OK, back in October I started having some really bad pains in my lower left abdomen and lower left back. I have also had irregular bowel activity for several years, but when this pain started it was mostly the runs on the days I went, sometimes a few days gap between going though.
I went to see my doctor and she booked me in the next day for a smear and an examination. I needed time to mentally prepare as I suffer with anxiety pretty bad. Anyway I went back the next day and she attempted to do a smear but couldn't due to discharge making my cervix impossible to see, but on examining my abdomen she looked very concerned and tried to get me in for an emergency ultra sound scan.
Roll forward a few days. I discovered that an emergency scan could take at least 10 days (umm yeah, real emergency) but after a few phone calls and me explaining my pain and anxiety problems I managed to get in that day. My ultra sound scan showed a very large cyst on my left ovary (measure 21x18x16 cms). Then i had the problem of getting my scan results seen and to find out what the next step was. The whole time my pain had not increased, but was very much constant. I was put on Tramadol and Ibuprofen, neither of which helped greatly.
A couple of days later I could bare it no longer and wound up at A&E, being admitted to the GYN ward 8 hours later. I was in hospital for 2 weeks on that occasion. I had a laparoscopy procedure to remove the cyst. It was hard work because it was so large, but because I am at a greater risk of infection the surgeon vowed to try her best to do it that way first. She succeeded.
It took me 3 days to manage to get out of bed, I reacted pretty bad to the anesthetic, and my pain was really bad.I had cuffs on my legs that inflated every few seconds to stop me from getting clots, and insulin pump ... the works.
Well roll forward another couple of weeks. Back home and I decided enough is enough, time to wind down on the painkillers as everything I had read had told me by now I should not be in too much pain.
Within 24 of stopping the tramadol (which had also started giving me constant migraines) I began to get the exact same pains I had which first made me go to my doctor! Alarmed at this I spoke with the out of hours doctor and visited the local hospital in the early hours for some other pain relief. I had an appointment to see my surgeon a couple of days from then to check how I was, so was told to try and wait it out for that and discuss the pain with her.
When I attended my appointment the surgeon took one look at me and re admitted me. I was in hospital this time for 8 days. In that time the GYN signed me over to Gastro because they no longer thought the problem was their department and was in fact Gastro related.
I had a Gastro consultant come and see me and after explaining everything he came to the conclusion that while I may have some IBS he didn't think that was the main problem, and so investigation would begin. No ideas on what it could be though.
So I had a Sigmoidoscopy on the 21st December (nice). The whole procedure was again a nightmare. I had to take diazepam because of my anxiety problems, but that was so they could get a Cannula in to give me something stronger for the procedure to hopefully stop me having a panic attack. Well the diazepam didn't work enough, so I somehow managed to get through it. No idea how I did it, but am so proud I did. Still nightmare though lol.
They took some biopsies, and had a good look. What I saw on screen was (to me) very healthy tissue, the only odd thing I noticed was that there was a fair bit of white sticky gunk all over the place. Presumably the same stuff that has been presenting in my bowel movements too.
So what I have had as far as symptoms are concerned (I am aware these could indicate more than one problem) are:
Now fro the list of meds I am currently on. None seem to work that well except maybe the Buscopan, but that only seems to help a little bit, it definitely does not stop my spasms when a bout of diarrhea stats.
2x 500mg Paracetamol 4 times a day
1 x 400mg Ibuprofen 3 times a day
1 x 50mg Cyclizine 3 times a day
1 x 30mg Codene 4 times a day (it was 2, 4 times a day but I reduced it)
1 x 10mg Buscopan 4 times a day
1 x 135mg Mebeverine 3 times a day
1 x 500mg Metformin (slow release) 3 times a day
1 x 10mg Amitriptyline once a day at bedtime
1 x 150mg Ranitidine once a day at bedtime
10mg Liquid Morphine at bedtime when needed too.
I have been advised to seek a referral to the pain clinic at the hospital and also to use a TENS machine. Though I have not done either yet.
As you can see I'm on a lot of drugs, none of which have given me any real relief or improved things. Every day i consider going back to the hospital for re admission, but the only thing stopping me is knowing I would be doing the same as I am at home!
I have been told that the consultant who will review my Biopsy results is not back in work until the 10th January, so I still have several days to wait at least to find out what's next. I would really appreciate some advice, and maybe some ideas on what this could all mean, so when I do speak with them I have an idea of what to expect, or even suggest myself.
Could anyone give me a run down of what procedures to expect whilst going through the diagnosis process? I presume a Colonoscopy may be on the cards next, but what else?
Thank you so much for read thus far if you have, you deserve a medal, and my eternal thanks if you now have the energy to reply as well LOL.
Pumpy x (in the UK, if you hadn't already guessed)
I went to see my doctor and she booked me in the next day for a smear and an examination. I needed time to mentally prepare as I suffer with anxiety pretty bad. Anyway I went back the next day and she attempted to do a smear but couldn't due to discharge making my cervix impossible to see, but on examining my abdomen she looked very concerned and tried to get me in for an emergency ultra sound scan.
Roll forward a few days. I discovered that an emergency scan could take at least 10 days (umm yeah, real emergency) but after a few phone calls and me explaining my pain and anxiety problems I managed to get in that day. My ultra sound scan showed a very large cyst on my left ovary (measure 21x18x16 cms). Then i had the problem of getting my scan results seen and to find out what the next step was. The whole time my pain had not increased, but was very much constant. I was put on Tramadol and Ibuprofen, neither of which helped greatly.
A couple of days later I could bare it no longer and wound up at A&E, being admitted to the GYN ward 8 hours later. I was in hospital for 2 weeks on that occasion. I had a laparoscopy procedure to remove the cyst. It was hard work because it was so large, but because I am at a greater risk of infection the surgeon vowed to try her best to do it that way first. She succeeded.
It took me 3 days to manage to get out of bed, I reacted pretty bad to the anesthetic, and my pain was really bad.I had cuffs on my legs that inflated every few seconds to stop me from getting clots, and insulin pump ... the works.
Well roll forward another couple of weeks. Back home and I decided enough is enough, time to wind down on the painkillers as everything I had read had told me by now I should not be in too much pain.
Within 24 of stopping the tramadol (which had also started giving me constant migraines) I began to get the exact same pains I had which first made me go to my doctor! Alarmed at this I spoke with the out of hours doctor and visited the local hospital in the early hours for some other pain relief. I had an appointment to see my surgeon a couple of days from then to check how I was, so was told to try and wait it out for that and discuss the pain with her.
When I attended my appointment the surgeon took one look at me and re admitted me. I was in hospital this time for 8 days. In that time the GYN signed me over to Gastro because they no longer thought the problem was their department and was in fact Gastro related.
I had a Gastro consultant come and see me and after explaining everything he came to the conclusion that while I may have some IBS he didn't think that was the main problem, and so investigation would begin. No ideas on what it could be though.
So I had a Sigmoidoscopy on the 21st December (nice). The whole procedure was again a nightmare. I had to take diazepam because of my anxiety problems, but that was so they could get a Cannula in to give me something stronger for the procedure to hopefully stop me having a panic attack. Well the diazepam didn't work enough, so I somehow managed to get through it. No idea how I did it, but am so proud I did. Still nightmare though lol.
They took some biopsies, and had a good look. What I saw on screen was (to me) very healthy tissue, the only odd thing I noticed was that there was a fair bit of white sticky gunk all over the place. Presumably the same stuff that has been presenting in my bowel movements too.
So what I have had as far as symptoms are concerned (I am aware these could indicate more than one problem) are:
Pain, constant left abdo and lower back pain, with occasional severe stabbing pains that take my breath away.
Diarrhea mostly, though I have had 1 bout of constipation since October. Sometimes the diarrhea is explosive, sometimes it just pours out.
I get severe pain when I am on the toilet which goes from one side to the other, and has once caused me to pass out, and very nearly on several other occasions.
Bouts of vomiting. I get an awful pain just under my breast bone and then I have a bout of projectile vomiting. Once I have emptied my stomach the urge passes.
I have lost more than 18 stone (252Ibs) in weight over the space of 18 months, with no real reason for it. Apart from eating more often in smaller meals.
I have been diagnosed as diabetic in the last 18 months
Extreme fatigue, and then insomnia that lasts for 3 or 4 days before I can sleep.
Hiccups! I get them about 6 times a day on a good day, many more time on bad days, and my god they can hurt!
Restless legs. My husband sometimes spends over an hour rubbing and massaging, even scratching my legs at night to get me to sleep.
I can't lay on my side in bed due to a pretty bad 'ripping' sensation in my tummy?
I have had 2 contrast CT scans.1 before my op to remove the cyst to give the surgeon an idea of what they were dealing with, and one 2 weeks later when I was re admitted. The second showed that I had developed another cyst that was measuring 5cm. But my surgeon was not concerned at this?
I have had numerous blood tests. All of which have been relatively normal apart from my kidneys showing slight dis function on one test.
Now fro the list of meds I am currently on. None seem to work that well except maybe the Buscopan, but that only seems to help a little bit, it definitely does not stop my spasms when a bout of diarrhea stats.
2x 500mg Paracetamol 4 times a day
1 x 400mg Ibuprofen 3 times a day
1 x 50mg Cyclizine 3 times a day
1 x 30mg Codene 4 times a day (it was 2, 4 times a day but I reduced it)
1 x 10mg Buscopan 4 times a day
1 x 135mg Mebeverine 3 times a day
1 x 500mg Metformin (slow release) 3 times a day
1 x 10mg Amitriptyline once a day at bedtime
1 x 150mg Ranitidine once a day at bedtime
10mg Liquid Morphine at bedtime when needed too.
I have been advised to seek a referral to the pain clinic at the hospital and also to use a TENS machine. Though I have not done either yet.
As you can see I'm on a lot of drugs, none of which have given me any real relief or improved things. Every day i consider going back to the hospital for re admission, but the only thing stopping me is knowing I would be doing the same as I am at home!
I have been told that the consultant who will review my Biopsy results is not back in work until the 10th January, so I still have several days to wait at least to find out what's next. I would really appreciate some advice, and maybe some ideas on what this could all mean, so when I do speak with them I have an idea of what to expect, or even suggest myself.
Could anyone give me a run down of what procedures to expect whilst going through the diagnosis process? I presume a Colonoscopy may be on the cards next, but what else?
Thank you so much for read thus far if you have, you deserve a medal, and my eternal thanks if you now have the energy to reply as well LOL.
Pumpy x (in the UK, if you hadn't already guessed)
