Unexplained pain during pregnancy

[bryt66]

I am almost 15 weeks pregnant. It is my first pregnancy and therefore I may be over-reacting a little but I thought I would post anyway. I was woken up at one in the morning earlier this week due to a very sharp, intense pain in my lower, right abdomen. I thought maybe I was just sleeping in an awkward position so I rearranged myself on my back in a normal position. I laid there in agony for about 10 minutes and decided that maybe it was gas so I got up and attempted to walk around. I doubled over and sort of "scooted" around for maybe a minute. I urinated, which didn't hurt or cause any discomfort, and then scooted back to bed. No gas. I tried laying back down to see if it would just go away on it's own. About 20 minutes later I couldn't take it anymore. I called the on-call doctor at my OB/GYN and described what was going on to him. He was unable to tell me whether it was related to the pregnancy or not but recommended that I go to the ER as the pain was not subsiding and severe. So, my husband got to take me to the ER about 45 minutes after the pain initially woke me up. After waiting at the ER, still in agony, I finally got a room and the doctor finally saw me. He pushed on every part of my abdomen except for where I indicated it hurt, told him I was 15 weeks weeks pregnant and he immediately concluded that it was round ligament pain. Now, I'm no expert and I'm certainly not a doctor but I would like to consider myself resourceful and educated. I have done my homework. Round ligament pain is described as very short, intense pains that come with different kinds of movement that yank on the ligaments that are already stressed. The pain I was experiencing was unrelenting, stabbing pain in the same area. I pushed on the part that hurt and it made me yell. So, whatever the pain was, it was coming from that specific area and not radiating from somewhere else. The ER doctor did a sonogram, took blood and did a urinalysis. He said everything looked normal and sent me home with pain meds. I was able to get to sleep due to the medication given to me at the hospital and called my OB/GYN when I woke up later that morning - still in pain. The pain was no longer as intense as it was but it was most definitely still there, still bothersome, still couldn't walk straight and was most comfortable in the fetal position all day. My OB/GYN took FOREVER to call me back but when they finally did, the nurse suggested that it may have something to do with a cyst that I have had on my right ovary since I first found out I was pregnant. This cyst was believed to be the normal cyst that developes due to the ovary releasing an egg so nothing was thought more about it. The nurse informed me that the sonogram done at the ER did not show my ovaries and therefore another would need to be done to see if this was accurate and that she would call me in the morning to tell me when they could get me in. The next morning - at about 11 - she finally called back and said that the doctor looked at the sonogram and lab results from the ER and determined that ovaries can often not be seen due to pregnancy because things get moved around and that if something was wrong it would have shown up on the sonogram (as if things that are wrong migrate to open spaces in the body so they can easily be detected). Also, all my labs looked normal therefore the doctor recommended that nothing be done and that we just go with pain management. My favorite part was the nurse telling me "pregnant women just have unexplained discomfort sometimes". Since then, my pain has subsided a little more each day, hopefully leading to a day where there is no more pain. However, the initial pain that led me to the ER really scared me. That was not "discomfort", that was pain and it was significant pain. Has anyone had a similar experience that maybe came out with a better result, just some kind of possible explanation that I can suggest or research myself? Anything is much appreciated. Thank you.

[bryt66]

I appreciate all of the comments, concerns and ideas. I just wanted to give those who were curious an update since it has been obviously over a month since I posted. The day after I posted, I woke up with that same severe pain. They admitted me into the hospital and removed my appendix. The surgeon told my husband afterwards that the appendix wasn't very swollen or infected but that they went ahead and took it anyway just in case since they were already in there. The surgeon said it did some exploratory while he was in there and didn't find any inflamation or signs of infection anywhere else. I ended up staying in the hospital for about a week because that severe pain I woke up with was not gone after surgery and I was also dealing with pain from the surgery. It was miserable. Finally, I was released with some pain meds (not very good ones). For the next 4 days I tried controlling the pain with the meds. I was supposed to take 1-2 every 4-6 hours. I ended up taking one every 1-2 hours. I went back into my OB/GYN and was told that it may just be a combination of many natural things that are taking place - such as ligament pain PLUS gas PLUS a nerve being pinched or something like that. I wasn't happy with that. The pain meds weren't helping, I was unable to work and in pain all day every day. At one point in time I called the nurse at my OB's office and she told me to take a laxative - after telling her that I was having normal bowel movements. I had enough. I called my former OB in Denver, which is where I grew up and asked him what he thought and what we would be doing about this if I were there. He said that he would have immediately referred me to a perinatologist. That was NEVER mentioned by my OB where I am currently living. So, I packed a quick bag and took off. I have been in Denver for about 3-4 weeks seeing the perinatologist and dealing with the situation. I had ANOTHER surgery because they thought they saw inflamed lymph nodes in my mesentary - which would explain why the first surgeon never saw anything because the lymph nodes were outside of the abdominal cavity. When they opened me up, the surgeon explained that the lymph nodes were fine and that he did a more exhaustive exploratory analysis and again found no signs of infection, disease, inflammation, abnormal tissue or cells and no cancer or tumors thankfully. Unfortunately, this meant that they weren't going to figure out what was going on and therefore there was nothing that could be done. I was at least prescribed better main meds and ordered to stay on a regimen instead of taking them "as needed". So, I took them every 3 hours. They were MUCH better meds and took care of the pain. Unfortunately however, that forced me to stay at home and sit there basically - I couldn't drive and even walking was a little "iffy". Keep in mind that I had at this point been in this excrutiating pain for about a month now. My pain regimen meant I needed to set alarms and wake up every 3 hours to take my pain meds in the middle of the night as well. After being on these meds for a little over a week, one night I slept through 12 hours worth of pain meds!! I woke up, freaked out, and realized that my pain wasn't there. I have no idea what happened; I didn't feel any kind of pop, sting, or any other sensation that marked the end of the pain but it has been gone for a little over 2 weeks now. I have come home and am back at work from Denver and pray every day that the pain is gone for good. I am SO happy that pain is gone, I have never been so relieved in my life but I am also VERY scared that it will come back. If it does, I'm going to lose my job which means I lose my insurance. Throughout that entire ordeal, there was not a second of concern for my little girl. Every sonogram and heart monitoring and surgery that was performed showed her to be happy as a clam. Whatever was going on with me didn't affect her in the slightest. I thank God for that every day. I can't imagine how I could have gone through all that without hurting her at all. I am over 21 weeks now, we have determined 10 fingers, 10 toes, no cleft lip, fully developed and functioning brain, heart and other organs and no signs or symptoms of abnormalities. She is COMPLETELY healthy. I hope I can just enjoy the remainder of my pregnancy but it's unfortunate that I cannot sit here and tell y'all what happened - because it was never figured out! If anyone ever experiences something similar, please let me know. I am so stunned that I was in that amount of pain and NOTHING was found. With that amount of pain I was expecting some tennis ball sized cyst hiding somewhere in me or a tumor or something. But, thankfully, nothing!!

Thank you all!!

[messymessmama]

Hi there I just wanted to tell you my story as it might make you feel alil better. My first baby was c-section and when I got pregnant with my second I was determined to have a VBAC. Anyway i was aabout 18weeks when I woke to severe pain in my abdomin it was pain so severe to me I thought something terrible was hhappening like my uterus ripping apart bc of my csection hahhaa I know crazy huh. My sharp horrible pain was from the bottom of my right pelvic area all the way up past my belly button. I couldn't straight sit sleep Nothing was helping. Went to ER and like you everything checked out fine. I had this pain for a whole 7 days. I cried everyday in pain not to mention i had 16 month old. The pain wass getting sso bad I called my husband that I was calling 911. And he said Hunny your fine just breathe, yay okay!!! Anyway I hung up the phone I screamed bloody murder bc I couldn't take it anymore. As I was screaming I heard a nasty pop in my belly and the pain just went away lol llike that poof and it was gone. I sat there after that freaking out that i was bleeding internaly ( i have horrible anxiety lol) all that non stop horrible pain was a ligament! A FREAKIN LIGAMENT! My midwife explained to ligaments can be very very painful and they dont just come on if you move wrong they are muscle that try to expand with your growing uterus and these muscle can get so tight they can cause pain for days and sometimes snap as mine did and bam you have relief. If everything checked out and was normal i am sorry to say it can be a ligament. And if it were appendicitis more than likely your blood would have shown a higher white blood count. If they took your blood. And the pain I had was horrid and I had natural child birth no pain meds with my second and I rather go through child birth than that horrible pain again. Good luck hun if it still hurts i suggest more test to check it out.

[DS2]

It could have been a cyst. I used to get those a lot when I was not pregnant and it hurt just like the way your described it. It usually took a full week for my pain to go away. Hopefully you dont get those any more with your pregnancy, since it can totally worry you. hang in there, I'm sure the baby is prefectly fine and has no idea what is happening. :)

[coopers]

I would go see the doctor straight away, but you can get a lot of pains in your belly because it is stretching so the baby can grow. Or the baby could be lay on a nerve. And your not over-reacting it's like that on every one you have ,i was really bad on my last one an it was my fourth. Good look hope you and baby are fine.

[margypops]

Did they consider appendicitis at all , I can understand your concern and I think if it gets strong again ,you take no chances and go back to the ER for some more of their explanations .and possibly they may find out something. good Luck ,let us know