Help - abdominal pain that goes away when lying down

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I'm a 22 yo female who was recently diagnosed with IBS. My doctor is not entirely sure that I have IBS though, as my symptoms are not typical of the condition. Around 2 weeks before my period is due, I begin to experience (at random times, usually when I'm out and about rather than at home) a pain in my abdominal area that feels like it is being squeezed. It sometimes feels like a shooting pain, and my mid section can be tender to the touch, but only during one of these 'attacks' and not at any other time. The pain will usually start around my belly button and spread all the way up to my stomach and down to my lower abdomen. The odd thing is that this pain will go away completely when I LIE DOWN!

Eventually, the pain will go away if I lie down for long enough but if I do get up, the pain will come back. My doctor finds my symptoms to be very unusual, and put me on Colofac for IBS which has not helped. I also have heartburn around this time of my menstrual cycle and am on Somac. I have had heartburn (few times a month) since I was 14yo. I eat a high fibre, healthy diet.

I'm really hoping theres someone who has had similar symptoms before who might be able to shed some light on whats going on!! 

3 likes, 99 replies

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  • Posted

    Hi you need to go to a Gynecologist . Sounds like you have PCOS .

  • Posted

    I have this same exact thing . Did you figure it out ? I have had it since i was in elementary school . No one has answers . It isn't related to menstrual .

  • Posted

    Did you ever figure out what was going on?? I have had very similar issues for almost 20 years and have not figured out what causes it (been to several doctors over the years). Mine doesn't always happen at the same time during my cycle, but I've realized that it has to be somewhat related to hormones, because I've now been pregnant twice and it NEVER happens when pregnant or breastfeeding. It is completely debilitating when it happens, and I'm just still looking for answers. Like yours, the only way it goes away is lying down flat on my back..

    • Posted

      It could be endometriosis, you don't have periods when pregnant it's worth checking into. I had no pain when pregnant either.But about 6 months latter it came back with vengeance. I comment in a long story to this post here If you want to read it.

  • Posted

    hi

    i've just came across this page now because i've been out with friends for tea and i had this horrendous pain (which only seems to happen when i am out). I googled it as i've had to come home early and needed answers, as i couldn't cope with the pain any longer. When this usually happens, i will go home early enough... well as soon as i feel the pain starting knowing i just need to lie down! but this evening i stayed out to see if it would go away but it only got worse. shortness of breath, hurt when I breathed in, hurt when i touched my stomach, felt like i couldn't pass wind and felt like i wanted to be sick! as soon as i've cane home and lay in bed, the pain has completely gone.

    do you think it's worth ringing the doctors? i feel like its very strange because the pain will only go away if i lie down!! is there any answers to this?

  • Posted

    Hi Mon,

    I am a 42 year old male that has the same thing. Cramps that come and go that can last a few minutes to a few hours. It feels the same as you mention and make it sore to touch. I too have just finished a 2nd term of Accutane. I can only get it to pass by lying down.

  • Posted

    i am 29 yo female with exactly the same issue that you are describing. i have ibs and experience extreme pain only resolved by lying down. i believe it ia linked to my cycle. feel very hopeless

    • Posted

      Endometriosis causes painful symptoms before periods and during.

  • Posted

    Hi. I have the same thing for almost 9 years now. im a 31 year old female. not obese, not smoking and eating healthy. it happens almost every day. when my stomach starts to get empty i feel discomfort. when i start eating this turns into crazy cramping coming in waves making it hard for me to finish a meal. only thing working is lying down on my back. the pain usually goes away within a minute or two. if i get up too early or too fast the pain comes right back within 10-30 secs. when it happens my breathing feels restricted and my back hurts at stomach level. my stomach hurts to touch right by the diaphragm usually a little to the left. im starting to think it can be a problem with my diaphragm or hiatus hernia since i also feel pressure in my throat recently with pain radiating to my chest, jaw and ears. im seen many doctors and physio therapists. they say my diaphragm is tight and a small hiatus hernia was found under examination but doctor said it was nothing which would cause me pain. im feeling lost and hope we can find some answers in this thread.

    • Posted

      Just to update after 9 years i finally found the cause of my pain which is a disc prolapse T5-T6 which presses on nerves causing pain in both chest, stomach and intestines. (found in MRI). im doing physical and heat therapy atm but only lying down on my back or certain yoga stretching poses helps the pain.

  • Posted

    hi! that happens to me too! ive tried so many things from gi meds/ diet changes meds for endometriosis but i keep getting this pain and its debilitating - let me know if anything ends up working for u!

  • Posted

    I'm not a doctor...I had this happen to me also. I was treated for IBS & it didn't help. i suffered for many years with it. I had colonoscopy and it showed nothing. My symptoms were like what you explained yours are. I'm not saying you have what I had.But it's worth talking to a Gynecologist and Or your primary doctor about it.

    I found out after trying to get pregnant and no success, the Obgyn did a laparoscopy of my abdominal area and saw that I had endometriosis. By the time I found out I've had it for many years and my tubs got blocked. My doctor was surprised because I didn't have heavy bleeding periods.Heavy periods usually go with having endometriosis. But I was on the pill since I was 18 and I got married at age 34 then tried for a baby at age 36 . I ended up doing IVF, Invitro fertilization and got pregnant on first round and had a healthy boy. After about 3 years the pain progressed .It put me down into bed some days. Some days I'd just get weird shooting pains & sometimes it stopped me in my tracks. Finally I saw a Obgyn and he suggested complete hysterectomy. I was 39 when I had my baby and I decided on the surgery when he was 3 years old almost 4. I was about age 43. They did cyber knife surgery ,robotic surgery hysterectomy. My post operation doctor appointment a week latter with the surgeon said I was stage 4 and a mess. The endometriosis was wrapped around my intestines and my fallopian tubes bladder uterus and everything up to under my lungs. There also was a cyst the size of my fist behind my uterus. I didn't go back on birth control after i had my son. I do believe that birth control pills help slow down the growth of endometriosis. So the 3 years after i had my son the endometriosis grew A LOT on my insides. My surgeon/ gynecologist was 70 years old and had been doing hysterectomy surgery for like 48 years. He told me he has never saw a case as bad as mine.He asked me how I even got up in the morning and functioned. I was on pain pills. My primary doctor at the time wouldn't do anything for me as I complained of the pain. Just treated me for irritable bowel syndrome. Which didn't help me. Finally I switch primary doctor and she sent me to a good gynecologist. I only can suggest that you talk to your gynecologist and Or primary doctor about possible endometriosis. It dont show up on xray,I'm not sure if it shows up on ultrasound, but it does show up on a (MRI, this is what I read online. ) If your not on birth control, the dr might put you on a low dose to see if it helps after a few months. I'm not sure how they will address it. I'm just telling you my LONG story because I DON'T want ANYONE to have to go through what I went through for so long ,in case you might have endometriosis. Which can cause a lot of painful menstrual cycles.

  • Posted

    I'm laying on the floor right now to relieve pains ive been having on and off for the past couple of days. I havent kept good enough track of their occurences but i believe they do come a few weeks beofre my period. The pain starts just to the right of my bellybutton and moves to the side and then down but stays on the right side and is extremely tender to touch. My pains go away as soon as I lay down flat but return as almost as soon as I start moving around again. Ive had an ultrasound during a "flare up" and was told all was well except maybe i was constipated (which i didnt believe I was).

    I get worried each time these pain get intense that it could be my appendix but i guess it was going to get me it would have got me by now. I'd love a second opinion but live in an area witth terrible health care so Im stuck for the moment.

    I dont feel quite so alone now. So thanks for that! Best to all of you and I hope everyone finds something that works for them.

  • Edited

    Did you ever figure out what it was? ? I know this discussion is from 3 years ago but this is the only time someone has has the same symptoms as me. I get pain all over my stomach and it almost feels muscular and it relaxes when i lie down. If i get up it starts again. Honestly this pain is ruining my life, I can name every time its ever happened to me. It happens every few months and is USUALLY but not always triggered by not eating for awhile but also if i ever wear really tight clothes, like i cant wear spanx or anything because I know it will trigger it. I've also gotten ultrasounds and blood tests in the past but theyve come back negative; doctors dont seem to trust or listen to me really so I've been dealing with this for more than 12 years I'd say. PLEASE if someone can help. Also i don't believe it hasnt anything to do with the type of food I eat, and since the pain isnt localized I feel like it must have to do with muscle tension or something??

    • Posted

      Hi. im also interested in knowing whenever anyone knows something. ive had this pain since 2012. mostly pain in my stomach and intestines, gets worse after a meal and resolves when lying down and passing gas. but comes back when getting up unless i lie down for hours. Doctors didnt find anything gastrointestinal. since 2019 i got additional symptoms of chest pain around my heart and rib cage, occationally also in my jaw and ears. mris didnt show anything. I had surgery in 2020 for endometriose and they removed it but i didnt have much and went on hormones after and it didnt change my pain at all. im in pain every day and seems to get worse. I some times consider if it could be a disease of the diaphragm but I dont know. I will also have my gallbladder checked again as it was done only once in 2012. Any help or advice appriciated. Camilla

    • Posted

      I replied to the first lady, and I've pasted it here. Hopefully it helps you. First a comment, though...even though you get bouts of this because of your wardrobe choices it is still important to know that what you eat matters to how healthy your gut is...your gut is more likely to have these problems if it is weakened and overrun with the wrong bacteria. If I wear binding clothing and eat a fatty meal, I'm in for it. Any extra belly weight and I have even more "attacks". It is all interrelated. I tell you this so you can pay attention to the foods/activities that may set you off.

      From my original post:

      I hope you will still return to read this reply...I have had this problem since I was 15. I was first told it was colitis, but later they just called it IBS. The pain comes on my left side, just below my ribs but above the level of my belly button. it can come on quickly. it can last hours...but usually the cure is laying down. laying on my left side/stomach with one leg brought up to my abdomen is also a position that helps relieve my pain. Ask the doctor for a medication called Bentyl (the generic is Dicyclomine). it is an anticholinergic (similar to Benadry). I call these my magic blue pills. I travel with them, and always keep a few in my purse. they make you sleepy (like Benadry), but if i can't stop the pain, I take one as a last resort. They dry everything out and calm the spasms of the colon.

      Yes, I have always gotten them nearer to my period, and if i wear binding clothing. any inflammation near my colon that causes pressure on my colon seems to set off an attack. I have stretched out across the car seats and laid down on the floor to get relief when I got an attack while at work or out of the house, and I didn't care because the pain was so bad. And, I have never had that pain coincide with constipation or diarrhea (although I deal with those issues as well).

      Research the gut biome. Get on track with vitamin D, probiotics and prebiotics. Read and research all that you can on food as medicine to treat and repair your colon and intestines. I am 50 and these problems have only gotten worse over the years. Diverticulitis (even more painful), and other maladies can develop if you aren't careful.

      Trust your instincts on how you feel. Eliminate foods that cause inflammation. If you're like me, stress goes right to your gut. You being here tells me you are researching and looking for truth. Research prebiotics and stress. Pay close attention to what you eat or drink. fizzy drinks and alcohol can set me off. spicy or acidic foods....and sometimes very fatty foods can set me off. My attacks would happen a couple times a month...These days they come more often.

      Keep searching and good luck to you. I know exactly how this feels. its disabling at times.

    • Edited

      I replied to the first lady, and I've pasted it here. Hopefully it helps you.

      From my original post:

      I hope you will still return to read this reply...I have had this problem since I was 15. I was first told it was colitis, but later they just called it IBS. The pain comes on my left side, just below my ribs but above the level of my belly button. it can come on quickly. it can last hours...but usually the cure is laying down. laying on my left side/stomach with one leg brought up to my abdomen is also a position that helps relieve my pain. Ask the doctor for a medication called Bentyl (the generic is Dicyclomine). it is an anticholinergic (similar to Benadry). I call these my magic blue pills. I travel with them, and always keep a few in my purse. they make you sleepy (like Benadry), but if i can't stop the pain, I take one as a last resort. They dry everything out and calm the spasms of the colon.

      Yes, I have always gotten them nearer to my period, and if i wear binding clothing. any inflammation near my colon that causes pressure on my colon seems to set off an attack. I have stretched out across the car seats and laid down on the floor to get relief when I got an attack while at work or out of the house, and I didn't care because the pain was so bad. And, I have never had that pain coincide with constipation or diarrhea (although I deal with those issues as well).

      Research the gut biome. Get on track with vitamin D, probiotics and prebiotics. Read and research all that you can on food as medicine to treat and repair your colon and intestines. I am 50 and these problems have only gotten worse over the years. Diverticulitis (even more painful), and other maladies can develop if you aren't careful.

      Trust your instincts on how you feel. Eliminate foods that cause inflammation. If you're like me, stress goes right to your gut. You being here tells me you are researching and looking for truth. Research prebiotics and stress. Pay close attention to what you eat or drink. fizzy drinks and alcohol can set me off. spicy or acidic foods....and sometimes very fatty foods can set me off. My attacks would happen a couple times a month...These days they come more often.

      Keep searching and good luck to you. I know exactly how this feels. its disabling at times.

    • Posted

      i have the same thing and same trigger from hunger buy i dont have hunger pain and dont know that im hungry. buy when eating and then lying down, it goes away and then i get very gassy. unfortunately ive been dealing with this for over 30 years and havent figured out what it is

    • Posted

      i had same thing sacked off all gluten and poof gone within 2 weeks

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