pain in abdomen and back with joint pain?

[rph10]

So, I am a little perplexed by what is going on with me. For the past 2 months nearly I have been experiencing nausea and headaches (sometimes debilitating) on a daily basis, getting progressively worse with each day, particularly in the evening. It was assumed I had migraines and I was referred to a neurologist. Then, one evening (about 3 weeks into the nausea) I had severe cramping (felt like intestinal) and some gurgling sounds in my stomach. Cramping was so severe I was curled up in a chair and unable to move for about 15 minutes then it cleared and I felt nauseous the rest of the night.  Then I noticed a constant nagging pain in the upper part of my abdomen on the right side, right under my lower ribs. This moves around to my back on the upper right side and occasionally moves all the way across to the left side of my back. And this is now a pretty low constant throb. it gets sharp at times then back to a throb.

I've been to an urgent care center and my primary care doctor. Blood has been drawn twice (looking for problems with the liver, ulcers, stomach infections, and other stuff) and has come back normal twice. I have had an ultrasound of my upper right abdomen looking for possible problems with my gallbladder, pancreas, and liver and it has all come back clear. I have also had my ovaries checked just in case and they are clear. The urgent care doctor suggested I just try stool softeners which did nothing but make me feel a little worse. Since having my ultrasound last week, I have noticed my bowel movements are orangish  in color with some mucus at times. I panicked at first thinking it was blood, but determined it was just orange color. And I have bowel movements 2-3 times a day. Normally I am an every other day type person. Maybe the stool softener did this even though I stopped taking them over a week ago? I have noticed the color change before but only on one particular day a few weeks ago where things just seemed to be paler than normal. My primary care doctor referred me to a GI specialist and I am waiting for that appt but it is two weeks away.  

Also, I am unsure if the two are related but I have noticed my wrist, fingers and ankles hurt a lot and are pretty stiff in the mornings. It has been going on for a few months. I didn't think much of it at first because I have had joint pain in my knees for the past 12 years, but the last few weeks I have noticed a significant increase in joint issues as i am now having issues twisting open bottles. Unfortunately i didn't think to mention this to my doctor while being examined because I was stuck on the stomach problems.

Through all of this, I have not had a fever and the severe cramping has come back two more times, lasting 15 or so minutes each time.

I am a little perplexed as to the problem if all the tests have come back normal so far and I am getting a little discouraged and feeling kind of depressed about the whole thing. I am pretty uncomfortable to the point of not being able to be overly functional at work. I have already had to cancel one business trip because of the need to get in to see doctor. And I don't feel like I can properly care for my family (though they are being very supportive of me).

Anyone had anything similar?

[nigela]

Hi You seem to have the same symptoms as me-my blood tests all cam back normal even an X-ray o back. Joint pains-and pain -crampy in left side. not been able to eat wheat or years -now nuts seeds dairy etc all give me the runs and bad pain in side. My cousin has ulcerative colitis-was treated or years or its and in his 50s got worse i am now 50 and i have been told or years was IBS when couldnt eat wheat -now more and more oohs are causing it.I thought i had fibromyalgia because of pain in hips top and low back -hand arm neck shoulder-you name it! my coeliac test was neg -but it would be as not eaten wheat or years-gives terrific pain then makes me sick.
been worried about all sorts as let is where colon is. Now hoping i will get referred to a gastro-gp she me to gyna-cos i have fibroids and a kidney cyst-but i know its bowel related when food does it.

[CalGal]

Orangey-color of the stool could indicate fat malabsorption which can occur with gluten-sensitivity, as can the joint pain, headaches and stomach discomfort. Please make sure the doc checks you out for gluten issues. If he does blood work, make sure he also checks out the level of total IgA. If that level is low, and all the other markers for gluten issues come back negative - and you're told you don't have the problem - please go a step further and do an IgA-gliadin fecal antibody test. Blood tests for gluten problems can be notoriously inaccurate and can often come back negative when gluten IS the problem.

[patient915]

Well stress can definitely worsen migraines (both types) and it can cause many GI symptoms.  The only reason I can think of that they don't want you changing your diet until after your appointment, is if they are testing you for celiac disease (gluten intolerance) which can give you a false negative if you stop gluten before the test.

[rph10]

never heard of that but worth looking into. Since I have been under stress, which is thought to have started the migraines, I have been wondering if stress it also the real reason for my stomach being so crazy. I was going to start changing my diet to see if it helped the nausea and pain but that will have to wait as I was told to not do that until after my appt. Apparently they want to test for some things. seems crazy to me.

[patient915]

Well you could be having abdominal migraines.  I would recommend trying a migraine diet.  The list is really long of things to avoid but it includes avoiding things like chocolate, red wine, dairy, artificial sweetners, processed foods, etc.

[rph10]

I have been seeing an neurologist for a few months. She thinks I am having migraines which seems to make sense. We have tried steroids and a few different types of triptans and I still seem to have around 20 days a month in which I have some type of headache (though it ranges in severity). She is suggesting I would be a good candidate for botox therapy now, which we are looking into. I decided to at least wait until after my first appt with the GI doctor and then go from there. it seems like a tricky thing as I was told the headaches could be causing the stomach problems or the stomach problem could be linked to the headaches (?). seems kind of crazy... But, I can manage with the headaches more than the stomach problems.

I also haven't changed my diet and I haven't eaten any orange foods that could have possibly changed things. I have noticed that lately I cramp pretty badly before I have to have a bowel movement and this is happening 2-3 times a day.

[patient915]

Welcome to the gastroenterology community!  Did you ever see the neurologist, and if so what did they say?  Has your diet changed at all recently?  Have you been eating lots of orange colored foods?