Central abdominal pain syndrome (CAPS) or Hernia?

Posted by invisiblepain2 @invisiblepain2, Jul 21 9:55am

Hi Everyone!

I have had severe, constant (24/7) abdominal pain with tightness and tenderness around my belly button and on both sides of my abdomen since developing food poisoning 12 days earlier. I also have constipation, and eating larger meals sometimes causes additional pain above my belly button. Sitting, bending, sneezing, and most movements worsen the pain. I have a 1.5 cm fat-containing umbilical hernia with incarcerated fat, but I’m unsure whether it was present when my symptoms began. Could this hernia be causing the constant severe pain and tenderness extending up to 10 cm around my belly button, or is it more likely due to a combination of centrally mediated abdominal pain syndrome (CAPS) and IBS?

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invisiblepain2 | @invisiblepain2 | Jul 24 11:37am

In reply to @lisalucier "Hi, @invisiblepain2 - Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Great to see you've connected with @marcd2k and..." + (show)

@lisalucier

Thank you so much. So far no treatment has worked unfortunately.

invisiblepain2 | @invisiblepain2 | Jul 24 11:38am

In reply to @caroljeand "Wonder if you have SIBO…I think I read that food poisoning could trigger it." + (show)

@caroljeand

I took the antibiotics for that but it wasn’t helpful.

invisiblepain2 | @invisiblepain2 | Jul 24 11:39am

In reply to @marcd2k "@invisiblepain2 Yes, I have a bloating / feeling full sensation all of the time. I am..." + (show)

@marcd2k

That is awful. You should see another doctor. Have you tried cold water? Does the pain stop while using cold water?

caroljeand | @caroljeand | Jul 24 1:16pm

In reply to @invisiblepain2 "@caroljeand I took the antibiotics for that but it wasn’t helpful." + (show)

@invisiblepain2
I have heard that people have taken multiple rounds of antibiotics and still had problems. Did you get tested or did they just throw antibiotics at you?

marcd2k | @marcd2k | Jul 24 1:19pm

In reply to @lisalucier "Hi, @invisiblepain2 - Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Great to see you've connected with @marcd2k and..." + (show)

@lisalucier Thank you for doing that, Lisa, it should make it easier to follow the discussions.

marcd2k | @marcd2k | Jul 24 1:56pm

In reply to @invisiblepain2 "@marcd2k That is awful. You should see another doctor. Have you tried cold water? Does the..." + (show)

@invisiblepain2 Believe me, I've always found another doctor when something was not right. This is why I have seen more than 30 doctors in the past three years. People on the outside of this level of pretend care do not understand what the average American has to go through to get through their year.

I saw a Doctor of Osteopathic (DO) medicine last week. He gave up while my wife and I were still there. He gave me the name of a spine surgeon that works with scoliosis issues, and I have an appointment with this new doctor next week.

I have not tried cold water, but one of the physical therapists that worked on my side a couple of months ago had a frozen, what looked like a steel ball, in a plastic base. She held it by the plastic and pressed the ball on my side. There is no way I could do this, as soon as she touched my skin with it my entire core locked up. We went with heat after that.

invisiblepain2 | @invisiblepain2 | Jul 24 2:58pm

In reply to @caroljeand "@invisiblepain2 I have heard that people have taken multiple rounds of antibiotics and still had problems...." + (show)

@caroljeand

The test is not available in my country but usually SIBO pain is not 24/7.

invisiblepain2 | @invisiblepain2 | Jul 24 3:00pm

In reply to @marcd2k "@invisiblepain2 Believe me, I've always found another doctor when something was not right. This is why..." + (show)

@marcd2k

It’s really frustrating. Cold water is less intense. Do doctors say your pain is coming from the abdominal wall or the visceral organs?

marcd2k | @marcd2k | Jul 24 7:10pm

In reply to @invisiblepain2 "@marcd2k It’s really frustrating. Cold water is less intense. Do doctors say your pain is coming..." + (show)

@invisiblepain2 No one can tell me what this is. I've gone through so many doctors because they tell me I'm not a textbook case and they tell me they have no idea what is wrong with me.

Every scan / image I've had done show my organs are normal, there is no mass or fluid build-up, and they send me home with the same issue I went to the doctor for. It took over 2 years to find a primary doctor that actually listens to what I tell him, as several before him thought there is nothing wrong.

One doctor, after the worst physical in my life (nothing was really examined) said one possibility is that this might be the way I am now. I do not accept that, this is not how I'm going to spend the next 30 years, and I'm still searching for that person that has heard of this, or that has had this themselves, and they know how to treat it.

bwwiggs | @bwwiggs | Jul 25 12:43am

In reply to @marcd2k "@invisiblepain2 No one can tell me what this is. I've gone through so many doctors because..." + (show)

@marcd2k Hi! Not to put ideas in your head, these pains may be spasms in the area of your digestive organs. I have an unexplained sharp pain that rises from right around the diaphragm up through my serum, making a you as it rises into the chest then narrowing the run up the neck into my jaws, causing a terrible ear pain and leaves with a slow fleeting pace. The jaw and ear pain can remain for hours. its parallel until it stops at one ear for longer. For several years my doctor had me chew a baby aspirin as soon as it traveling pain starts. It does not last long enough to be a heart attack. That's where I stand like me with no idea what is causing this pain. The other consideration by me is another hernia. The one repaired a few years back was strangling a part of my stomach. I had lost weight and was living on chewable digestive aids. The current pain is different in than this pain I have endured for 8-9 years that rises nearly to my temples and sometimes set off a migraine and a sharp pain in one side of the crown in my head.

I do have a very bad case of Fibromyalgia, and I could leave it at that. But these chest pains are scary and exhausting. I live alone. If someone saw this as it happens, they would call 911.

I wish you well and the best medical care you can obtain.