Left Lower abdominal pain

Good Afternoon,

Last month I saw a Family Practice doctor for left lower abdominal pain. I have had this for the past four months.  She diagnosed me with IBS and gave me a fiber supplement, which did not help at all.  The pain is limited to the area near the lower part of my hip.  Having a bowel movement does not improve the pain.  I have a BM at least twice a day very easily.  The pain lessens when I walk around, but gets worse when I have been sitting down for a while. Sudden movements make the pain worse.  The pain worsens when I get my period to the point where Aleve doesn't help.  I had a Paraguard IUD inserted on May 20 by the same doctor.  I was seen on May 3 for the abdominal pain, today is June 4.  Is this due to the hormones in my menstrual cycle, an ovarian cyst, or is it really the IBS She thinks I have?  The pain also gets worse with sex, to the point where I don't even want to have sex, which upsets my fiance.  Could I have endometriosis and IBS?

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
I am concerned about the time course of the IUD insertion and the onset of the pain.
If you were my patient, I would ask you to come in for an ultrasound to be certain that the IUD is properly located in the uterus and has not perforated through the wall. Ultrasound is very nice for evaluating IUDs.  It is also great for checking for ovarian cysts.
It is possible that removing the IUD would help.

On the other hand, the pain you are describing sounds like it may be musculoskeletal in nature, since it improves with walking around.  

Honestly, if you were my patient, I would probably want to review a "pain diary"
and start from scratch with a very good history and physical exam IF the ultrasound was normal.

Good luck!
Dr B

[DanellMarshall]

I was,just wondering, im 35 weeks and a day pregnant and have a cswction schedueled for july 14, if I was to go into lanor now would the hospital stop it or do an emergency c section

[Kristin91684]

Hi,

A week and a half ago I asked a question about lower left abdominal pain.  You were right;it was that darn IUD! I passed some small clots today and also the little copper T as well.  Guess my body didn't like it! At least I now know when I do finally have kids that I won't have any problems pushing them out (and I'm a size zero!) My body know what is right for it., so i guess it is time to listen to it!  

Anyway, I'm an MLT, and I had a urine culture a couple of weeks ago that had GBS in it.  Good thing I have access to the system,b/c the DR never called me back for the results.  Now I know GBS can cause problems for pregnant women and their babies.  Should I get another culture done before I plan on having children?  I had no symptoms of  A UTI but I know that GBS can grow in the intestines, vagina, and bladder.  I had Strep infections a lot as a child and developed Scarlet Fever because of it.  Just wondering, if I am a consistent GBS colonizer, would this put me at risk of preterm labor in the future?  Would I have to get a C-section if it persists?  I have the bacteria in my bladder, but it's not really causing me problems.  Should I go back and see the Family medicine Dr. to get antibiotics or should I just wait it out?