Any amateur doctors want to try diagnosing me? The real ones have given up.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I've been suffering with abdo pain for the last two years. Constant low grade ache, not affected by cycle. I did have heavy periods though so presumed it was related and went to the gp two years ago. They did a urine dipstick while I was there and it was positive for leucocytes so they said I had a uti and give me antibiotics. Also referred me to gynae.

Lab wee test came back negative for a urine test. Gynaes ended up a few months later doing an endometrial ablation. That didn't make any difference but at least I don't have heavy periods.

Pain still the same, I go several times to gp. Each time get antibiotics which do seem to help, I always have leucocytes in my wee. I wonder about interstitial cystitis and get sent to see the urologists. They do some sort of internal bladder scan tell me it's all normal.

By now I'm on antibiotics every day. In fact I've now been on antibiotics constantly for two years. I have trimethropin on rpt prescription and take it nightly.

I went back to the gp a cople of months ago who shrugged, sent off another urine test to the lab. This one didn't actually have leucocytes in it and the lab test came back clear. I seemed to correlate this flare up and previous ones with forgetting my antibiotics for a cople of days.

I'm in a lot of pain the last few days. Even though I've been taking my antibiotics. Symptoms are terrible abdo pain with the focus been central , massive bloating, bad wind, stabbing pain up the arse. I had a sandwich at lunch and the stronger abdo pain seemed to come on after I'd eaten.

My thoughts on possibilities are now,

Celiac disease
Ibs
Ovarian cancer

It's ot endometriosis, the gynae dr was very clear i didn't have any. I keep telling myself if it was cancer they'd have noticed when they did the ablation.

Is it worth going back to the gp and asking for a test for celiac disease or are the tests you can buy online any good? I think gp thinks I'm imagining it all so am loathe to bother him again.

Can I just ask, have you ever had an operation anywhere on your abdominal area before the pain started 2 years ago?

Flossy - I've had a few ops. Had a section 11 years ago, had a laparoscopy for heavy periods 10 years ago, got sterilised 8 years ago. Consultant said at my ablation that I had slight adhesions.

Hmmm - slight adhesions huh?
I think they would be even more bothersome TBH. (I was rolling around on the floor, sick, got morphine, stomach pumped, a catheter, drip; the works- to sort out adhesions).
But I do still sometimes get pain at the site of the adhesions especially if I'm bloated.
Definitely sort out your diet though - wags finger.

Ah, adhesions were going to be my suggestion!

I used to get diagnosed with UTI's by the GP frequently but samples always came back negative from the labs. Used to be in lots of pain in the abdo area, but also in my back. Also had bloating and heavy feelings. Had numerous scans, ultrasounds, a cystoscopy etc etc for years. Was told it was most probably IBS but wasn't happy to accept this so kept pushing. I was eventually referred to a gynaecologist who did an USS and found ovarian cysts which they thought were causing the pain. I had a laparoscopy to remove the cyst but it had already gone of it's own accord. What they did find though was adhesions from when I had my appendix out as a child. Apparently, they weren't that bad but they had been there for quite a while which is why they caused so much pain. The adhesions were cut and I haven't had the pains since.

They can grow back though so even if the Dr's have found them and cut them before, it's a possibility that this is what's causing the pain especially with your history of abdominal surgery.

Sorry - I've just realised that the tone of my post isn't the way I meant it to be. I hope (but don't think it's adhesions.)

It's fine Choccoluvva, you're right I do need to eat better.

I'm going to have a health kick and try to eat mainly unprocessed food. I daren't mention my diet coke habit!

I second all the suggestions for a proper coeliac test esp.whoever said do not cut out any wheat or grain foods before the test.
Coeliac runs in my family and my son was tested at about 3 due to being so skinny. This was about 15 yrs ago but I was told that the blood tests can show a positive but any negative is not a definative diagnosis and the only way to know for sure is a bowel biopsy.
(He came up clear - he's just skinny)
Of course this may have changed in the years since but I really think you need to raise this with your doctor (or another one if necessary) because untreated coeliac disease can lead to greater problems (bowel cancer)down the track.

My sister had this & ended up in hospital i cant remember what happened but i do remember it was to do with an op she had had and her bowel was blocked from the op or something, not much help or twisted bowel i cant remember now.

That is very true actually, I'm not sure you should be cutting out wheat just yet if you are planning on being tested for gluten intolerance

I wouldn't make any drastic changes to your diet regarding wheat. It's hard cutting it out altogether without proper advice. You could try making small changes such as eating rye bread, probiotic drinks, more fruit and veg. Peppermint capsules have already been mentioned. Holland and Barrett stock them and I've found them very useful, especially in the evening which is when I tend to get more bloated.

Interestingly I got a lot more bloating when I was taking ADs as they slowed down my bowel and caused constipation. Since I've stopped taking them I've had less stomach problems.

Hope you can get things sorted soon.

I've ordered a celiac blood test and will get some probiotics on Monday.

Had omlette for breakfast, tomato soup for lunch and have had a few jaffa cakes this afternoon. Feel better than yesterday. Am planning a bacon butty for tea so will see how that goes!

Where is the low carbs forum on MN? Is it a special section or a thread soemwhere because I can't find it? Thanks.

Interesting to see this thread unfold. I struggle with one sided abdo pain, after 9 days in hospital (!) they fobbed me off with antibiotics and said they thought it was an ascending UTI. However, if you've had bladder scans etc, they've probably ruled out what they've finally diagnosed with me - urinary tract blockage. I'm meant to have cystoscopy to unblock it but I fell pregnant so I have to wait!

However I also have wheat sensitive IBS. I agree there's a possibility you're sensitive to wheat but need to be tested first. I'm not coeliac but since going wheat free I've found a huge difference. One thing you might find interesting to know is people actually tend to crave the food they're intolerant to. I used to crave bread, pasta, cake! Now I've cut it out I can't tolerate it at all - can tell within an hour if I've had wheat.

Probiotics help me to be regular too. At the moment I can't face the idea of yoghurts (oh the joys of pregnancy) but Yakult seems to have the same effect and I can knock that down quickly.

Well 30 minutes ago I had that bacon butty.

Tummy is now gurgling like mad, getting some mild cramps and I can feel my tummy starting to bloat. I'm really hoping this is going to be some sort of mild wheat intolerance rather than full blown allergy.

I can cope with cutting white bread out of my diet but a friend has full blown cealiac disease and I know how difficult it is. He can't eat sausages, soups, sauces, etc. constantly scanning food packages.

Bacon = good
Butter = good
Bread = bad

How do you feel now?

Vive After 3 years GF, I've got used to it! Tesco do gluten free sausages - they're nice and not full of crap! My local butcher does his own too. I do struggle with missing out at times but its worth it to feel well after years of suffering.

It's probably worth keeping a food diary with foods eaten and symptoms noticed (including time frame).

Well I had a poo which stopped the cramps. Just feel a bit bloated now.

Celiac is just the tip of the iceberg, even if not celiac and "only" intolerant, you can still bequite ill with it and there are no tests fo rintolerance, just the diet trial.
My ds is intolerant and has very severe symptoms (autoimmune), so when he went gf, I did too, my God, I never knew that I could feel so great, we have now been gf 6 years. His tests were inconclusive for celiac, but the improvement was staggering. I now don't have any gluten myself, stopped craving it totally yonks ago as to me health is more important than a piece of paper. My bloating has gone, lost weight w/o much effort, my hair never looked better.. I could go on.
Read up about gluten sensitivity for a full low down on this.

I'm wheat free after suffering from abdo pain and cramps for years. I've never felt better in my life

Substitute oats for your usual wheat based products. You can also buy gluten free products in most supermarkets now. It's not as difficult as you think.

I made a GF lasagne last week. You'd never have known the difference, it was gorgeous!

Yes it's not just bowel stuff, I have more energy, less severe PMS, less headaches. Cutting it out was tough - withdrawal headaches! - but long term it helps. The fact that the cramps ease after a poo makes me think its likely to be bowel related.

Practically all M&S sausages are g-f (as are almost all their Christmas accompaniments, like stuffing, pigs in blankets etc), some Sainsbury's ones are now too. Labelling is getting better and better and restaurants are much more aware. Just this week Pizza Hut have launched a g-f pizza, Prezzo do one too and Domino's are launching one in November. Most of the big Italian chains (Carluccio's, Ask, Zilli's) do g-f pasta...it's not nearly as hard as it used to be going out to eat g-f these days.

Bread is getting much more palatable too - Genius bread is pretty good and there are some specialist g-f bakers on-line who do some really good bread. If you're formally diagnosed coeliac then you can get lots of stuff on prescription which helps with the cost of g-f food, which is still way too high.

Gluten free flours are much easier to bake with these days - I substitute g-f flour in any recipe now, simply adding more liquid to compensate and no-one ever complains!

So it's not all bad - you do have to eat fewer processed foods, but that's only a good thing for your health generally, and if you've been suffering this long surely it would be better to make a change to your diet and feel better...

But I back up all those who've said don't go gluten free until you've had your blood test - and even then you may need to hang on until you've had a biopsy to confirm the blood test results if they are positive...

GF pizzas?! In mainstream restaurants?! You have made my day tk!

There are tests for food intolerances available - cambridge labs do one and there's the york one.
The other thing about bread that could be a factor is the yeast.
But even if you are found to be intolerant to a certain food you might be able to gradually re-introduce it to your diet after a year or so - it might be fine to have ocassionally.
Good luck with your new diet :)

I was thinking ibs, coeliac or adhesions. Can I just say don't go cutting down on wheat etc till you have done the test for coeliac, it may affect the result.may be also worth chatting to your gp and getting something so that your bowels move every day, if I miss a day my ibs goes mental, stabby pains in lower abdomen and the need to go sit own the loo also get pains in my buttocks.