Please help solve my crazy body condumdrum.

[LauraSmurf]

Well here goes, i am 24 weeks pregnant and have always had a slightly off kilter body. It always does weird things that make doctors go (while stroking imaginary beard ) HMM never seen that before!

Anyway i digress, now i am pregnant and have been having a disasterous 2nd trimester. At 18 weeks i was woken in the night with the most excruiating pain just below my ribs (well above baby though). I curled up over a pillow and couldnt move an inch. Ambulance came, gave gas and air and left me in A and E for 6 hours. Then it passed. They said i had probably been doing too much and take it easier. So i did.

Then 21 weeks i had another milder attack, still very painful but just about managable at home with cocodamol (big ones) and anti-spasmodic. Lasted 6 hours.

Then Thursday was a very busy day, came home and started to feel pain, i had a warm bath and tablets. Managed to survive til it passed 5 hours later.

However last night was woken AGAIN in the middle of night with massive pain, took tablets and managed at home until 3.30 but then got so bad i had to go to hospital by ambulance again. They did a few more tests but everything says i am in perfect working order, apart for a tighter abdomen than usual and crazy pain that disappears after 6 hours.

WHAT IS GOING ON! Noone can offer an answer, some suggest bowel (but im not really constipated) some say muscle (but some say it goes away too quickly). I really just need to know if anyone else has had this and how can I manage it.

SOrry it's an epic post, just really struggling.

could it be a gall bladder attack?

Kidney stone passing into your bladder? DH had this in the night - thought he was going to die the pain was that bad. Could not reach his phone to call for an ambulance (he was alone) then after a few hours it suddenly stopped.

Sounds most likely to be a bit of gastritis - your stomach producing too much acid and causing irritation (made worse when lying down as the acid trickles out of the stomach into the osoopgahus, so people experience symptoms more at night) the other possibility would be gallstones although this is usually made worse by eating fatty food. Either way go to your GP and describe the symptoms. Your GP should be able to examine you, arrnage tests if needed and give you tablets to reduce the amount of acid (omperazole) and hoepfully that should help.

Thank you for the suggestions, gal bladder and kidney stones checked already. Nope not that!

I am intrigued by the idea of gastritis. But why would an attack last 6 hours. I do take gaviscon when the attacks occur as the hosp did this first time. It doesn't seem to do anything!

Ahh I'm just so scared it will happen again.

Hi Laura - an attack could last that long and I would really recommned that you try the omeprazole tablets. The GP can also check for a stomach infection which is really easily treated but can give you these symptoms (called h pylori). Its a stool sample that needs to be sent off for this though! Don't worry get your GP on the case and they should help you get to the bottom of it. Whilst A&E are good for some things (esp in the middle of the night,when you are in pain and scared) they often just rule out the biggies and then forget about the more easily solved problems and pack you off home. Hope you have a better night this evening - try sleeping with a couple of extra pillows so your not lying flat.

Did they check for a stomach ulcer? I developed one not long after DS was born for no apparent reason and the pain was excruciating for several hours at a time, but came and went. Felt the pain on my right side just under my rib cage and around into my back. I got medication from the doctor and it went away. Hope you feel better soon anyway - sounds very unpleasant and a bit worrying when the docs don't know what's wrong! Good luck with getting to the bottom of it.

Thanks for those ideas, I have a doc appointment this evening, so I will bring these up. I just hope we can get some management techniques.

Crossed fingers ladies!

I know this may sound silly but could it have been baby's foot, I have had it jamed under ribs where it caught a nerve and was so painful I couldn't move and breathing hurt. Was quite scared but after a while he must have moved and it felt fine but bruised and sore. I really hope you are ok and it stops happening.

Hi LauraSmurf,

I have been having the same problems as you and it is horrendous pain, also results in a lot of vomiting (sorry TMI!) and generally feeling awful as well as the pain radiating all through my back and chest. The pain has been so severe hospital have given me pethidine whilst having attack.

I have a diagnosed hiatus hernia and labour ward just put it down to that, although my GP wants to check gallbladder again after birth of baby.

I am currently taking Ranitidine twice a day, buscopan 3 times a day or when needed and operprazole once a day. However even with all these concoctions i still get the attacks just not as severe as before and have to take co-codamol.

My shortest attack has been half an hour and my longest (sorry) 18 hours.
For me the attacks started around 20 weeks and I still get them now (39+1 weeks). For me on the labour ward, consultants and gp's have said there is nothing they can do until baby is born and that it will only get worse as baby gets bigger (Sorry again, not what you want to hear).

The only thing i can recommend it to watch what you eat in terms of fatty, greasy and stodgy foods. Easily digestible foods are best. also if you feel sick, let yourself be sick as it will help and then you can have co-codamol afterwards. Also do not lie down for at least 3 hours after eating and try and lay fairly upright in bed as this helps the stomach and helps to stop food coming back up.

The attacks will probably still happen but are more bearable and easier to control, i really do sympathise with you, Hope some of this info helps.

Good Luck

I would also support the idea that it's reflux, as it sounds very much like my symptoms. Which can last an hour then lift or up to 20 hours.

Having never encountered pain like it before I did at one stage consider that I might be having a heart attack. Go to the doc and get some tablets which will help and industrial strength gavascon, I don't find that the gavascon works that well unless you take loads but it seems to make the vometing that I get with it less painful.

Lots of people might tell you not to eat this or that but my doctor said that none of that makes much of a difference if you have it bad like you seem too.

Well back from doctors who seems certain it is stomach related. However given different symptoms she thinks it's not reflux as such but instead the acid isn't draining properly and so causing lots of bloating and gas. She has prescribed ranitidine and domperidone to see if this works. I'd not I am to go back and we will explore using omeprazole and then if thy doesn't work we will explore bowel issues.

She was excellent, explaining her reasoning clearly and given a clear plan of action.

Thank you all so muc for your advice I felt better armed when I went in than I otherwise would have.

Thanks a huge amount