to seek your doc's advice regarding this nausea issue. Nausea can be treated at the beginning before it is too late and becomes chronic. Zofran is perfect but do not over use it. You just take 2g pentasa and this should not irritate your stomach. I take 4g and it always causes me gastritis.
Eat several small meals, never take medicine on an empty stomach except if it's a medicine that is taken before food, raise your head while sleeping, eat 2 or 3 before you go to sleep as the pain in your throat you have in the morning could be coz of reflux. Also avoid tomatoes, anything spicy, fats, oranges or lemon and coffee and tea. I do drink tea.
Hope you feel better soon:)