Need your input concerning changing abdominal pain

[Guest guest]

HI everyone,

I am hoping that I can " pick your brain " about something that has

me a little puzzled concering a gradual change in my abdominal

pain: both in location and intensity. I understand that the best

advice that anyone can give will be to call a doctor but I am not at

that point yet, for many reasons (the main one being that this is

my five year anniversary of when the do-do hit the fan for me; and

that it is my birthday).

Basically I have noticed in the last week or two that I have very

intense stabbing pain when I move, tooth-achy pain when I don't

in my back just left of the midline but between the lower rib and

about the middle ribs. It can be pinpointed to about 4-5 inches

from the spine in that general area. I also have the typical

abdominal pain in the LUQ but that is also new to me. I have

always, up until now, had my pancreatitis-like pain on my RUQ

and right epigastric area.

So my questions are related to trying to figure out if this is just

typical back pain that it seems, according to all of the lay press,

that most, if not all Americans have. Is there an easy way to tell if

this is just back pain from a muscular strain as opposed to an

evolving pancreas problem? If I sit up very straight it really hurts.

If I slouch a lot where my abdomen is " folded " it really hurts. If I

lean back on a chair it really, really hurts as well as if I twist to

look out the driver's side window when changing lanes. I have

tried aspirin with no relief, my oxycodone at my normal levels

(5mg) gives me no relief. I can have this be unbearable for a few

days, then it goes away for a day or so, then it gets really bad

again. The only other thing that I can add is that about 5 months

ago I noticed that my RUQ pain was lessening but that I started

to get twinges in my LUQ. Now it seems that the awful, awful

unbearable pain that I used to have all the time in my RUQ is

now in my LUQ....but the most distressing pain is in my back,

wrapping itself around my ribcage to a little ways to my front.

As far as activity levels go...there hasn't been drastic changes

although I have been working alot in the garden. But nothing too

physically demanding as my pain psych has helped me figure

out a nice routine with that. However, with this new pain, it

seems that my indicators for when to stop or change activities is

no longer valid.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me? I have never

experienced any type of back pain from overwork or even just

getting older (birthdays bring in the whole age card, you know)

so I am wondering if this is just typical back pain that will go

away with time.

Thanks

Laurie

[Guest guest]

Hi Laurie, I have had the pain from my CP go to my back. My Dr said

that is normal, but with me it only happens during a flare-up. That is

actually one of my triggers for when things are starting to flare-up.

I know when the back pain starts, the nausea and vomiting aren't too

far behind. I hope this helps you, Jim