I am writing this to find some help for my partner.
We visited the ER of a hospital we happened to be near (not our "normal" ER/hospital) last Sunday. She was having pain in her stomach in intense episodes to the point of tears and inability to walk.
The pain is in her lower abdomen, just above the pubic bone. The pain also radiates to her back, upper groin, and down her legs.
The doctor we saw was concerned, as this pain was different than any other abdominal pain she had experienced. She has IBS, but her problem presented with NO digestive symptoms of any kind.
They found, in the doctor's words, "a slight urinary tract infection," and Mesenteric Lymphadenitis, which usually occurs in children and teens, most often after or during a "stomach virus". She is 27, and has had no stomach virus or digestive problems.
They discharged her with pain meds and Cipro for to treat the problem. They also gave her Levoquin before we left the ER.
He told her she should not work until Wednesday, but should probably be fine by then. She rested, took the meds, and went back to teaching ballet on Thursday.
Thursday evening, another incredibly intense episode of similar pain drove us back to our "normal" ER. The doctor we saw was incredibly rude, and said she just had "chronic abdominal pain," and there was nothing anyone could do to help or treat her. All she did to follow up with the other hospital's CT scan and urine screen was blood tests and another urine screen. This urine screen came back clean, and she said all the bloodwork was "fine."
She told my partner she just needed to go home and rest, change her diet, and continue taking pain meds, even though they were not helping at all, only making her more tired. She said that she shouldn't be working, as my partner teaches dance, but the classwork she had been doing prior to Thursday's visit was light ballet with preschool children, not Zumba or something. The level of activity was no more than normal walking.
We are at the end of our rope! I am listing her symptoms below. If anyone has any thoughts, please let us know. The pain episodes are becoming more frequent, and it is not getting any better; if anything, worse.
* Intense episodes, as well as constant pain in the lower abdomen, just above the pubic bone
* Constant drowsiness
* Elevated liver functions, to the point that the doctor she was seeing did not feel comfortable putting her on medication for high cholesterol.
* Back pain, radiating from the abdomen and down her legs
* Excessive thirst, despite drinking more than the average required daily water intake
* Frequent "hot flashes"
* Sensation that she is going to pass a huge blood clot (as one might during menstruation), yet without any bleeding, and not in the PMS or period time.
* She is on several medications, some very recently prescribed. The new medications are listed in BOLD print.
* Spironolactone
* Sprintec
* HCTZ
* Potassium
* Metformin
* Celexa
Please help! If you have any thoughts, please share them with us.
Thanks so much.
Rach