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Can IBS cause severe upper abdominal pain

Posted , 6 users are following.

paul75665
paul75665

Hi All

I've been diagnosed with IBS, yet earlier today I was in a lot of pain that has made me wonder if there is something else wrong. Just wondering if anyone out there can give me some view, thoughts or advice.

About an hour and a half after lunch I started to get some pain located around the top of my stomach area, just below my chest, which gradually got worse. It was a sharp pain that had me writhing in agony, it was painful enough to take my breath away, and it radiated pain through to my back and up to my chest. The pain would decrease and increase in intensity during the next 45 minutes to an hour when it decided to ease off gradually and eventually go away. During this time there was an increased need to burp, however I didn't feel bloated. This has happened to me before on a couple of occasions, but was then located in my lower abdominal area.

Just so you know in the last few years I've had numerous tests and investigations including endoscopy and colonoscopies, blood tests, ultrasounds, X-Rays, etc and nothing untoward has ever been discovered. The only things to note were polyps which were removed and benign, two positive faecal calprotectin results however last colonoscopy with biopsies a few months ago was fine and low vitamin D levels for which I take supplements now and again.

I'd be very grateful for any comments to know if this sounds like an IBS symptom, especially if there others that have experienced this type of pain.

0 likes, 17 replies

17 Replies

  • pippa58442
    pippa58442 paul75665

    Posted

    IBS can cause pain just about anywhere on the abdomen.  If wverything else has been ruled out, IBS wll likely be the culprit.
    • paul75665
      paul75665 pippa58442

      Posted

      Thanks for the reply Pippa

      Can IBS pain really be that severe? I was enough agony to contemplate calling a doctor.

    • pippa58442
      pippa58442 paul75665

      Posted

      IBS can be very severe.  I have had flare ups that were so bad, I  didn’t know where to put myself.  I have ended up crouched on the bathroom floor or curled up in a ball on the settee with the pain.  My brother used to take to his bed with it.  However, because, I know I have IBS, I  just try to ride out the pain with Buscopan and Nurofen and would not consider a doctor unless it was a last resort.  Luckily, my IBS has been in remission lately.
    • paul75665
      paul75665 pippa58442

      Posted

      Although it's not nice to hear you and your brother had to go through this pain, it is reassuring to know, thank you Pippa. I just never believed it could be so bad, I was quite sure the pain was IBS related and that it would pass, and like you I was crouched on the floor to try and get relief and ride it out, as it did after about an hour.

      Nice to hear you are in remission, I hope to be there soon.

  • teri76755
    teri76755 paul75665

    Posted

    I think the severity varies. Depending on what I’ve eaten and how stressed I am, it can be quite severe. I don’t have a firm diagnosis yet, my doctor wants to rule out sphincter of oddi dysfunction bc I no longer have a gall bladder.  He says my symptoms fit ibs though. My pain is also upper abdomen. Usually right side. Almost always better after a BM or passing gas...that’s a sign of IBS. 
    • paul75665
      paul75665 teri76755

      Posted

      Sorry to hear about your problems Teri. It's definitely no fun having to deal with these pains, and I hope a reason for your problems can be diagnosed, it could be better than the uncertainty and unpredictability an IBS diagnosis can bring.

      Like you I felt like releasing wind through burping actually eased my pains slightly, although I didn't feel as bloated as I normally do which was strange.

      Do take care and all the best for the future.

  • rob2000
    rob2000 paul75665

    Posted

    Yes, sounds about right. I’ve had days when I’ve been in pain and I’ve found a lot of it can be trapped gas even though you don’t feel bloated. Actually I’ve often found some gentle exercise like walking, gardening can help move things along and I feel much better. 
    • paul75665
      paul75665 rob2000

      Posted

      Hi Rob

      Thanks for your comments.

      Funny you mentioned exercise, whilst on the floor on all fours the pains started to ease a bit. At this point I noticed our living room rug was covered in cat hair, so I took it upon myself to get a stiff hand brush and try to clean it up a bit. Within 20 minutes of doing this my pains pretty much went away, and our rug looks as good as new, double bonus! I still feel generally groggy even now, but that's a normal day for me.

  • marsh23433
    marsh23433 paul75665

    Posted

    i was diagnosed with ibs 1 month ago ,and found that buscopen  helped me allot,also found my triggers and i must say there were allot them.  
    • paul75665
      paul75665 marsh23433

      Posted

      Thank you for the advice.

      I tried Buscopan, and reacted badly to it. Doctor has prescribed Mebeverine, which does ease the bowel cramps a lot, but I've got a feeling it's irritating my stomach a bit. You can't win can you???

    • pippa58442
      pippa58442 paul75665

      Posted

      Buscopan really helped me but Mebeverine did nothing for my  symptoms and gave me severe indigestion.  Ask your doctor for a different antispasmodic.  You may have to try several.
    • paul75665
      paul75665 pippa58442

      Posted

      Thanks for the advice Pippa, I'll definitely do that. My bowels don't give me huge amounts of trouble really, they get painful now and again but it seems to be my stomach area that I get most discomfort from. I've even wondered if the Mebeverine has caused so much irritation that it might have had some part to play in my positive faecal calprotectin resultsquestion

    • pippa58442
      pippa58442 paul75665

      Posted

      It may depend on how long you were on Mebeverine.  I was only on it on two occasions for a few days which was enough to tell me it irtirated my stomach.  Within a few minutes or seconds of swallowing one tablet, it felt like I had swallowed a pebble.  As soon as I stopped them, my new symptoms disappeared.  Ask your doctor about whether Mebeverine might have caused inflammation enough to raise fecal calprotectin levels.  I can’t find any information on this.
  • sam18386
    sam18386 paul75665

    Posted

    That sounds exactly like what I get! It's agony isn't it? I only get this either when I",m stressed or when I have chips, fried ones. The people in here gave me great advice to have lots of milk based products to cool their burning. It was the simplest advice I',d ever had. You could try it, if you're allowed milk?

    • paul75665
      paul75665 sam18386

      Posted

      Hi Sam, thanks for the reply.

      It certainly was agony I'll agree with you there, but I'm pretty sure my experience was down to trapped wind and not heartburn, as the description of your problems suggest. For me it was a sharp, stabbing pain, not a burning sensation as you get. Either way it's really painful and I'm glad to say it has happened again.

    • paul75665
      paul75665

      Posted

      Meant to say 'not happened again'! rolleyes

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