View Full Version : Lower abdomen causing huge HA.
I'm hoping this is a Crohn's flare up cos all I can think is cancer.
Dull ache in lower left for a good 1.5 months. Gone round to lower back in last two weeks.
Today, most HIDEOUS amount of trapped wind. Was really quite painful.
Can't work out if I'm actually bloated as I think I'm just a bit fat (size 14).
No blood in anything, no dramatic change in bowel (though I always have a dodgy bowel; don't poo for three days then poo it up like mad)
Would be fine with those symptoms - Crohn's, or a bit of IBS - if my head didn't feel so spacey/weird/headachy along with it. Have convinced it's advanced cancer that has metastasised.
Sorry to start another thread...I am just miserable with this. Have got doctor appointment on Thursday.
:(
nomorepanic
18-05-09, 20:05
When I was diagnosed with Crohn's I was told I also have IBS and he wasn't sure which caused me the most problems!
So do you have IBS as well?
The head thing is more like anxiety to me than cancer. That friend of mine that died recently of bowel cancer did not have the dizzinesss etc.
Get doc to check your CRP as well as that will be a good indicator of how the Crohn's is.
Have you ever had scans for ovarian cysts or anything as well?
No, never had scans for cysts. Am hoping they'll set me up with one on Thursday when I go.
What does CRP stand for?
Strangely, given that Crohns is linked to bowel cancer, it isn't bowel cancer I have HA about...it's ovarian. Think it's cos bowel cancer always sounds catchable and treatable, but ovarian doesn't.
Again, not sure if I have IBS...!!
Fingers crossed they give me scans etc. Am feeling miserable. Head is funny, ears are funny, abdomen is horrid.....just constantly thinking of the nasty big C.
I'm such an idiot.
You are not an idiot!! It is part of the health anxiety that we all dwell on the tragic cancers that get caught too late and are untreatable. There are so many of us that are the same.
See my reply to Lindzanne just below yours. I was in exactly the same boat a few weeks ago. I had had 6 weeks of abdominal pain and was so windy and bloated. I convinced myself that I was one of the rare cases of early onset ovarian cancer but an ultrasound showed otherwise. I remember thinking before the scan, please don't let it be ovarian, bowel cancer is a lot more treatable!! Now I know I don't have ovarian cancer, I am obsessing about bowel cancer even though I don't have many of the symptoms!!
You are not alone and not an idiot. Take care
nomorepanic
18-05-09, 21:16
CRP is a test for infection. For me and you with Crohn's it should be 0-6. Mine is currently 4 as I am doing well but when I was in hospital it was 434!!!!
Personally I would say ovarian cancer is not as bad as bowel cancer as things can be done like removing the womb etc. You only get one bowel so not easy to remove it.
You are not silly - just worried about it but all pains can be explained trust me.
Ugh, really bad today. all I can think about! Rubbish.
100% convinced it's ovarian cancer.
If they don't give me an ultrasound appointment when I see the doc tomorrow I will stamp my feet until they do!!
Aaaaaaand I have to have an ovary scan.
Which is good, because I definitely want one to put my mind at rest. But it's also a bit scary that he thinks I need one. But he only thinks I need one because of me having the pain....so really, I knew he was going to send me for one anyway.
So why I am now quite a bit scared?
I mean, they definitely will find SOMETHING because it wouldn't have a pain otherwise...so that's scary...but it's about WHAT they find. :(
the_nub
I am just reviving this thread as I am going through exactly the same symptoms as you were. Had lower left abdo pain almost continuously for 2 months. Went to GP after 1 month who seemed to think it was bowel-related. Was sent away and told to take paracetamol:huh: . Pain persisted and I have become more and more convinced it is ovarian cancer, to the extent that I went back yesterday and asked for a pelvic ultrasound which they agreed to. Like you, I am 99.9% sure something will show up and I'm terrified. Can't think of a benign reason for the pain. I just wondered what happened after your scan/how you got on?
Would be interested in anyone else's input too.
nomorepanic
21-08-09, 18:45
IBS causes lower left pain.
Have they suggested any other tests on the bowels?
No, they were pretty useless and didn't suggest anything. I did think about IBS, but from what I understand the pain improves when you have a poo etc, but this pain has stayed pretty constant and doesn't seem to be affected by what I eat/drink. It is like a sharp pulling sensation, sometimes feeling as if something is pressing on my bladder.
hello , i went throught exatly the same thing as u guys a few months ago, i had the pains i had the wind the cramping round the back, i ordered a pelvic ultrasound and a smear i was convinced it was ovarian cancer. i also was worried it was bowl cancer. my abdo pain was on the left two and shot to right, i got my self so worked up i was addmitted to hospital. my smear and ultra sound showed nothing. my bowels had no lumps or hardening or bleeding .
u should get checked out but what i am suggesting is your symptons are all physcosymatic its all due to health anxeity creating these symptoms for u. anxeiy can convince you , you are in pain and when you focus on the area the pain will increase. have you found that painkillers dont take the pain away. thats cause the pain may not be pysical more mental. i think its more likely to be ibs which can be caused by anxeity , i think all u need is a reasurrance from an understanding doctor and maybe an antidepressant may help to take the symptoms away.
all though hear about cancer all the time on the media it is rare to have these forms of cancer. i urge you to stop symtom checking and talk to a understanding gp.
Well, I pray that it is psychosomatic, but sometimes the pain keeps me awake at night, so I can't imagine that my mind would do that (given I'm up every 2 hrs feeding my baby, I need all the sleep I can get!).
Has your pain gone now hannah?
Cell block H fan
21-08-09, 20:01
I first had lower abdominal pain on the left side when I was 21. I went to the docs, eventually they booked me an ultrasound scan. Waited a few months for that, by which time the pain had gone, had the scan, all clear. A while later the pain came back, I ended up with horrendous health anxiety, doc sent me to hospital, was told I had IBS, I believed the consultant but never could the doc. Was convinced I had bowel cancer. Even though it was all pain symptom & no others like the runs or constipation or blood etc. All this took months to sort out & I even got as far as writing goodbye notes to family as I wanted to top myself because of the fear.
I'm 38 now, & have had health anxiety off n on since then, ive also had 2 kids! So I'm glad I wasn't brave enough to commit suicide all those years ago!
Ive had the lower left addominal pain a few times in the last few years, & to be honest i'm now convinced I never actually had IBS, I believe I had an ovary cyst back when I was 21, but it had gone by the time of the scan, & I believe it flares up now n then. When I used to stress a lot about it I would end up with back ache & the pain on the left would feel like a pinching sensation.
I worry that maybe ive got a 'weak' ovary & that one day it will turn cancerous. But I dont expect there's any medical evidence to support that?
Its just one of the things I worry about. At the moment its breast cancer, & if I could have them both removed I would in a shot!
That's interesting Cell block H fan. Throughout the last 10 years or so I have suffered a number of chronic pains, usually radiating leg pains (some of which have dragged on for weeks), but as soon as they go I don't think about them any more. I never went to the Gp about any of them, but I'm really worried about this ovary one. I know you can get benign cysts that often resolve on their own, so that is likely what you had when you were younger.
I'm 37 and have 3 kids and it's the thought of dying and leaving them motherless that most worries me.
cell block a ovarian cyst would always show up on a ultasound as a grey area they can resolve them selves. the chance is there is nothing there if it didnt show up on the scan. i . think your health anxeity is just playing you. i was convinced i had a cyst as well i had the pain down the leg just like u get with a cyst and terrible pain i was on co dyrdomol a strong painkiller guess what it didnt work. health anxiety can mimic the pain of a cyst and your bowl ovaries and bladder are all very low down in the body so ibs can cause pain which mimics a cyst. sometimes ovalation causes pain so much it mimics a appendix pain , please try to keep positive.
darwin my pain has now gone but sometimes i get a bit of pain, i also was up in the night wind can be so painful and constipation, but this is all stress related are you a young woman , a doc wudnt even consider bowel cancer in a young lady
Cell block H fan
21-08-09, 21:20
That's interesting Cell block H fan. Throughout the last 10 years or so I have suffered a number of chronic pains, usually radiating leg pains (some of which have dragged on for weeks), but as soon as they go I don't think about them any more. I never went to the Gp about any of them, but I'm really worried about this ovary one. I know you can get benign cysts that often resolve on their own, so that is likely what you had when you were younger.
I'm 37 and have 3 kids and it's the thought of dying and leaving them motherless that most worries me.
Darwin I complete understand that one. Mine are 14 & 12, & it just shows you how negative I am, because every year they get older I think thats good then, if I can hang on another 3 or 4 years they would cope ok on their own as they will be older. How crazy is that!:doh:
I had the pains going down the leg, my doctor said at the time (when I was early 20's) it was called Referred pain? Dont know if anyone has heard of that, & I'm not totally sure what it means, but thats the word she called it. I never ever google symptoms these days. Its not worth it for me lol
Hannah, I was saying the cyst had gone by the time I had the scan, so it wouldn't of shown up no.
37 - so no longer considered young. heading rapidly towards middle age!:ohmy:
Cell block H fan
21-08-09, 21:24
37 - so no longer considered young. heading rapidly towards middle age!:ohmy:
Still got a year on me! :yesyes:
My mums 61, fit as a bloomin fiddle. Thats the age we should start worrying, but the olds seem to have it sussed & dont care do they??! :D
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