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Original poster

Has anyone got or had a grumbling appendix?

22 replies

Ilmb · 23/09/2018 18:49

Mines been ‘grumbling’ for years. New Year’s Day this year it was horrific, really bad and pain killers barely took the edge off. I went to a be gp the next day (pain had gone) and she just said it was grumbling and try buscopan (made no difference) she sent me for a scan. She wanted to check fibroids/chats on ovaries aswell. Scan all clear, the sonographer said that it had to be appendix as I could pinpoint where the pain is and she said there’s nothing else there apart from the appendix. Iv asked for it to be taken it out as im petrified of one day ending up appendicitis or it bursting and I’m a LP with a disabled dc and worry about the logistics etc but they obviously won’t.

Any experiences? It’s hurting now. Bearable though with no pain killers. I’m wondering if I’ll get appendicitis one day or if it will stop? Any experiences?

OP posts:
Littlegoth · 23/09/2018 18:52

I did, my mum did, my grandma did. They all burst. Sorry it’s not a more positive answer!

Original poster
Ilmb · 23/09/2018 18:59

Don’t apologise little, I asked Grin

How long did they all grumble for roughly?

OP posts:
Littlegoth · 23/09/2018 19:51

All not very long. Think mine was about six months.

2 days before it burst, my doctor accused me of mothering and told me ‘your appendix will never burst’.

I sure showed him ! 😄

Seriously though, if you are at all concerned, get a second doctor. Appendixes can and do burst and your worry is understandable x

Littlegoth · 23/09/2018 19:51

Mithering, not mothering!

Original poster
Ilmb · 23/09/2018 20:18

They aren’t bothered as I don’t not have actual appendicitis. I don’t get a fever or sick etc just the pain and it goes the next day. I don’t want it to burst but looks like I will have to wait for it to!!

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KinCat · 25/09/2018 06:49

I had this! Almost every month for a year I'd get awful stomach cramps, vomitting and be unable to eat or drink for a couple of days. It usually went away but then one month it didn't and I was lucky that I had surgery to have it removed - the surgeon said it looked really bad and wasn't far off bursting. I saw a GP with it once and he diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome. Next time I skipped the GP and went straight to A&E as by this point I was pretty sure it was appendicitis.

KinCat · 25/09/2018 06:56

Oh also, I meant to say, when it happens in the future you should record vital signs such as temperature and also heart rate. My temperature was only slightly elevated but I was tachycardic (resting pulse rate well over 100) which convinced the drs something was definitely not right even though I wasn't in that much pain compared to some others I saw come in with acute appendicitis.

Original poster
Ilmb · 25/09/2018 07:52

They’ve confirmed it’s a grumbling appendix but they don’t do anything! This week when I had the pain it was bearable, didn’t need pain killers so wouldn’t go to a&e. I’m a LP so not as easy as just deciding to go to a&e...that’s why I’d like it out now Grin

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Original poster
Ilmb · 25/09/2018 07:53

Iv been keeping a diary Nd have a fitbit so will look at heart rate and my temp thanks.

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Bombaybunty · 25/09/2018 07:57

Mine was painful on and off for years.
It finally became bad enough for surgery when I was in Australia. Very inconvenient.
I would keep going to A&E when it flares up.

Goingonandonandon · 25/09/2018 08:00

I think that you should go straight to A&E next time you feel pain. Hope that it's not a bad time. Don't go to GP first. I think in those cases, A&E is the right place to go.

MiaFarrowsWheelbarrow · 25/09/2018 08:05

I was the same for nearly a year. I asked my GP when it could be taken out; he said when I was screaming in the back of an ambulance. His prediction came true approx 6 months afterwards. The worst pain ever when it was good to go, worse than child birth and I don't say that lightly! The issue is the chronic pain the months before isn't it? So tiring it just wears you down so much.

Original poster
Ilmb · 25/09/2018 08:16

But how it was this week wasn’t that bad... I can’t rock up to a&e like that, they’ll say I’m time wasting? 1st jan this year was horrific and wish is gone to hospital now!

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KinCat · 26/09/2018 02:14

Ilmb ahh being a LP must make it so much more difficult. When I had this happen I was only 18 so it was a lot easier to drop everything and hang around a&e for hours.

The NHS website on appendicitis says that you should be referred to hospital where appendicitis is diagnosed - it doesn't mention grumbling appendicitis. I wouldn't worry about being a time waster at a&e, you've been diagnosed with appendicitis which is potentially serious. I definitely wasn't screaming in the back of an ambulance when I turned up at a&e (in fact the first thing I said when I saw the surgeon after the operation was to ask him whether it actually was appendicitis because it was nowhere near as painful as everyone says).

They were all so lovely and I never felt like a time waster and you shouldn't either - your appendix bursting is a genuine and totally reasonable concern!

Original poster
Ilmb · 26/09/2018 06:30

Thanks. I feel abit if a drama queen about it as i can go a few months with literally nothing and it comes from nowhere! Gp said they won’t take it out unless I’m ill, ie presenting with ‘typical’ appendicitis so fever, being sick, I’m agony etc etc

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SergeantPfeffer · 26/09/2018 06:50

Definitely head to A&E, GPs are not great with appendicitis as acute cases normally bypass them and go straight to hospital.
I had the same for about a year, GP tried to tell me it was trapped wind Hmm I had a really bad bout in the middle of the night and ended up having to call an ambulance as the GP wouldn’t come out to me and I couldn’t get a taxi to take me to the surgery. By the time the ambulance arrived at A&E the pain was dying down (as before) and I felt like a right time waster. The doctors and nurses were lovely, though. They diagnosed appendicitis and whipped it out and I couldn’t have been more relieved! All the bouts of abdominal pain stopped, so it was definitely my appendix.

NB Appendicitis is hard to detect on ultrasounds, if they try to fob you off with that.

SippingSipsmith · 26/09/2018 06:58

Slightly different but my husband had dull aching for about 6 months before going GP. He managed to get referral on private and got ultrasound which showed 'some calcification' which was inconclusive so consultant got him to have a CT scan which showed a stone in his appendix

Had it out keyhole a couple days later. Consultant said it's the biggest stone he'd ever seen and was sure to burst.

I couldn't live with the worry of a grumbling appendix that could go at any time. Good luck OP I hope you get it sorted. I would go to A and E and lay it on very thick if you need to! I see it as you're preventing an emergency. You don't want a stressful situation with a suddenly burst appendix and young DC to sort. Better to take it in your own hands.

SergeantPfeffer · 26/09/2018 07:03

It seems a bit insane to me for them to say they’re going to wait until it’s life threatening before they’ll do anything! Quicker, easier and cheaper for them to remove it before it’s on the point of bursting.

DubaiismyBlackpool · 26/09/2018 07:21

I had one for 8 years, but the Drs thought it was anything but my appendix. Even when I was screaming in agony one Dr said I was merely constipated.

It blew when I was overseas, yet it was still 5 days before they decided they had better investigate, but I would live, inshallah. I had developed gangrene and almost wasn't here to tell the tale.

My advice to anyone putting up with a grumbler is exaggerate X 10 the pain, only then will they think you're not mithering.

Original poster
Ilmb · 26/09/2018 07:41

I genuinely think I would get turned away (or be made to wait over 5 hours as not an emergency) as it’s not that bad most of the time, it doesn’t tend to last more than a couple of hours. I don’t have a support network and with 2 dc one that is disabled I can’t just go and sit in a&e with them. To those that ask what would I do in an emergency, I have no idea hence me wanting it out now!

The ultrascan didn’t ‘show’ appendicitis, the sonographer said due to where the pain is (I could pinpoint It) she said the only thing in that area was the appendix

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SergeantPfeffer · 26/09/2018 09:39

That is a tricky situation. I think you’ll just have to keep bugging your gp in that case, and wear them down Grin
This article has a lot of useful info:
www.gponline.com/appendicitis/genito-urinary-system/article/849469

So they need to at least exclude everything else, which it doesn’t sound like they’ve done.

I would try and get in place a plan for what to do if it becomes acute- you will not be able to think straight if this happens. The pain completely takes over.

Original poster
Ilmb · 26/09/2018 12:23

The scan confirmed no cysts or anything like that as gp wanted to rule that out. Nothing shows on the scan other than the area Iv pointed to is where the appendix is. I don’t have any other problems. She gave me buscopan to take but made no difference to the pain

OP posts:
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