Left side pain and UC

My son is having a flare up, and last Sunday, began having pain on the left side.  I thought maybe he pulled a muscle, but now I wonder if this is a new symptom for him.  His Gastro doctor did not seem too concerned.  Ibuprofen helped alot, but then I found out he wasn't supposed to have that.  Tylenol is not working as well.  Any ideas out there?  Does anybody have similar troubles? 

Thank you.  He is 17 and was diagnosed last year. The symptoms went away for about 8 months and came back.  It breaks my heart.  Is it normal to have pain eventhough he seems to be getting better?  The dr. bumped his asacol up, and the bathroom part is getting better and the bleeding is better too.  This pain is not better though. He didn't have this pain last year.

No, no rectal meds. The pain was so bad last night, he woke me

up in tears.  Is you pain ever severe like that, or do I need to call the doctor?  I worry alot:(

He did finally get back to sleep with the heating pad.  The darvocet didn't help the pain.

Hi...you should call the doc and request a prescription for rectal meds such as the Rowasa retention enemas...or even the Canasa suppositories (the retention meds would be better)...and have him start using them at night.

The other suggestion is to request an antispasmodic...I use dicyclomine and it's awesome for me. Your son can take it about a half hour before he goes to bed. That will help with the rectal meds as well...meaning to help settle the colon/rectum and make it easier to retain the meds.

quincy

Hello UC mom, as was said already, left-sided abdominal pain isn't an uncommon symptom of UC, especially when the disease is moderately to severely active. If you're interested, the reason the pain is felt in that region is due to the progression of the colon from the rectum (he's feeling pain where he's inflamed). Going up from the rectum, the colon goes left around the region of one's belt/waistline, then up, then straight to right all the way across to the other side of the mid-abdomen, then down and again to the left where the colon meets the small bowel. For most patients with UC, the inflammation of the bowel is the last 50% of the colon, which is where your son is experiencing his pain.

Post Edited (Robert.K) : 12/1/2007 3:33:04 PM (GMT-7)

That's too bad, hopefully his relief will last long enough to make his exams pass over as easily as possible. There is a definite correlation between the severity of the pain and the severity of the inflammation, but keep in mind that it isn't uncommon for the pain to be on the verge of being debilitating. I've never had a migraine, but I've heard things from migraine sufferes that reflects some of how I feel when I experience severe cramping from UC activity. For example, when I am experiencing a severe cramp, I want to minimize or completely eliminate all stimuli while I wait for the pain to pass over me. That means closing my eyes, being in a quiet place (turning off the TV, telling whoever I am with to simply be quiet for a short little while, etc), and basically "shutting down" temporarily. Hope that makes sense.

Don't say that, but yes I can't really imagine being in your position as a mother and feeling that there's little you can do for him. But that's not the case (if that is how you're feeling). Although you cannot "cure" your son, providing what support he requests and helping him out in any way he needs is really a priceless thing that family can do for one another. Remember this: UC doesn't take away the things in life that are really important. one way or the other, his UC will be resolved, and his mind will remain intact, he'll be able to complete virtually any career plans he may have (school, etc), he'll be able to improve and build new relationships with family and friends... remember, the important things in life cannot be taken away by UC. Worst case scenario, he suffers physically for a period of time and it will build character ad perspective. The bright side may not be easy to find, but it's always there

Hope that also makes sense. It's hard to understand, but UC can have a lot of bright sides to it in regards to what a person can learn from it.

ibuprofen may not be the best, but for some people Tylenol simply doesn't work. I'm one of those people myself, so I'm sure your son is happy to be allowed to take it for the time being and get some relief. And you may be right, stress can definitely increase cramping and pain. And even good students get a little freaked by the SAT =P Hopefully he's just experiencing a fluke occurrence of pain and he'll be ok in a few days. If not, definitely call his Dr. again. and i wish him luck for whenever he gets the chance to take the SATs. :)

Well, my gut opinion is that he pulled a muscle last weekend shooting lacrosse balls with a friend. The pain came on suddenly, after he went to shoot, and the spot was pretty high up on his side. Ibuprofen did the trick. The only time the pain became intense was when the GI said no ibuprofen. Since the doctor changed his mind about temporary use, 2 pills, and some time on the heating pad, he was back to his old self. All his friends came to watch the football playoffs, then out for a bite, home at 11:00. Just like normal. The two days without the ibuprofen were the worst. His symptoms are already better after increasing his asacol to 12 per day. We do go back to the GI on December 20th for a sigmoidoscopy. His last colonoscopy was last Oct. 2006. We just switched to an adult GI this week, so I guess he wants to take a peek himself :) We will get through this.
Thanks for all your concern.

quincy said...
Please do ask the doc about the antispasmodics and the rectal meds....really!

If eventually the discomfort doesn't improve, maybe ask the doc to consider an ultrasound to check that nothing more is going on.  When was your son's last c-scope? 

Is his UC limited or throughout?

Just to add to Robert K's explaination and to clarify.........pain and inflammation don't always coincide. There are people with IBS and have horrific pains and discomfort...especially in the lower left quadrant (llq) and rectum...and they have no inflammation.

Pain can be caused by spasming.....gas can cause horrific pain and discomfort.

There are some patients who have severe active inflammation and few symptoms of discomfort...others have very mild inflammation and severe discomfort.

quincy

Assuming you're right, it looks like a spoke too soon. I assumed that increased pain was necessarily associated with increased inflammation/stenosis. I didn't think a UC patients could have abdominal cramping rooted in his/her UC symptoms which WASN'T indicative of a worsening condition and increased inflammation.

do not, do not, do not, do not, do not ever take ibuprofen or any other nsaid's with UC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they are the worse thing ever especially for those with IBD.

get some pain killers from the doctor. if darvocets dont work, get something stronger.

i have horrible excrutiating pain all on my left side and have been dealing with it for over a year now.

it wakes me up as well.

and on the toilet, im a moaning, sweating, shaking mess and in agonizing pain.

so yeah, pain is there on the left side and it could be just the UC or it could be something else as well.

he is not alone there.

but DO NOT give him any more ibuprofen EVER!!!!

 

Thanks for your input. I know everyone is trying to help.

Hi UCMOM.

Left sided pain has been my constant companion for almost three years now. Even when I have no other symptoms I have the pain. Sometimes slight, sometimes it doubles me over. Not that I am suggesting this, but the one time I had some full release was when I was on tylenol 3 with codein after my surgery last February. It's touchy with those kind of meds, but when things are so bad we grasp for solutions.

As well, when on prednisone, the pain subsided substantially. But thats a slippery slope as well that many of us have traveled, and there are lots of side effects from the prednisone as well.

Hope you son feels better soon. :)