Lower left quadrant pain to touch, movement etc. I can't figure it out
Posted , 5 users are following.
I have had lower left quadrant pain for almost 2 years. it has come ams gone. 2 years ago I had a CT scan and nothing abnormal was found. the pain never went away, but fluctuated from a pain of 1 to 8. I had an xray the other day and it was negative.
For the last month and half its been hovering at a 6 to 8 of pain, but for seemingly no reason it goes to a 2 or to an 8. it always hurts to the touch. It hurts when I twist and lay flat. Food sometimes effects it but other times it doesnt seem to much.
The pain is in the exact same spot always, 2 inches down from the belly button and 5 inches to the right (if you are facing me). It feels like a general sore pain. Not really a stabbing pain, sometimes burning.
I have a colonoscopy scheduled but its in 2 weeks. Im worried and I dont know what to do. The flare ups are quite painful and I really need help.
0 likes, 13 replies
pippa58442 Hanse063
Posted
Wait for your colonoscopy; only tests can reveal the cause of your pain and give you a diagnosis. Your doctor will give you help and will relieve your anxieties. Abdominal pain can mean any number of things. You may also need an ultrasound and endoscopy to determine possibilities such as gallbladder problems, gastritis and h pylori. In the meantime, try a food diary to see what foods affect your pain.
When I had abdominal pain for three and a half months, all I could do was to wait it out to see what my tests revealed. I could not speed this process up until my doctors had carried out all the tests required.
pippa58442 Hanse063
Posted
Have you had any trouble with your bowel habits? Does having a bowel movement improve your pain temporarily?
joseph98786 Hanse063
Posted
it could be a hiatus hernia or sounds like threatening appendix if its on your left side. if i werd in your position i would visit the A and E and demand that you get some answers they might hurry up the colonoscopy and suggest an endescopy while you are there. good luck in the meantime
pippa58442 joseph98786
Posted
Appendix pain would be on your right side.
Guest Hanse063
Posted
The location is about right for Diverticular Disease (DD), and the way you describe it hurting to the touch, or bending are classic symptoms of an inflamed/infected diverticulum. But I would have though the CT scan would have identified it. You can only wait for the colonoscopy as that will give a clear picture. In the meantime, the classic treatment for a flare of DD is fluids only for 48 hours, followed by bland white food (mashed potato, steamed white rice, steamed fish) with no/little fibre and paracetemol for the pain. Then a slow reintroduction of SOLUBLE (not insoluble) fibre.
The prep for the colonoscopy will clear you right out anyway. You might find the forums for Diverticular Disease and Colonoscopy worth reading. I am a DD sufferer for 18 years.
Hanse063 Guest
Posted
DD is what I keep going back to. I will try the fluid diet again for 48 hours. Did certain movements make it worse for you? was it foods that caused flair ups? Is your pain always in the exact same spot?
Guest Hanse063
Posted
OK - multiple questions and answers. Movement: bending was worse, as I think it squashed everything. But I also had pain lifting things and turning over in bed, particularly lying on my left hand side. Also driving could sometimes be uncomfortable - I think it was just the position I sit in. Food: definitely caused flare ups. I used a food diary to work out what I could and could not eat. My trigger foods are gluten and full fat but it varies from person to person. If I eat too much of either I get the pains starting the following day, so those foods are obviously causing inflammation. Pain: My pain is in the location of my diverticula. I have multiple ones throughout the colon, so I actually get pain in several spots - what I call my hot spots. They are my low left, higher left, just below the belly button and just where the colon joins the exit passage. As the disease has progressed, I now occasionally get pains on the right.
Because of the location of the diverticulum near the exit, it proved impossible to do a colonoscopy on me last time. It also puts pressure on the bladder giving me symptoms of a UTI. But my consultant says it is "only Diverticular Disease - a benign condition" and did not uphold the consultant endoscopist's recommendation for surgery. I've avoided it for 18 years, and will continue to do so if I can. I was in pain on and off for 18 months after the last series of attacks, but have been pain free apart from the odd niggle since June 2018.
But - 50% of people over 50 have diverticula rising to 80% aged over 80. Most have no symptoms, so just having diverticula is known as Diverticulosis. It's when you get symptoms you have to be careful.
Hanse063 Guest
Posted
Thank you for the great info, you are awesome!!
.It sounds like you have the same thing I do as far as symptoms. Did they CT scan you to confirm? Also, why couldnt they do a colonoscopy? Is your flare up always the next day after food and not immediate?
My biggest problem with CT is I have a genetic diseases and I am worried it will cause earlier onset. Ive allready had 3 CT's in my life.
Guest Hanse063
Posted
Hi
Yes they did a CT scan to confirm. They couldn't do a colonoscopy because a) the entry was very scarred, twisted and thickened and b) I had a diverticulum right on the very first bend of the colon. Even the smallest scope - child size - was very difficult to insert, and because of the location of the diverticulum, it was considered there was a high risk of perforation if they had tried to force it round the bend.But this is very very rare. He tried gently for about 10 minutes, then gave up. I'm glad the guy used common sense not brute force. But I was lucky as it was the same guy who had done my first colonoscopy 15 years earlier, and he had read my notes and recognised his own report. He did get half way through the first colonoscopy, but then had to abandon it, for similar reasons. On that occasion I had a follow up barium enema.
Hopefully one day soon it will be standard practice to swallow a camera pill and retrieve it at the other end! Far less barbaric. Most people have few problems with a colonoscopy, just some discomfort. If you are USA based it's standard to be put to sleep. In the UK it is not, and sedation has been reduced to such a low level following some adverse reactions, it is hardly worth having. However if there are problems like mine, it can be very painful, but if it's the first colonoscopy, there is no way of knowing just how you are made inside, so how you will be affected.
Yes my pain always comes the following day, not the day I eat wrong! As for early onset, I don't know if there is such a thing. Some people are born with diverticula, for some there does seem to be a genetic component as it runs in the family, some people eat healthily all their lives and get it, and some people eat junk all their lives and don't! There does seem to be more people developing it earlier, but it could just because there is better testing now. Previously many cases were written off as IBS - mine was for years, but in hindsight I had it long before I was diagnosed. Good luck
lester90053 Hanse063
Posted
Check for a hernia or trapped gas or both.
Hanse063
Posted
Does everyone notice if they bed over forward really far it hurts more on the spot of diverticulitis? also if you push on it does it hurt a lot more?
Guest Hanse063
Posted
Yes, and yes. Both classic symptoms of diverticulitis, from squashing the inflamed/infected diverticulum.
Hanse063 Guest
Posted
Thank you. Colonoscopy is Thursday. My Dr started me on antibiotics too. I will update.