Extreme bloating - lump in lower right abdomen is getting bigger

Hi All,

Yesterday I began to bloat - big time. Difficulty passing gas. Today I have not had a bowel movement. There's only pain if I poke my lump in my abdomen (which has increased in size over the last few days). Unusual bc I am usually good for 2 or 3 bathroom trips by this time of day. My leg is really starting to ache. My knee feels twisted.

My question is, if my terminal ileum looked normal on the colonoscopy, would a stricture in the end of the ti that is not accessible via colonoscopy still be possible?

I don't have a GI. I was referred to a general surgeon by my GP instead of to a GI. I have a CT scan on Thursday. I will push for her to refer me when we meet next.

This could be a very serious situation: you may have a partial blockage that shuts completely down as it may be doing now. CT Scans may show some of it but the best test is a Small Bowel Barium GI. This will show your entire intestine starting at the stomach and traveling to that point and if barium gets through you can see beyond the point as well. A colonoscopy scope can only travel so much upward, the benefits is that you can see the texture of the intestine and take some biopsies. A Barium series can show the whole intestine and point out obstructions and possible fistulas.

Is this lump movable and reshaped by hand ? This will point to gas, if not shapeable it may be trapped food or a growth. The fact that you have pain and that your legs are affected points to an obstruction. The last remaining symptom is if you begin to vomit.

Switch to a broth diet and ocassional noodles, do not eat anything chewable, specially steak which created an obstruction that lasted 10 days.

I don't even know how to describe the lump any more. I used to be able to move it. If I applied pressure it would slide. It would bubble and release gas if I massaged it for the first few months. I can't move it any more. It also used to go away between episodes. It's always there now. It just gets really prominent when my bowels act up now.

Oddly, I don't get the pain that I used to. When it acted up I had bad pain. Now I don't except for when I press on it.

My doctors initially said Crohn's. They are over that idea. I do know they haven't fully tested me but I'm starting to wonder if it maybe is a growth combined with IBS. But I had an ultrasound and that should've shown a growth. I asked my doc if it's my kidney. She said my kidney placement was normal on the ultrasound.

You must go on a liquid diet if this thing is not moving. The trapped food called chyme is accumulating before the obstruction and it takes a long time to dissolve. This food is the most likely cause of your lump because of the pain. Real lumps usually don't hurt, in some cases it may. The kind of surgeon you need is a colorectal surgeon that is experienced with resections.

After two days of the massive lump and lack of bowel movements, I passed a formed and probably fairly normal (but small and thin) bm (not hard at all) with great difficulty. Shortly after, my abdomen became very sore and I now have pain on both sides of my abdomen and around my belly button. about an hour or two after passing the formed bm, I spent a few rounds with painful loose movements in the bathroom. 

I don't know what this is, IBD - IBS - intolerance, but I know this isn't normal! !

If I stop passing gas, I'll go to the ER. I promise. I think that formed bm was the root to my problem. My pain has subsided and so has the bloat. Just some cramping left over. And a TON of gas.

I don't have a diagnosis. I self diagnosed IBS years ago. Lots of extreme pain that would last a few hours, to the point that I couldn't even walk and diarrhea. It's getting progressively worse so I'm being investigated now. Weight loss. Joint pain. Dry eyes. I was diagnosed with dry eye syndrome when I was 15, 16 years ago. My eyes are so dry and scratchy the last few days that I need lacrilube in them to sleep or else it feels like I have cotton balls for eyes.

Prior to the diarrhea, I went through a period where my rectum would be in so much pain during a bowel movement that I've fallen off the toilet. Since I no longer have regular size stools, I don't have that pain anymore.

So far, I have zero answers. My doctor is leaning towards IBS but this lump I get is what is pushing her to keep looking.