Do I have the on stages of appendicitis?

[kiwifruit512]

Hello everyone! I am a 17 year old girl and recently I have been feeling a bit under the weather. I have been experiencing nausea, gas, loss of appetite, and a deep pain in my stomach. Basically here's what has happened over the psst few days;

Day 1:
I went out to the movies and when I came home I noticed I was really tired and I also had a headache. I ate dinner as usual (I'm a growing girl!) and noticed a pain in my stomach, however I just assumed I had eaten too much and didn't think very much of it.

Day 2:
I woke up with a sharp pain in my abdomen, as if I hadn't eaten for days and my stomach was screaming out for food. I found that once I had eaten breakfast the pain subsided. However the pain returned that evening. Once again I thought it was strange and told my dad who wasn't that worried.

Day 3:
I sleep terribly this night, I woke up feeling as if I had only got 2 hours sleep. This was due to the pain in my stomach (which I had now been able to identify was occurring just slightly above my belly button). I figured going to the toilet would ease the pain which it did, albeit only slightly. However when I left the bathroom I was hit with this massive wave of nausea and felt so dizzy I had to sit on the ground for a couple of minutes. I had some breakfast and the nausea went away, although it came back later in the day. I took 5 tablets of ibuprofen throughout the day, so the pain was not always there but it was excruciating when it was.

Day 4:
Today. It has been four days since my symptoms started. I woke up today feeling less nauseous than I did the previous day, however I still felt a deep, constant pain above my belly button. My mum took me to the doctors where I noticed that I felt super hot (although the doctor took my temperature and said it was normal) and I also had a bout of nausea in the waiting room. The doctor asked me some questions and tapped all over my stomach, but ended up telling me it was likely to be a stomach bug and prescribed me some paracetamol. However, my mother and I both think it's something other than a stomach bug as I have had viruses before and NEVER felt pain like this. Later on that day I found myself shivering and crawling under my duvet to get warmer. The pain continued in the same area, and I found it took ages for the paracetamol to work and when the actually did, they only lasted for a short while.

Additionally, I had my period about two weeks ago, so it's definitely not that. However the pain in my navel area is similar to that of very very bad period cramps. Also, I talked to a girl in my class who had to have her appendix removed because of appendicitis, and I asked her what she experienced before she realised it was appendicitis. She told me, and while I am aware symptoms vary from person to person, I noticed I had all the signs she had, expect the pain had not moved to the lower right part of my abdomen.

TL;DR
Basically for the past few days I have been suffering from constant, period-like cramps in my navel area (which has not spread to the lower right area of my stomach), mild fever, nausea, dizziness, and I find the pain is slightly relieved after I eat food, however certain foods can make the pain worse.
Do I have appendicitis?? Or is this just a stomach bug?? How long does it take for the pain to move from the upper stomach to the lower right abdomen??

[SassyLassie]

Hello~You could have what is called "Chronic Appendicitis" This is where the appendix will hurt periodically but not all the time and it usually is not as dangerous, I am surprised that your doctor did not do a white blood count, this would help to determine if this was the case as the white count would be elevated to a certain degree.

You also could have an ulcer, the reason I say this is because you stated the pain went away when you ate and was with you when you felt very hungry, I believe some ulcers can cause the dizziness and nausea. You would need to be referred to a gastroenterologist and have an upper and possibly a lower GI done. In the meantime, try to eat at least 6 small meals per day, make sure they are bland as to not cause any more irritation of your tummy.

The last thing that comes to my mind is either a hiatal hernia causing GERD or even a condition called "Candida" both can cause the symptoms that are bothering you. Try taking a good, high potency probiotic, this will help the friendly bacteria in your tummy and help the pain as well. Also, this is what I use at times, drink about 2 ounces of Aloe Vera juice before bed and possibly in the morning, this will also help if it due to an ulcer and even with a hiatal hernia.

I don't think that your issues are do to a stomach virus.

Hope you feel better soon.