Abdominal Pain

[Codder12]

I have had crohn's for about 7 years. Ulcer is on the terminal ileum/jejunum area. Basically cramping and abdominal pain after bowel movement have been my biggest problems. I am on Pentasa. Last year I had a CT enterography done and there was mild inflamation in one spot. The report showed everything has stayed the same the last five years. I recently had my annual visit with my GI and told him that most of my pain starts after a bowel movement and will stay with me through out the day. I get relief when I stand up but when I sit back down it comes right back. The spot the ulcer is in is on my right side and a lot of the pain is on the lower left side. I explained this to my GI and he seemed stumped. Said if it persisted I could try enticort. Has anybody heard of being in pain mostly just when seated? My GI didn't think all of the pain would be from the inflamation...maybe spastic colon. I have tried a few prescriptions for that but nothing has seemed to work.

I was also thinking if some of this pain can be caused by stress. I am constantly on the intranet reading about crohn's and after reading what a lot of people are going thru I am just waiting for it to happen to me. I was wondering if any of the anxiety drugs would help. My GI said it has helped a lot of his patients but I have heard coming off those type of medications can be hard.

Any advise would be appreciated. thanks.

 

[CrohnsChicago]

I can sometimes be in pain when seated. But I think it is more what/how much food is sitting in my colon while I am sitting building up on the pressure and how properly am I sitting to allow better movement of food through my system. It definitely feels better to move around a bit sometimes. Mind you I don't always feel like this but I do understand what you are dealing with.

What does your diet look like? Is it high in fiber. I also find that I get more uncomfortable when seated when I have eaten a large portion of fiber and/or am backed up a bit.

Stress is a funny thing. Our digestive system is like its own central nervous system and when we become stressed, it's very common to have pain in that area. I personally do believe that our brain and gut are very closely linked. Because there are moments where when I get a sudden moment of intense stress, I immediately get a knot in my stomach and the urge to run to the bathroom.

Anxiety drugs can be helpful, I take xanax as needed. But I also practice safer alternatives such as deep breathing, exercise and mindfulness meditation more than I take medication for stress. With regular/routine practice, the difference is very noticeable and it almost becomes impulsive to begin a relaxation technique under stressful situations.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

A lot of us do benefit from anti anxiety drugs. Some of the anti anxiety SSRI's are also helpful for some degree of pain management.

 

[CrohnsChicago]

Yes, on those flare days where the urgencies and the pain are too much, I can sometimes take a xanax and it calms me and my urgencies a tiny bit because I am reducing the amount of stress that triggers some of the visits.