Hi Everyone:
I'm going nuts. My pcp has suggested an MRI as the next step to search
for the cause of the pain I continue to have.
He finally did call me, was very caring, (so I guess I won't fire him
yet :<) but admits he is stumped. My complaints do not correlate with
my physical exam. When a doctor has said that to me in the past, it has
always led to a dead end. At first he suggested CT Scan of the abdomen
and pelvis and then decided on the MRI of the lumbar sacral spine
instead.
The everyday lower right side abdominal pain that I had two
laparoscopies for continues. This is pain #1. Pain #2 is the symptoms
of bowel obstruction which have subsided since I cut out all the extra
fiber I had been eating. I read that some people never adjust to
increase fiber (I did it for 6 months) and although the symptoms were
suggestive of a partial bowel obstruction, there might not be any reason
for such an obstruction other than the increase in fiber. (then there
could be the adhesions causing it) This is the pain that occurs on both
sides, and feels just like menstrual pain. (my gyn told me most
menstrual pain is bowel pain).
It is now pain #3 that is getting to me, combined with pain #1. I
sometimes wake up early morning with severe (as in don't want to move an
inch) lower right sided pain that is dramatically alleviated by a change
in position. (although the area remains sore the acute pain is gone)
This severe pain never happens in the daytime, nor does it ever happen
on the left side of my abdomen. It happened a few times during the
period I was having the laps (1 year) but has increased since March
which just happens to be when I started a course in step aerobics. When
I get out of bed I expect to have to hobble to the bathroom hunched over
in pain but am surprised to find that I feel almost normal. a full
bladder seems to make it worse, in fact a full bladder during the day is
the closest I can come to duplicating the pain. My pcp says this relief
by getting up and walking around is consistent with certain kinds of
back problem. Am I getting muscle spasms? What does that feel like? Add
to pain #1 and #3, pain #4-this is the pain I now feel on the lower
right side of my back and into the buttock area. Of course my question
is, is this connected to pain #1, the lower right side everyday pain? Or
just a coincidence? Kind of odd that's everything is on the right side.
It is possible that adhesions are involved in this, or it might be
something entirely different. (and may have been all along) If the MRI
gives no explanation I guess the next step will be drugs that affect
perception of pain such as antidepressants.
Does anyone have adhesion pain with strange patterns of occurence such
as I have described above? It sounds as if everyone's pain from
adhesions is more or less of a consistent nature. I'm afraid I'm
barking up the wrong tree!
I'm trying to post on the neurology MD forum but they are really backed
up.
Finally, has anyone had an MRI? What can I expect? They just called with
my appt-next Monday at 9 PM!!! Weird? The daughter of a friend had one
and she normally has no problems with things like this, found the MRI
very, very difficult to tolerate. She said it took intense mental
imagery to keep from panicking in the enclosed area. She advised
pre-medication. Help!