ACNES, Abdominal Cutaneous Nerve Entrapment Syndrome
Hi. Quick back story. In Nov 2018 I had sharp pain in the top middle of my abdomen right below my sternum. Pain level 10 of 10. They thought it was my gallbladder, had it removed. Still had pain. multiple ER visits, hospitalized 2-3 times for a week each, 20 plus doctor appointments, over 100K spent in medical costs billed to my insurance.
As a last resort, went to Mayo and was diagnosed in under 30 minutes.
In January 2019 had my first trigger point injection, just had my 2nd injection March 2019. Still in a lot of pain. Taking gabapentin as well. **Has anyone else been diagnosed with this AND what are the symptoms & treatments you are receiving? Are you finding any relief?**
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Chronic Pain Support Group.
The last 2 weeks before my surgery I was taking 2-3 oxycodone most of the days. Had never taken it before but did help. Had to take miralax everyday to prevent constipation.
Jeff, I took my first oxycodone on June 27th. I take 2.5-mg every 24-hours and sometimes I take two 2.5-mg in 24 hours. I, too take Miralax for that reason. I just awoke from a nap and the pain in my abdomen has ramped up but not enough for oxycodone this time. I hate this! I look forward to hopefully having results like you had. Stuart
Jeff, how long were you dealing with abdominal pain/ACNES? Terrible pain this afternoon. No oxycodone since about 6:00 a.m.
Hi Stuart, The best way for me to alleviate the pain was to go to the gym and use the elliptical machine. Did not bother while on the machine. Also tylonal and advil gave some temporary relief.
I had robotic laparoscopic surgery on 9/2/21 for ACNES. Pain prior was off the wall. The medical team thinks I am the first in the country to cure ACNES via this futuristic procedure. Dr Gillespie of St Joe’s in Phoenix developed this method. I am now pain free. God bless Dr Gillespie and his amazing team.
My gosh your pain, too was "off the we all". You know what it's like! It's crazy how bad the pain get be. I hate it and I dread nighttime. The pain started in 2014! After at least a year of no improvements it was 2015 that I made my first visit to Mayo; Rochester. Absolutely nothing has gotten rid of the pain for good. I road-bicycle quite often and only during those rides is the pain reduced. Thank God it is only 10-days until my first appointment with Dr. Gillespie and it can't come soon enough.
Jeff, How are you feeling now at 1-month since your surgery? I hope you are still feeling great. Have you had any residual pain experiences? Do you have any numbness as a result of the surgery? It is now only 6-more days until my appointment. The level of my pain is unbearable. If it weren't for taking 2.5-mg of oxycodone 2 or 3-times per day I don't know what I would do. Have a fine pain-free day. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Stuart
Hi Stuart, Sorry to hear you need to take the meds as much as you are but I surely can understand. I am feeling great. Lost the acnes, fatigue, blood pressure in way down, nausea is gone, etc. I do have very minor soreness still but slowly going away. Do have significant bloating in my stomach which I feel will subside but even if it does not I'll take the trade off any day. I do hope Dr Gillespie can get you in much sooner than December. Ask him about an trigger point injection at St Joe's. He mentioned it to me. Best wishes, Jeff
Jeff, Thank you for taking the time to reply. I am glad to hear that your issue with ACNES has been cured. I hope any remaining issues disappear for you soon. If Dr. Gillespie said he would do the surgery tomorrow I would be there! I cannot imagine living with this level of upper abdominal pain for long much less until December. I made it 24-hours without taking a oxycodone. However the pain has been so intense this morning that I have had to take two 2.5-mg pills to tamp it down. I have had numerous trigger point injections. They help for a short time but the intense pain has always returned. This started slowly in 2014 and has gotten worse over the years. The last 8-months have been brutally hard. Until I saw your referral to Dr. Gillespie I had investigated every option. Jackie said that they received 97-pages of my records. Next Friday cannot come soon enough! Have a fine pain-free day. Thank you! Stuart
Would like to hear how visit goes. Jeffrey Groudan