stomach spasms

[chillipepper04]

I have been having painful stomach spasms for the past two years. I am 46 year old female who is other wise great health. A few years ago I had bladder spasms that lasted a year and finally went away. The stomach spasms have not responded to the spasm meds. I just got off hysomine and librax  because neither was working well. I have had a lot of sonograms and cat scans the most recent showed 3 small liver lesions. Nobody can tell me why I am spasming and how to stop them. I have used a food journal to find out that the pain is in no way food related. The smooth muscle contractions also trap gas in my stomach which doubles the discomfort. On a scale of 1-10 the pain stays at about 6 no matter what drug I take and several days a week jumps up to a 12 off the scale pain. Please help me, I dont know how much more of this I can take. I just gave blood to check for any type of cancers and they all came back negative. Please help me. Tina Mancuso

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Irritable bowel syndrome may indeed be associated with upper GI "spasms".  

First, you want to exclude more serious diseases, like an ulcer or inflammation.  An upper endoscopy should be considered as part of the evaluation.  I would also consider imaging with an ultrasound or CT scan.

If irritable bowel is considered, you can consider further treatment options like tricyclic antidepressant therapy, increasing the amount of fiber in the diet, or trying antibiotics like Rifaximin - all of which have been shown to help IBS in small studies.

These options can be discussed with your personal physician.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patients education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
www.kevinmd.com

[chillipepper04]

I am chillipepper04 { stomach spasm for two years} I have already had the flexi scope down my throat and c.t. scan, and ultra sound. The only finding at all where the three small liver lesions. Which {they tell me} are not the cause of my pain. I have not had a colonoscopy yet. I am having an MRI next week to rule out pinched nerves being the cause but I think that is a waste of my time. I keep being put on every new spasm drug { I am now on Symtax duotabs,} they seem to help some but before the 12 hours that they are supposed to last are up, I have even worse pain come back like it is rebound pain. The 2 doctors I have seen have never even mentioned IBS. If I were your patient, what would your next step be. I am suffering and have been hurting entirely too long. Tina

[amnyc]

I read your posting as it it were my own, which the exception that I have chronic GERD that I've been able to manage with diet and exercise. Now, with the reflux under control, I've developed terrible stomach spasms.  Like you, I've had every test, scan and study you can imagine. The only one that gave me a glimmer of hope was the stomach emptying study. While not conclusive there was a slight indication my system is slow but not slow enough for a diagnosis of paralysis of the stomach or anything like that.

I met with my doctor today and he prescribed Librax. I've tried other medicines designed to reduce stomach spasms but the side effects were too much for me to take.

Based on the results of all the tests, he's treating this as a functional disorder and trying to determine the root cause. My paraphrase of his explanation -- "my brain is not talking or in sync with my digestive system" and as a result while "all organs are operating fine independently" they are not working together, which is causing the pain. Somewhere along the chain there is a breakdown of communications. He agreed, treating this type of disorder is frustrating and resolution comes by trial.  

Sorry I can't offer any advice but know I'm with you in spirit. ~ AM