I'm in the wrong 50%, I guess

[carbonel]

So last night I fell asleep around 1 am (the new normal), and woke up sometime later. I have a bad habit of discovering that I've pulled off the APAP in the middle of the night and waking up much later without it, so I looked at the clock. It was 3:30 am, so I left the APAP on, and tried to get back to sleep. That was when I realized that I'd woken up because I was having abdominal pain, and it was really pretty nasty. I dozed a bit, but never really got back to sleep.

In the morning, I did a few work-type things, then told Bruce I was taking a sick day and crawled back to bed. The pain wasn't letting up, and it did feel better when I was lying down.

Around 3 pm, I decided this wasn't going to stop on its own, and called the Park Nicollet nurse line to see what they recommended. The nurse said that for pain of this location and duration, for someone my age, I should go to the emergency room.

So I did, for the second time in two months, after over 30 years of avoiding such an experience. I got there around 4:30, and didn't have to wait at all to be seen. The doctor tried me on something called a GI cocktail, which if it relieved the pain immediately, would be indicative of a stomach problem. It made my mouth and throat numb, but didn't help the pain at all.

Next I was sent down for an ultrasound of the pancreas, gall bladder, kidney, and liver. Then I waited for the doctor to come back with the results. He said they were all negative, which I guess is good, but didn't help with the pain. That's when the doctor told me that 50% of all abdominal pain goes undiagnosed.

He gave an injection of Toradol, which is a non-narcotic NSAID, and that did help, plus prescriptions for Zantac and an anti-nausea drug.

At this point, I guess the only thing to do is treat the symptoms and see what happens.

Comments

[kaffy_r]

Oh, hell; stomach pain is awful, and it's also rotten because it could signal other problems. Best of luck on the waiting and here's to a quick finding out of whatever the real problem is.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Hope it was a one-shot deal.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

I'm glad the Toradol helped, and, yeah, having all those internal organs looking as they should via ultrasound is good, too. Well, except for that whole pain thing.

I hope the next two months pass without any more ER visits. Then the next two years...and 20 as well.

[helenraven.livejournal.com]

::crosses fingers::

Good to know they found something that helps with the pain, at least.

[moonlightmead.livejournal.com]

Sounds horrid, so sorry to hear this. I hope you transfer to the other 50% soon!

[txanne.livejournal.com]

I hope it resolves itself soon.

[seekerval.livejournal.com]

You poor kid. Rotten experience, but one can--I suppose--focus on the silver glimmer of knowing those organs are all in reasonable condition. Good luck with it Going Away And Staying Away.

[xinef.livejournal.com]

Sympathies. Hope you are feeling better. I had a number of episodes of severe abdominal pain when I was in my early 20s. Never diagnosed.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

My sympathies.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

You and Comet have about the same treatment. I wish she could talk to tell us how she is.

Feel better!

K. [also knows what undiagnosed gut pain is like]

[biblio-tech.livejournal.com]

Hard to believe it's been 7 years since my turn with that. The probable cause was a bleeding ovarian cyst that eventually went away. The kicker was the "interesting" stuff that showed up in the CT scan, so I get to have an MRI every year to be sure cysts on my pancreas don't change. Here's hoping whatever you have just dissolves into no pain and nothing interesting for the doctors.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

Sounds awful--I hope this goes away quickly. Human bodies are so weird. Intelligent design, my ass.