Left side stomach cramps during midnight?

I am Female, married, 28 yrs old. I have been having severe cramps at the center & left side of my stomach (not below stomach or the entire abdomen) for the past 3-4 days. It occurs between midnight - 4.00 am and has been lasting severely as if someone is pulling all my muscles, for roughly 10-15 minutes. The pain sometimes keeps shifting from center to the left side as I keep moving. I sometimes also have a little pain immediately after I get up in the morning. What could be the reason for this?

I have had my periods as usual 10 days ago & hence I am guessing I am not pregnant. My bowel movements have been regular too and I do not have any major changes in my diet either. Please suggest!!

[Banned1]

Hi Dolly:

I'm very sorry you are suffering.  I sincerely hope this post will save you some agony but I'm sorry it's so long.  First off, I'm not a doctor and I know next-to-nothing about medicine.

These are the most important things I can share with you and I've only learned them through my own illness:

These symptoms could be SO many things including microscopic sludge/stones in the common bile duct, gallbladder problems, Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction, Small Bowel Bacterial Overgrowth, acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, autoimmune pancreatitis, mininal change chronic pancreatitis, etc., etc., etc.   Pancreatic and ductal pain is among the most horrendous pain there is.  If you cannot manage your pain, talk to your primary care physician and ask for some medication!  

There are two relatively non-invasive procedures: 1) Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) and 2) MRCP-S (Secretin).  The EUS can image the pancreas and ductal system.  The EUS does require sedation and is similar to an upper endoscopy.  It picks up things that other tests can't including problems at the microscopic level.

Many people have great success with digestive enzymes and pancreatic enzymes.  Within two weeks, some people are pain free and their bowels are totally normal just from enzyme useage.  This is something you can talk to your primary Doc about.  I'm told that they won't do any harm so - unless you have side effects - why not try them?  Your Doc might even have samples.  This reduces the amount of work the pancreas has to do which will also reduce any damage to the pancreas.  You can get them at the health food store, too, but make sure they only have proteases, amlyase and lipase.   The name brands include Creon, Pancrease, Pancron, Protilase, Ultrase and Zymase.

Start a low-fat diet immediately.  Also, start a journal and write down everything that goes into or comes out of your body including medications, foods, etc. as well as how you feel, your mood and activities/exercise.  Avoid everything fried, everything with a high fat content and alcohol.  If you can try that for a month or so, see how your symptoms are.  This also gives you the benefit of hindsight and you can identify patterns or cause/effect relationships.

Please do some research and find the best Gastroenterologist you can.  Since your physicians have already given up, it doesn't sound like they are worth your time.  Once you've found someone who is highly recommended, check them out at www.ratemds.com.  If they still sound good, ask your family doctor to refer you.

Feel free to email me or post again.  I'm happy to share anything I've learned over the past two years.  I'm not on very often, so if you need me quickly, email.

All the best,

Sam