why would lying down increase abdominal pain?

I'm waiting on results of a pill capsule endoscopy, but I was wondering if anyone had thoughts as to why I might be experiencing increased abdominal pain & nausea every time I lay down. I mentioned in a previous post I can no longer lay on my stomach (which is how I used to sleep until about two months ago), but now I'm at the point where every night my stomach/lower abdomen begins to hurt or the pain increases as soon as I lay down in any position. I also wake up in the morning nauseous.

I don't really remember this happening before in my six years with Crohn's, so any thoughts as to causes and/or solutions would be greatly appreciated.

right there with you! with me if i lay on my back i tend to be ok...once i roll over on my side the pain comes and i have to jump up and poop. needless to say my nights are so much fun! i haven't slept more than a couple of hours a night in years! amazing i can make it through the day! my therapist is really worried about my lack of sleep. he gave me some pills but i'm scared to take them along with my oxycodone and other meds. i do want to wake up! haha

Hello vitaka, it may be from esophageal reflux/GERD or gastritis. The Endoscopy procedure is a common way to diagnose what you're suffering from.
I can't sleep on my stomach either, been many years since doing so. I typically go to sleep on my back.

mtgman, have you tried Melatonin? It's an all natural sleep aide or get you into a good sleeping pattern. You can purchase Melatonin at a CVS, they're very cheap. I have 3mg pills but break them in half and take half a pill to knock me out. I may take them for a few days if my sleep pattern is out of synch and I don't feel groggy the next day.

Regardless of having UC/crohns or not, when you lie down in a relaxed position, you're telling your body to 'relax', and vice versa for a standing position. So your body is trying to accommodate whatever it is that you are doing, and having crohns, this is probably amplified. I used to experience this as well, and even now still experience little bouts of something from time to time.

I know one thing that used to tick me off in the morning, was waking up, and lying as still as possible so to not sit up or move slightly, because then my stomach would wake up and tell me to go to the bathroom.