Can anyone help me with my unresolved pain issue

[dngoodwin73]

For 2 months I have been having pain in my lower stomach and lower right side - feels like a stinging and pulling sensation, off and on stabbing. I have been to the ER 5x in these 2 months- I have seen a GI, Urologist, OB Gyne and Surgeon. I have had a few C.T scans - all negative and blood test all negative, a Hida scan, negative and a endoscope and colonoscopy is scheduled in October - yet this pain persist. It seems no one really knows what is wrong with me, the think it may be pelvic adhesians from past surgeries ( past history of endometriosis- had hysterectomy in 2002). Now I have pain on my upper left side back, could it have been ignored because of the other persistant pain? Is there someone who can help me find out what is wrong with me? I have several perscriptions for strong pain meds that I have not filled because I really just want it all to stop. Yet the last time I was at the ER I was treated like I was a drug seeker because I had been there so many times for the same problem so now I just sit home in pain. Can anyone help me or direct me?

[Babs1469]

I know just what you are going through and the not knowing is sometimes one of the worse things. I just want to scream at the doctors when they come in and tell me they could find nothing wrong with me. They say, well this is good news because you don;'t have A B or C and I'm like well then what the bleep do I have then!!!  It is down right degrading when they think you are seeking drugs, I'm like listen , it costs me 500 dollars each time I come to the ER don't you think there are cheeper and easier ways for me to get drugs if that is what I'm after????  I also now bring my meds in , all of them, to show the admitting nurse, It helps them get a better history and then I can show the Dr that I have tons of narcotics, that is now why I'm there. I'm there because the narcotics aren't working and I need help!!

A nurse once asked me if I had ever heard of Munchousens (sp) basically a disease where you make yourself sick so you can get the attention. I was mortified by the veiled accusation.  Listen, Tuck and Molly and eveyone else are right, Stand up for yerself and don't let them treat you like you don't matter just because your symptoms don't fit into their easily defined box.  ER doctors are not gods. They mess up just like eveyone else.  I had one tell me that I didn't have an infection because my white blood cell level was normal. however he failed to realize that I'm on imuno suppresants so for my white blood cell count to be normal it would actually be way high because for me, normal is low.... see what I mean, We don't all fit into what they know.  Don't give up, find a doctor you trust and who will take the time to test for things that maybe don't make sense, I say we all need House as our Doctor, He could treat us 3 times for something we don't have, we would almost die then he would figure it out and cure us!!! LOL if only life were Tv huh? Best of luck, keep us posted, and keep coming to this site it is a wonderful place for support and ideas and answers and just understanding.

XO
Babs

[sweetpea22204]

The pain could be from the scar tissues. This makes total sense to me especially if you have had prior surgeries. I never realized that scar tissue can hurt until someone else mentioned it to me recently and now a lot of my pain makes sense. I only wish i would have realized it earlier so i could accept it and learn to relax a little... not knowing and being scared, etc will just make it worst. Good luck!

[FeelFroZeN]

I just registered to MedHelp and just from these two answers, i can tell tht this is the right place not just to find better answers to our questions, bt we can also eXpect people to understand how emotionally we are gng through...

I m sure if u dont give up, you will finally land with an answer tht has a simple bt not-so-easily-explained solution...i joined this community with the same attitude of not giving up until i find a solution!!!

the helping nature that people find within themselves is something tht makes this world WORTH living..

thnks to every one tht spares time to solve others problems...i salute!!

[Tuckamore]

Hi and welcome to the Pain Mangement Forum. Yes many of us have been where you are...and some of us still are. Mollyrae offers good suggestions.

I agree that you should fill your prescriptions, at least one. You are doing no one a favor, nor proving any thin by not taking pain control medications. You deserve to be comfortable. We all hope it will go away and in some cases it does but for most of us here that has not been the case.

I have adhesion's (scar tissue), very bad ones along with a large piece of mesh in my abdominal cavity that basically holds me together. The pain that you describe is exactly like mine, pulling, burning pain. Surgery can remove some of them in certain cases but almost 100% of the time they return. They may not return as severely but there are guarantees.  You may not have what I do.

Never give up. Always pursue answers until you obtain one that you can comfortably accept. Don't worry about labels, I did. I quit and when my condition was finally diagnosed it had gone too many years untreated and though it will not kill me the painful condition cannot be successfully treated to any degree. Don't let this happen to you.

And Mollyrae brings up a very good point. Always ask for copies of your test results, every test result. even if you cannot decipher them the internet or sites like this will help you understand them. You must be your own health care advocate and be assertive in requesting reasons and answers.

Good luck to you. I hope you will keep in touch and let us know how you are doing. Please consider becoming an active memeber of our community. We are here to support you and will look forward to your updates.

Take Care,
Tuck

[Mollyrae]

Hello dngoodwin and welcome to the Pain Forum:

Unfortunately, you're not alone. Many of the members have and are going through the same thing. Maybe not the same pain but the scenario is the same. I like to call it the "Undiagnosed Club". I was in it for a long time until this past month when I was finally diagnosed and it took a Hematologist and a very good Personal Physician to find it. Now at times, it wish I'd never been diagnosed because it isn't good.

I would suggest that you keep up the fight for an answer. I did and it paid off. I remember visits to the ER and was treated the very same way upon arrival and after they could see that I was not screaming for pain meds and let the Doctors treat the symptoms as they went along (not always agreeing with their methods) they finally realized that I was not seeking drugs and actually made me comfortable.

My suggestion is to fill your pain medications that are prescribed for now and keep at the medical community for an answer. Pain is the body's way of telling you that something is wrong. By the way, how is your blood work?? Is anything elevated or on the low side?? Mine was and it had gone ignored for a few years. You see, I had a different Doctor who would not reveal all to me....For instance, I have had a tissue mass on my Gall Bladder since 2005 which they have been watching. I did NOT know this until this last Ultrasound of my Liver. The Tech doing the procedure asked me about the tissue mass and I was floored. I finally discovered that I had a 7mm density that has not grown in the time it was discovered. So it goes to prove that you really need to keep at the Doctors.

I wish I had additional advise for you. Please take care and keep us informed.
Mollyrae