Central abdominal pain syndrome (CAPS) or Hernia?

@invisiblepain2 Hello, My pain isn't technically 24/7, as when I lay on my back, within 10 to 15 minutes the muscles seem to relax and the pain goes away. If I don't lay down though, the pain is there all of the time, from when I get out of bed in the morning, until I go back to bed that evening. I have not had any issues with bowel movements, and yes, I tried TENS, both at a chiropractor's office and at home. Neither of these made any difference, the muscles always lock, and the pain is always there when I'm sitting or standing.

@marcd2k

My pain stops while using TENS and immediately returns when I stop using it. My pain gets worse with bowel movement, I also get bloated a lot. It also gets worse with food and movement like sitting or bending.

@invisiblepain2 We have similar issues going on, as I have felt bloated for the past 6 months, and I can't eat full meals any longer. I used to eat 5 or 6 times a day, pretty much every three hours. Now I have to stop halfway through. Bending and twisting get my right side to lock up, as well. And sitting is the strangest part. There are certain chairs / seats that I can sit in for an hour, then others that I can't sit in for more than 5 minutes. Even in a car, I can sit in my car okay, but I can't sit in the passenger seat of my wife's car.

I just can't believe there is no one that has any idea what is happening. I've seen more than 30 medical professionals at 5 different hospitals, and every one of them gives up, most of them after the very first visit or procedure. In the past month, I've had two people that I have not even seen tell me they can't help. I send my images and reports to them, and they say "Nope" and I'm on my own again.

I've been to two different Instagram "experts", where the testimonials talk them up, saying how they were back to 100% after a single visit. One testimonial was from a famous actor, where he said he threw his back out on set, and one session later, he was back on set. Well, I went for 6 visits (physical therapy and movement work), and after the last visit, he was shrugging his shoulders. He referred me to another therapist, but he does not take insurance, and I've already spent a lot of money out of my own pocket in the past 6 months alone.

@marcd2k
I can’t sit straight for more than 15 minutes my entire abdomen hurts so bad. The only things that relieve the pain while using them are Ketamine infusion, TENS and cold water. Is your abdomen tender? And you mentioned your hernia is fat containing? Ever considered surgery?

@invisiblepain2 For me sitting is a hit or miss situation. There are chairs / seats I can sit on for an hour, and others that I can't sit for 5 minutes. The seat in my wife's van causes me pain when I sit in it for a few minutes, but in our car, I can sit in the seat for the trips to and from the doctors without too much pain.

My abdomen has not been tender at all, the pain is only on my right side. As far as the hernia, that's what the tech who read the image said, a small fat-containing umbilical hernia. I have not considered surgery because no one has said anything in regards to doing that. The ER doctor told me there was nothing showing on the CT that would cause the pain I have. She specifically said, "No fluid build-up, no mass, no hernias". At the time (August of 2023), I did some research on this type of hernia, but my condition took precedence over pretty much anything that wasn't causing pain.

@marcd2k

I have tenderness all over my abdomen especially around the bellybutton. Do you have a feeling of fullness?
How come the ER doc said you don’t have a hernia when the tech guy saw it. Does your pain get worse with eating?

Hello!

I have had a severe constant 24/7 abdominal pain with tenderness around the bellybutton which I developed 12 days after food poisoning. It’s been 4 years now. My pain was 24/7 from day one. I also have constipation, bloating , and pain above my bellybutton sometimes due to the volume of the food and fatty foods but around the belly button is constant. I am having problems with sitting or bending or sneezing every movement hurts. I also have a feeling of fullness. My pain only stops during TENS, using cold water and during ketamine infusion not after. No medication has worked. I did celiac plexus nerve block and it helped with bloating being less painful.
All tests are normal only have a 2.4 fat containing umbilical hernia that is incarcerated but some doctors say it doesn’t cause debilitating pain some say otherwise.
Is it central abdominal pain syndrome (CAPS) or Post-infectious IBS? Has anyone had similar symptoms? Any other non conventional treatments for functional pain? Please let me know.

Wonder if you have SIBO…I think I read that food poisoning could trigger it.

@invisiblepain2 Yes, I have a bloating / feeling full sensation all of the time. I am only eating half of what I used to because of this, so I've lost weight over the past 6 months.

Good question regarding the ER doctor, but I have no idea why she would say that. This was one of the worst, or maybe even the worst, hospital visits I've had. I was at the ER for 12 hours, about 1:15pm until 1:30am the next day. It took 9 hours before I even saw the doctor, so about 10:00pm she came by.

Then she was the rudest doctor I had ever dealt with. She walks in with her arms crossed, doesn't introduce herself, just looks at me and says, "So what hurts?" in about as nasty of a tone as someone could. After explaining my symptoms to her, once again, in a very disrespectful way, she looks at me and says, "Well, we can do a CT scan, but that doesn't mean we will find anything!" I thought there has to be cameras recording and this was a joke. But no, it was not a joke.

As for eating causing pain, I have not had that feeling. Just the full feeling and I can't eat.

Hi, @invisiblepain2 - Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Great to see you've connected with @marcd2k and @caroljeand.

Just wanted to let you know I combined your two discussions on a similar topic into one and placed it in both the Chronic Pain and the Digestive Health support groups:

-Central abdominal pain syndrome (CAPS) or Hernia? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/central-abdominal-pain-syndrome-caps-or-hernia/

This will help more Connect members see your post and invite responses from people with experience with abdominal and related pain.

If you are replying by email, click on VIEW & REPLY so that you will be brought to the combined discussion.

Is the doctor who ordered the tests for you putting you on a treatment plan at this point? If so, what does that involve?