mid back /abdominal pain

[wombmate]

I have been having back/stomach pain that starts very early morning, I have read others on this website who have had the same thing, it only comes after laying down for a few hours, it wakes me every morning before I've had a full nights sleep. I have had an endoscopy,MRI, several blood tests, had my liver, spleen and kidneys checked, been on GI meds, and have been told I have IBS, I understand that I do have IBS but I do not feel this back pain that radiates to the front has anything to do with IBS. It hurts when I take a deep breath and it hurts more when I lay on my right side. I have been to 4 different drs, mostly gastroenterologist but none of them seem to hear me say that I feel it is in my back, so I've not seen a dr specifically for back or arthritis type pain. I do also have fibromyalgia so when this pain began, I was afraid I was having a flare up. I have bought a new mattress because I thought maybe that was the problem but it did not help. Years ago I had x-rays on my back and was told I had arthritis. Could it be some form of rthritis? I am also wondering if anyone else has found the answer to their very similar pain.
I am 47 years old but most mornings I feel like I am 95, the pain does go away once I am up. Can anyone Please help.

[PPNH]

If you experience low back pain that is helped by crawling on your hands and knees your lumborum quadratus muscles are in question. The reason you felt pain when you stretched your abdominals is because you shortened the already tight quadratus lumborum instead, do the opposite and hug your knees holding on underneath, not around the top so as to avoid stressing the joint.

It hurts when you breath in because this muscles helps you inhale - that is why I discourage people from breathing deep when I'm massaging this area. When serious, activated trigger points in your quadratus lumborum muscles will make it difficult for you to stand upright, walk and turn over in bed. And it will hurt to cough or sneeze.

Alcohol is a depressive, it dulls the pain temporarily.

[raw114]

I am a 24 year old female and I have been experiencing the same symptoms as most
of you since i was 13years old. the pain has gotten to the point where i cannot
handle it anymore. over the last 2 years it has gotten much worse, since i have
more time to sleep later than i used to (and the pain usually happens after
5-6hours of sleep).now, the pain seems to stay longer after i wake up and start
moving.

-back pain on both sides of my back (near kidneys) early in the morning, usually
after ~6hrs of sleep
-pain radiates through my back to both sides of my abdomen
-pain is worse when i take a big breath and try to stretch abdomenal muscles
-i feel a little relief curling up and stretching my spine out. sometimes
getting on my knees and falling asleep in the fetal position
-only true relief comes from getting out of bed and moving around, which
typically leads to having a bowel movement, and the pain usually stopping after
i have finished the bowel movement.
-throughout the day i may have a few pangs of sharp pain through my stomach, but
NOTHING like early in the mornings
-i have also noticed that after i wake up and start moving around (or just
tossing and turning in the bed for hours) my stomach starts to churn and
cramp...leading to needing to have a b.m. that creates so much cramping that i
feel like im giving birth.

as i have gotten older, and my schedule has simlpified my symptoms have become
easier to notice. when i was younger i only noticed the symptoms on the weekends
(when i was able to sleep longer than 6 hours). in college, i didnt get to sleep
much either, but i started noticing the symptoms more often. I also noticed in
college that when i drank alcohol heavily the night before, my symptoms didnt
occur, or were very mild. now, I am a nurse and I work 3pm-11pm. I sleep quite a
lot (around 8-9hours a day) and the symptoms now are unbearable.

i started searching for a cause and going to doctors in college. so far ive seen
my GP (who ordered abd. ultrasound, urine and blood tests, HIIDDA scan,  and tried me on
bentyl which is a medicine for abd cramps- which, surprise surprise didnt work.)
she also tried me on a highfiber diet. I aslo visited a nephrologist (kidney)
doctor who also checked my urine, and did a CT of my kidneys. they checked out
fine. then i moved on to a GI doctor and had my first endoscopy and colonoscopy.
that doctor tried to dianose my with IBS (which as a nurse i know is a
"catch-all" BS diagnosis when you cant find anything else. plus ppl with IBS 99%
of the time have diarrhea, not constipation like i sometimes have) After
visiting all of these doctors i kinda gave up. I recently went to a different GI
doctor. my symptoms are worse than ever...I have decided, with the knowledge I
have of anatomy from nursing school...i think it is either something GI related
or something to do with a nerve from my back. that is why i recenlt have seen a
new GI doctor- i ultimatly think its my back/nerves that innervate the gut.
yesterday i had a colonoscopy and suprise suprsise everything was fine. this new
GI doctor told me he has no idea what is wrong with me but that he knows its
something because it wakes me out of my sleep (apparently that is a big
indicator for something real) i have an appt with a spine specialist next week,
and i pray he will listen to me and try to help me find out what is wrong. i
woke this morning with the worse pain ive ever felt...i think its cause i slept
all day yesterday from the meds they gave me during the colonscopy and then
slept all night...i was in bed way toooo long and the pain went on for HOURS.
ive been crying this morning with the fear that i will have to live with this
for the rest of my life. im only 24 and ive had these pains for 10 years
already. i have forgotten what its like to have a good nights sleep like a
normal person.

so far no answers...im so miserable and tired. has anyone found any answers yet?

[Naenaenae]

Same Story (symptoms) as everyone else...
I went to the Doc and it turns out to be gallstones ... I know everyone is different but its worth getting it checked out.

Cheers

[brittshaz]

bout 3 weeks ago i stared 2 wake up with lower back pain. i always sleep on my left side. i read most of the comments sayin u should sleep on ur side. i tried my right side , still the same some mornin i ave 2 roll out of bed 2 get up. plus i ave a nine month old baby. some mornin i ave 2 ask my older kids 2 carry him down the stairs 4 me as it 2 painfull 4 me. i tried a new mattres but still no gd. goin the doctors this mornin as i cant carry on like this, i am only 33 yrs old but feel 78 most mornin. just think its wierd u can wake up 2 such pain. i am even wakin up early and scared 2 go back 2 sleep as thats when the pain seems 2 get worse.  sharon.

[dantherailroadman96]

I am a 42 yr old male suffering from the identical symptoms described by all of you...have had all the test and some of the same diagnosis'.  I recently suffered back pain and weakness which after a few weeks of trying to tough it out my boss ordered me to find a good chiropractor.  I have never been to keen on chiro's but found one my health ins. would accept and on my 1st visit he without my saying a word about the a.m. abdominal pain pushed on my left side and said "you have a lot of pain here as well" I cringed when he pushed and thought maybe there are a few good chiro's out there after all. I've been w/o pain in my back or abdomen the majority of the time since that first visit, and go occasionally for an adjustment when I have a flare up...he also tells me on occasion specific stretches that have helped.  Laying straight on the floor, bringing left foot up to the right knee, then bringing my left arm overhead while lowering the left knee w/foot still on right knee to the floor has been the most helpful, I do the same for the right side as well.  Good luck!  

[backinbeijing]

I am a 29 year old male, and I found this discussion board the same way you probably did.  For about three years I suffered from mid-back pain strong enough to wake me up, usually after about 5 hours of sleep.  The pain was unrelated to exercise—I’m in good shape and work out frequently, and while my back was sometimes sore as a result, this was a different type of pain.  I tried everything: stretching, focused exercise/massage, X-rays, MRI, abdominal ultrasound, testing for HLA-B27 for ankylosing spondylitis, and we even got a new bed.  Nothing worked.  The doctors were so mystified they didn’t even know what to suggest—so I would end up at discussing boards like this one scanning for clues.  I made a deal with myself that should I ever resolve the pain, I would post the solution so that other people could read about it (probably at 4 or 5 in the morning) and perhaps have a new idea to test.

I finally happened upon the cause of my pain when I decided to test for reflux (GERD), which some posters on these boards had mentioned—the thing that caught my eye was that people with reflux often can sleep comfortably only on their left side, which I had found was the case for me.  One informal way to test for GERD is to angle your sleeping position, which I did by stacking pillows into a ramp so that my head was about 10 inches higher than my feet.  (The real way is to angle your mattress, but that’s more work.)  While the sleeping position itself was unfamiliar and so a bit uncomfortable, I was surprised to note that the back pain subsided.

I looked into over-the-counter reflux medication and found two primary classes: H2 receptor blockers such as famotidine (Pepcid AC is a common brand name) and protein pump inhibitors (PPIs; Prilosec is a common brand name).  I tried Pepcid first, and after about a week with no results, I tried the Prilosec (omeprazole).  After taking one pill a day for about a week, the pain was gone.  I had already taken down the pillow ramp by this time in order not to confuse the results, and so this was the first real good night’s sleep I’d had in years.

I did not want to post my account until I had had enough pain-free time to suggest that PPIs were likely a viable solution rather than just a temporary relief.  I am happy to report that with omeprazole I have been pain-free for about 6 months.    I’m no fan of taking pills every day, but after a year or so I plan to try going off omeprazole for awhile and seeing if the pain returns.  For now, I take one pill each evening after work and sleep soundly.   I have seen little if anything out there linking GERD to the type of back pain we all have been experiencing, but that seems to have been the problem for me.  Give it a try, and if it works, post to this board so that others may benefit.  Good luck!