Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Bowel pain advice needed desperately

4 replies

SheSaidIt · 29/07/2026 08:46

I am in so much pain all over my abdomen. It is making me cry in pain sitting here now. It's terrible. I'm sitting now not doing anything except resting and my whole abdomen hurts so badly. My entire tummy is swollen outwards and it hurts when I lightly press in to my abdomen, all over the whole area.
I've had 2 CT scans plus an abdo xray last week which found no cause.
Tomorrow I'm having a Colonoscopy.
I've had loose stools for years, with abdo soreness and bloating, but a few weeks ago the pain and swelling exploded in to agony.
I don't think the Colonoscopy is going to find anything tomorrow because the pain and swelling is all over my abdomen, it's not located specifically where my large bowel/colon is. The pain is at it's worst over my central abdomen, which isn't where my colon sits.
I feel like the pain and swelling is all coming from my small bowel because of where it's located.
When I think of the place of the ascending, transverse and descending colon, my pain is not specific to those areas, it is right across my abdomen, including centrally, all over.
I feel scared that the Colonoscopy will be normal and then I'll be discharged. Scared that they will say normal CT, normal Xray, and now normal Colonoscopy, no further action.
A Colonoscopy can't look in the small bowel.
I'm in so much pain, it's ruining every day being in this much pain, I slso feel drained and exhausted.
Is there anybody with any experience in this?
ETA I know this sounds silly but I'm finding it really difficult to dress because I'm reasonably slim all over and then have this enormous great big protruding abdomen. I genuinely look 7 or 8 months pregnant. I can't find anything to wear. I feel so self conscious. I want to be wearing all my lovely summer dresses but can't as none of them are fitting around my belly. I've had to buy a shapeless maxi dress which hangs off my like a tent and still my abdomen protrudes through it. It's really depressing me, although I know that sounds vain and superficial.

OP posts:
Goldengirl123 · 29/07/2026 09:04

If you are on that much pain go to A & E. You can’t be suffering like that for no reason. If you can afford just one private consultation which is about £150 then do it. You will get more answers. You only need one appt.

Funchythesnowwoman · 29/07/2026 09:05

Have you had a CA-125 blood test?

MissyB1 · 29/07/2026 09:11

Have your ovaries and womb been scanned? And yes a Ca 125 test would be good.
As far as small bowel goes a capsule test gives video pictures of that. Gastroenterologists usually do those tests you could ask the Dr doing your Colonoscopy about it.
This could all just be IBS which can cause terrible bloating, have you tried the fodmap diet?

HumberSquid · 29/07/2026 09:31

A colonoscopy can look into the end of the small bowel (the terminal ileum) which is where things like crohns disease often manifest.

It is really common for abdominal pain (esp intestinal pain) to be felt across the whole abdomen, even if the cause us isolated to 1 distinct area.

See what the colonoscopy finds. Diagnosis is very much a process of elimination so even a negative is useful.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page