Hopefully I'm not annoying y'all, but I'm beginning to wonder if some of the pain I'm feeling is maybe from my pancreas, gall bladder, or appentix. I'm wondering how one knows when it's time to seek medical help??
I have near chronic stomach pain and pain behind my belly button. It does ease after maybe an hour or two after I eat but it always hurts when I eat--like maybe the eating triggers it. I started an acid blocker Sat, and Sunday morning had maybe two hours of no pain...
gut pain--when to seek help
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Hi Jennifer,
Gallbladder or pancreatic inflammation is very commonly associated with MC, and as we control our MC, and the inflammation in our gut subsides, the other issues tend to fade away also. I also had that pain behind my belly button. It seemed to be a problem mostly when I had gas/bloating. It sort of felt as though a membrane or something were attached to my belly button, and the pressure from the gas was tying to rip that membrane (or whatever it was). I recall it being a very unique pain, as though something were pulling against my belly button.
If the problem is due to your gallbladder, the pain should appear roughly half an hour or so after eating a fatty meal, and last for roughly 4–6 hours before subsiding. The higher the fat content of the meal, the worse the pain should be. The pain would be right under your rib cage, slightly to the right of center, and you should feel it all the way through to your back. When the problem is really serious, some people opt for surgical intervention (usually at the urging of their doctor), but research shows that this issue is connected with gluten sensitivity, and when gallbladder issues are associated with an IBD, the problem usually resolves after the IBD is controlled. Here's a link to a good article on this issue (it only discusses a connection with celiac disease, but this problem is associated with all IBDs, not just celiac disease). Note this quote from the article:
You might need to change antihistamines, or the dosage.
Another thing to consider is that antihistamines tend to promote the entrapment of gas, so this might possibly make the belly button pain worse.
All medications have side effects — some are just worse than others.
If you ask a surgeon, it's pretty likely she or he will recommend removing some body part in order to stop the pain. Many members here are missing their gallbladder. But unfortunately, experience shows that removing parts typically doesn't resolve the problem when MC is the primary issue (though it certainly can help in certain extreme cases).
Tex
Gallbladder or pancreatic inflammation is very commonly associated with MC, and as we control our MC, and the inflammation in our gut subsides, the other issues tend to fade away also. I also had that pain behind my belly button. It seemed to be a problem mostly when I had gas/bloating. It sort of felt as though a membrane or something were attached to my belly button, and the pressure from the gas was tying to rip that membrane (or whatever it was). I recall it being a very unique pain, as though something were pulling against my belly button.
If the problem is due to your gallbladder, the pain should appear roughly half an hour or so after eating a fatty meal, and last for roughly 4–6 hours before subsiding. The higher the fat content of the meal, the worse the pain should be. The pain would be right under your rib cage, slightly to the right of center, and you should feel it all the way through to your back. When the problem is really serious, some people opt for surgical intervention (usually at the urging of their doctor), but research shows that this issue is connected with gluten sensitivity, and when gallbladder issues are associated with an IBD, the problem usually resolves after the IBD is controlled. Here's a link to a good article on this issue (it only discusses a connection with celiac disease, but this problem is associated with all IBDs, not just celiac disease). Note this quote from the article:
http://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/12/the- ... ivity.htmlApproximately 60% of celiac disease sufferers are known to have liver, gallbladder, and/or pancreatic conditions
You might need to change antihistamines, or the dosage.
Another thing to consider is that antihistamines tend to promote the entrapment of gas, so this might possibly make the belly button pain worse.
All medications have side effects — some are just worse than others.If you ask a surgeon, it's pretty likely she or he will recommend removing some body part in order to stop the pain. Many members here are missing their gallbladder. But unfortunately, experience shows that removing parts typically doesn't resolve the problem when MC is the primary issue (though it certainly can help in certain extreme cases).
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Do you do all your own cooking, from scratch? Many research studies done on celiacs show that most people on a GF diet are not really gluten-free — they're actually on a limited-gluten diet. If there is a bag of wheat flour anywhere in the house, cross-contamination is virtually guaranteed. Some of us can get away with that if we are careful, and our sensitivity threshold is only moderate. But those of us who are really sensitive, will react to the tiniest amounts of gluten (or soy, or casein, etc.).
Tex
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Many do, and some of the others are learning to do that. We have several members who bring their own, or they bring part of their meal, or their own seasoning, sauce, etc. Many restaurants are loaded with land mines for people who have multiple food sensitivities. Eating away from home is covered in more detail in chapter 12 in the book.Jennifer wrote:(Do restaurants allow that?)
Generally speaking, the higher-end restaurants are better able to safely accommodate patrons who have multiple food sensitivities, because they are more likely to have better qualified and more versatile chefs. It's best to check with the chef ahead of time (during off-peak hours), and in the back of the book, there's an example of a to-the-chef card that you can hand to chef (or to the waitperson to give to the chef, when you don't have a chance to speak with the chef ahead of time). Unlike most restaurant cards, this one also lists foods and seasonings that you can eat, which chefs tend to sincerely appreciate. Or you can copy one from here, and change the information to fit your own situation, and then print as many copies as you might need.
Those H2 type antihistamines that I listed are available in either prescription versions, or in OTC versions. The main difference between the two versions is that the prescription versions contain a larger amount of the active ingredients. Of course that can be achieved by adjusting the dose of the OTC versions in order to arrive at a therapeutic dose.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.