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Has anyone experienced abdominal pains after having their appendix removed?

Posted , 52 users are following.

Becky-Louise
Becky-Louise

Hi,

I had my appendix removed November 2012, and ever since then I've experienced abdominal pains, more often than not as bad as the pain was before surgery.

I'd never had abdominal pains before and it came in really quickly. I was experiencing pain for about a week before it got so bad I couldn't eat, sleep, and hardly walk. I went to a&e, the doctor seemed as though he was doubting the amount of pain I was in, until he pressed on the right side of my stomach and I burst into tears. I had surgery the next day, and spent 3 days in hospital after (only because I couldn't pass urine/bowel movement, apparently they can't let you out until you do).

After recovering from surgery, I used to only get pain every now and then. But over the past 6 months, the pain has been getting a lot worse and constant.

I've been to see my doctor, who thinks I now have IBS. They haven't done any tests at the moment to rule anything else out, they've just tried me on tables that are to treat IBS, with no effect.

I'm going to demand some tests are done just to make sure there isn't an underlying cause.

The thing that really makes me think if it's something to do with my appendix, is when I'm lead down, the right side of my stomach hurts like someone is pushing down as far as they can go.

I just want to know if anyone else has experienced similar pain after having their appendix removed and if so, have you found the cause?

My friend had the same surgery a few weeks before me, and has been diagnosed with IBS (they have rules everything else out). I don't know if this is a common thing in patients after this surgery.

Thanks for any help!

7 likes, 106 replies

106 Replies

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  • vibha78698
    vibha78698 Becky-Louise

    Posted

    Hey...

    I have the same problem as you and docter said that it was just a digation problem what should i do????

  • bojan20608
    bojan20608 Becky-Louise

    Posted

    Hi smile, I had my appendix removed in 2001. I was in ER for 10 days this year but they didnt want to open my stomach. I was in a tremendous pain, my white blood cells were around 20 and I had pain in my right leg and in the place where my appendix was. CT scan showed tissue inflamation where my appendix was, and after that the only thing they did was colonoscopy which showed nothing (they assumed I had Chron's desease but it wasn't). So I don't know what to do. It still hurts. When I eat only fruit or something healthy, without bread or sweets it gets a bit better. And we are trying to have a baby and I am afraid that it will cause some problems when I get pregnant.

    • bojan20608
      bojan20608 betsy04212

      Posted

      Hi Betsy :-) thank you for your reply. I already checked that and it was ok . It is getting a little bit better now when I frequently exercise, it still hurts of course but the pain is not so severe.
  • betsy04212
    betsy04212 Becky-Louise

    Posted

    I started experiencing these symptoms after reminding my appendix approximately 2009, and was diagnosed with IBS. More recently 2016 IBS symptoms worsening and prescribed medication not offering relief. I was discovered to have inflammation
  • betsy04212
    betsy04212 Becky-Louise

    Posted

    Diagnosed with IBS after appendix removed in 2009. 2016 Discovered to have inflammation in upper GI tract and now being checked for celiac disease in addition to being anemic.
    • M0928
      M0928 betsy04212

      Posted

      Has anyone heard of Stump Appendicitis? It seems most of us have had our appendix removed so I am wondering if there is a relation. 
    • bojan20608
      bojan20608 M0928

      Posted

      I read something about that problem but when I mentioned that to my doctors, they were looking at me like I was some alien. Two months ago I started going to gym frequently, 4-5 times a week. At the beginning the pain was awful especially whenI have
    • bojan20608
      bojan20608

      Posted

      (Sorry)...especially when I have an exercise which includes my stomack..it was like smth is burning where my appendix was. it is getting better now..but I cannot find the conection between those two, except that maybe I have adhesions and because of them something happened there. It still hurts but it is better than before.
  • Teichin123
    Teichin123 Becky-Louise

    Posted

    I have exactly the same situations and the pain I had for 2 years now...
  • M0928
    M0928 Becky-Louise

    Posted

    Hello, I started searching the internet hoping to find people experiencing the same thing as I am. 2-1/2 months ago I started getting sharp pains in my lower right abdomen. These pains came in waves and seem to get worse as the day wears on. I started taking Tylenol aspirin to relieve the pain. It works for a little while. I finally went to the doctor who thought it might be diverticulitus or the gall bladder but the said if it was one of those two I wouldnt be able to stand the pain when he pressed on that area. So he ruled that out. I had an internal ultrasound of my female parts next and they said I have a cyst on both my ovaries. I dont have any pain on the left side so I thought that couldnt be it but the doctor said maybe the right side is more troublesome and causing that pain. There is really nothing they can do for that though unless it gets larger and inflamed and then they can surgically remove it. I am due to go back for another ultrasound in a month to see if it has grown. I then went to get a cat scan which I have not receive the results for. Today I had a colonoscopy and the doctor didnt find anything significant so he said that was good news because it ruled out Crohns or colitis. He decided I most likely had IBS. It seems that when a doctor is unable to find the underlying cause of abdominal pain they just say it's IBS. This is upsetting to me as I dont want a guess when it comes to being in pain everyday. I feel this pain everyday now. It's dibilitating because it makes me so miserable. Tylenol does work temporarily which my doctor said wouldnt work for IBS. I also read the IBS acts up more during the day then at night. My pain is usually pretty bad at night. Other than waiting to hear back regarding my cat scan I am so confused on what to do next. The doctor did prescribe me IBS meds today Dicyclomine. I took the reccomended dosage today but it didnt help at all. I still ended up taking tylenol. The doctor told me that stress is a big cause of IBS so I am thinking of ways to meditate or relieve stress in hopes that this will help. I have no idea what to do next I only know that I dont want to live with this pain everyday for the rest of my life. Help anyone? 

    • bojan20608
      bojan20608 M0928

      Posted

      I had two colonoscopies. The first one was without anestesia
    • bojan20608
      bojan20608

      Posted

      (omg,sorry, I always press Reply before I finish my sentence😂😀wink. The second colon. was under sedation. But during the first one when they were doing colonoscopy they are using the air to spread the colon and I felt an awful pain, it was like they were pulling my scar where my appendix was, it was like that part is glued to my skin. Maybe you too have adhesions, but this is only my own diagnose becase doctors didnt tell me a thing.

  • Terri_O
    Terri_O Becky-Louise

    Posted

    I had appendectomy back in June of 2016. I have had abdominal pain since it is on the left side across the rib cage and over to the right side. I have been back to the ER once in Oct. Started seeing GI in Dec.  have had CT scan EDT and Ultra sound of my gall bladder all test have been normal, am currently being treated for IBS feel terrible med not working.
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