Lower right abdominal pain

[constatlyinpain]

I again have this mysterious lower right abdominal pain.  It's getting increasingly painful (especially if I move) yet I am not even close to going to the ER since each time I go for the same pain they do a CT which shows nothing and I'm out $100 co-pay.  I have surgery in two weeks to remove my gallbladder, but would this pain in the lower right quadrant have ANYTHING to do with my gb not working properly???

[laurence99]

have they ruled out appendicitis?

[constatlyinpain]

yes.  several times.  I'm beginning to wonder if there is such a thing as chronic appendicitis?  My appendix is never swollen when I go to the ER and have x-ray/ct scan.  No blood clots.  I'm so confused...

[laurence99]

ultra sound ,reg x-ray,and ct are not able to always show appendicitis. i am living proof of this.only way to know for sure is a lap.DONT TAKE A CHANCE WITH APPENDICITIS see your dr./surgeon
and make sure it is absolutely ruled out.

[Jaybay]

That's what happened to me too.  Every blamed test they ran on me showed I was 100% normal.  Of course, it didn't help that my pain was epigastric instead of lower right quadrant.  I had to beg my surgeon for the 2nd time in our acquaintance to take a peek with the scope.  Guess what?  Rotten appendix.  Same thing happened with my gallbladder.  Same thing happened with dead intestines.  Same thing happens with adhesions.  I'm just lucky my surgeon knows me well enough that when I say something is wrong, he doesn't jerk me around with a bunch of useless tests any more.

There are a whole lot of docs who simply do not believe chronic appendicitis is a true illness.  Either it's ready to blow, or it's fine.  Period.  How that theory can make sense to educated people, I don't understand.  Does it not make some kind of common sense that it would take a fair amount of time for an organ to get badly infected enough BEFORE it ruptures?  And during that time, does it not make sense that a person will have symptoms?  Ugh... I never should have started on this line of thought...

[laurence99]

it doent always have to be LRQ.by the way approx 25% of people have their appendix in their right BACK side. called retrocecal appendix like mine was .but i better not get started.
i will say one thing. never never trust the ER dr. to make a diagnosis on the appendix. always ask for a surgical consult.
given my history i get many calls from friends about abdominal problems and on two occasions i suggested strongly that they go back to emerg.bothe times were appendicitis.on one of those occasions i went to the hospital and told the ER dr. that since he would not call for a surgical consult
i would.he didnt like that at all since i am not a dr.he agreed to call the surgeon after i reminded him
that it was illegal to send a patient out of the hospital without ruling out a life threatening decease.
ah i better not get started.

[lizziecee]

Crohn's disease often starts with pain in the lrq at the terminal ileum, which is next to the appendix. Crohn's often goes undiagnosed for this reason. Only a colonoscopy will rule it in or out.

[constatlyinpain]

I had a colonoscopy in March, and it showed everything was perfect.  I am going to ask my surgeon to take a good look around while he is in there for the gallbladder and make darn sure that the appendix is A-Ok before stopping the surgery.  I'm very tempted to just talk him into removing the damn thing anyway in hopes that ALL my abdominal pain will go away.  I'm tellin' ya, I've got so much going on in my belly that my husband thinks I'm nuts (well, he thinks I'm a hipochondriac).  I have a slightly enlarged spleen (they don't know why), constipation, loose bowels if I'm not constipated (more constipation than anything), a malfunctioning gallbladder, lrq pain (can be severe, but it comes and goes randomly), possible problem with my pancreas probably due to whatever is wrong with my gallbladder...***sigh***ok, I'm done complaining....I think

[laurence99]

sometimes a surgeon cannot deterime a bum appendix just by examining it.i know a person who had his appendix outand his surgeon wasnt sure that it had to come out.three weeks later when
the patheolagy report came back it turned out that it was a very sick appendix.good surgeons dont take chances.did you know that astronauts have their appendixes taken out before they go up just as a precautionary measure.

[constatlyinpain]

Nope.  Learn something new every day!  I think I'm gonna just talk him into removing the appendix while he's in there.  Then I won't have to wonder about it anymore.  Thanks for all the info and fun facts!  :)

[maybesomeday]

I also have been having LRQ pain,  comes & goes,  have it at some point almost every day.  When it hurts,  it actually feels hard (can't figure out if it's stomach muscle or colon that I am feeling).  To add to this,  I also have the same pain sometimes in the LLQ.  Unfortunately,  when it starts in on the left side,  it hurts so bad that I can't even function.  I went,  out of desperation,  to an accupuncturist that has an office near my job.  I don't know what he does,  but he makes it go away with accupuncture.  He barely speaks English,  and while he makes it quit hurting,  I can't get a straight answer out of him as to what the problem is.  I ask,  and he says "cramping".  I ask what is cramping,  he says "colon".  I live in constant fear every day that an attack will come on.  I wake up thinking about it.  I go to bed thinking about it.  Have been diagnosed with IBS,  which I do not believe.  On my day off it never happens.  It is always while I am at work & moving around alot.  What a nightmare.  Went to the ER in June,  had a CT,  ovarian ultrasound,  everything looks normal.  I will have insurance in December,  guess it's time for a colonoscopy.  I am sure that nothing will show up,  that seems to be my luck with this.

[constatlyinpain]

OMGosh!  That is SO close to what I experience...just not quite as often.  I truly think that the LLQ pain is the same as the LRQ, but that I am so used to the pain on the right that when it hits the left it is a bit more of a shock, know what I mean?  It doesn't feel like cramping to me, and my colonoscopy showed nothing.  I am beginning to wonder if I have two little tiny hernias that are just being missed???  Never had one so I don't know how they feel.  My LRQ pain feels just like the 5cm kidney stone I had a year ago.  All imaging (to my knowledge) shows that my kidneys are fine, a few cysts but nothing of consequence, and that my appendix is normal.  I think I need to get copies of everything, the written reports and the images themselves, so that I can see for myself that when I'm told everything is fine I'll believe it.  Well.....no I won't but I can at least see they aren't lying to me.

[maybesomeday]

WOW!  That is a trip!  I,  too thought that maybe I had two hernias.  Everyone I told that to thought I was crazy,  saying no way I had a double hernia.  I even went to a hernia surgeon & he looked at me like I was crazy.  He said in the place that I am having the pains,  the only type of hernia that could be is a spigelian,  and those are really rare,  and when they are seen it is in people who are like 70 years old,  and I don't have them.  (No examination,  mind you).  So I left there feeling more frusterated.  I did get copies of all of my stuff,  and the CT scan is on a disc & I looked at it,  but discovered that I don't know how to read it,  and so I wouldn't be able to tell if they are right or not.  The only thing I know for sure is that I can't just live my life in pain & fear every day.  The right side thing has just become normal,  and hey,  I can even live with it.  If I sit down for a while it seems to go down and quit hurting.  The left side thing on the other hand,  that puts me down in agony & I have to go home or run to the accupuncturist.  At least he is able to get rid of it for the time being,  but it still leaves me without a way to PREVENT it.

[constatlyinpain]

We will just have to pray that, like your username, maybe some day they will find out what is causing our pain in the lower abdomen and beable to fix it.

[constatlyinpain]

Forgot to mention earlier that I talked to another surgeon in the practice that I am going to and she said that she agreed with my surgeon that the gb needs to come out and that there IS such a thing as CHRONIC APPENDICITIS.  She said that I need to discuss it with my surgeon and see if he can remove the appendix at the same time as the gallbladder.  Here's hoping!

[maybesomeday]

Well I sure hope that fixes your problems!  Good luck with it & please let me know how it turns out.

[constatlyinpain]

***UPDATE***
I talked to my surgeon about an hour ago, just before my pre-op testing, and he agreed to take out my appendix!  I am so excited now...this should take care of ALL of my abdominal pain!!!  (I hope!)

[kathryn lee]

I didnt know that lower right quadrant pain can be a symptom of a rotten gallbladder. My IM and GI doctors have ran every blasted test on me including an EGD. Everything has turned out normal. Guess what? Im still hurting. The pain travels from my upper right quadrant to my lower right quadrant. I still dont know what it is. The GI gave me Librax( an anti-spasmodic) and Prilosec( a proton-pump inhibitor). The Librax doesnt work. Im still confused about why he gave me prilosec seeing that I dont have any symptoms of acid reflux dsease. My GI is getting an earful on Nov. 12th. I hope to God they send me to a surgeon. This stuff has been going since Aug. 2005. Have any advice!!!!

[mihai73]

I have a pain in right upper and low q. Also goes to back .i made all: ct, mri everything - all normal except a herniation of disc between l5-s1. I don't know  what I have and also my doctor. I still try to figure out what is happening to me. I had some medicines for kidney dar for nothing. I'm 34 ys old.

[constatlyinpain]

Guess I should have updated this thread again after surgery.  The pathology report came back and said that I was infact suffering from chronic appendicitis (I love when I'm right)!  I do still have the upper abdominal pain, especially when I eat.  When I say upper abdomen, I mean the whole thing.  All the way from one side to the other, as if following my diaphragm.  I know my spleen is slightly enlarged, and that I'm recovering from surgery, but I hope that one day I will once again be able to enjoy food or just life in general without some sort of abdominal pain.  It really is quite annoying.  

[maybesomeday]

So,  how did it go?  Are you cured?

[maybesomeday]

I meant are you cured from the lower pain.  I still have found out nothing,  but had some accupuncture & a Reiki healer doing his thing long distance,  and I am having a lot less symptoms now.  I have insurance finally,  so I guess I will have to make some appointments,  but I might wait until after the holidays (if it stays mellow),  cause I am SO sick of going to doctors.  SO tired of hearing that there's nothing wrong.  I am glad that they found out about the cronic appendicitis.  I think that's what I have going as well,  but can't egt anyone to listen,  cause the gastros don't want to even admit it exists.  I guess they want to wait until you are in a life threatening emergency state before they beleive something is wrong with your appendix.  Weird.  All of the tests that I had,  say "appendix not visualized".  Yet they are sure it's not my appendix,  cause they say if it was,  I would have a fever & it would just keep getting worse,  not off & on.

[constatlyinpain]

I've only had a fever with the lrq pain ONCE.  I am still recovering, so not sure yet if the lower pains are gone, but I still have the upper pains.  My advice is to keep calling to docs to find one that DOES admit chronic appendicitis exists and then go see that doc.  I've not yet had any non-surgical pains in the lrq, but I had times of two or three months with NO PAIN then B A M! I'm in the ER once again with lrq-pain.  Only time will tell.  My ma says I should have been a doctor since I am the only one who seems to beable to get the diagnosis right and end up telling the doctors what they are looking for.  I'm not smart enough for that.  Plus I've got a very weak stomach...lol

Keep me posted on finding a doc that'll listen when you say "it's chronic appendicitis, please treat me"...I got lucky.  You will too.

[kathryn lee]

I finally had the nerve to set up an appt. with another gastro doc. Its set up for Dec. 12th. I am looking forward to hopefully getting this pain resolved during Christmas break. Hopefully this doc can figure out what's causing me to be in so much pain. I will ask him about chronic appendicitis, seeing as Ive had trouble with my appendix before. That could explain the torture Ive been going through. Keep ya posted.

[kathryn lee]

What's up with everything. Are you giving the doctors any flack! I know what your going through. Abdominal pain is the worse type of pain their is. Its even worse than knee pain, and I have had 6 knee surgeries. I woul rather have another knee surgery than go through this pain. That says alot don't it? Have you got a second opinion.Get one if you have'nt. Those doctors don't really know anything.

[ceo24]

I have similar but mild symptoms. (26y/male)  I have had a mild pain in my lower right abdomen, just inside my hip bone for months.  Sometimes it is barely noticeable and it comes and goes.  It seems as though I wont have it for weeks and then have it again on and off.  it is most noticeable when I am sitting at the computer.  Sometimes it is a dull pain sometimes it feels as if it has a very slight burning sensation.  I also sometimes have a slight pain in my right leg and inner thigh which may be due to a leg injury from jumping out of a truck a year ago or may be related.

I went to a urologist and my regular physician.  They both thought it may be some kind of infection and I was on cipro antibiotics a couple times.  I also had urinalysis and std tests a couple times and they all came back clean.  Sometimes I feel as though I have frequent urination but it may be my imagination.  The doctors also checked for hernia and found nothing.  I cannot feel any difference between my left and right lower abdomen with the exception of slightly more intense pain when I push on the right side.

If anyone has any ideas, please help this is driving me crazy!  Thank you

[maybesomeday]

Haven't had any more appointments.  I made one for next Wed.  with a brand new gastro guy,  guess we'll see what he can come up with.  I refuse to just take the IBS diagnosis and forget about it,  because I know that's not the problem.  Sure wish I had gone to medical school!

And to ceo24,  maybe it's time to go see a gastroenterologist.  (Not that they are of much help,  but perhaps they can come up with something more than just your GP).

[Ms_Makita]

I went through similar thing as Jaybay did.My appendix was chronic inflamed in '06 and it ruptured,fast foward 7 months later gallbladder trouble,was told it was in my head or IBS theory.Finally had gallbladder out in may'07.Now I'm still battling with severe pelvic/abdominal pain which is prob scar tissue/abdominal adhesions,had 3 abdominal surgeries in less than a year.Was in hospital in sept for partial small bowel blockage but colonscopy is normal.So now I'm battling partial bowel obstruction and ovarian cysts....yayyyyyy! but dr still implies its in my head or IBS.....go figure!  at 29 yrs old I feel 80!! trust your instinct..good thing you asked for a peek and getting appendix out,no use for it anyways! good luck to u!

[fariasgirl]

Ive heard of several cases of people having their gallbladder removed and the surgeon taking the appendix also... Ask him if he will check it out while he is in there and if it looks bad, get it the heck out lol... Good luck, hope you feel better!!!

[kathryn lee]

Hey guess what! I was rushed to the hospital Fri. night. I had started having really bad symptoms 2 days before. I was having chills, severe URQ pain, nausea, dizziness, and passing clay colored stools. Well anyway, my cellphone has been on the fritz since Wed.(still waiting for my charger to arrive.) So I walked to the nearest payphone to call a friend to take me to the ER, and the phone wouldnt let me dial the full number. Then I was walking across Hwy. 66 to the bowling alley to use their phone, by the time I got through the parking lot a cop had stopped me to ask if I was ok. I told him that I was not at all feeling well, and was trying to call a friend to take me to the ER. He said that a person had reported seeing a girl walking in the median. I explained to him the situation, and my symptoms. He was a former paramedic. He also told me that he didnt want me to wait for20 -30 minutes for a ride because something could rupture. I gave him permission to call the paramedics. They came and put me on a stretcher and loaded me into the back of the ambulance. The paramedics tried to start an IV but couldnt because I was too cold. So I got to the ER and the doc examined me and said it was possibly the beginning of an infection of the GB. I was relieved. So now maybe I have enough ammunition to convince the gastro to remove my GB.