What Casues Persistent And Prolonged Abdominal Pain?

Posted on Mon, 8 Sep 2014

Question: HI DR. I AM A 72 YEAR OLD FEMALE WITH ABDOMINAL PAIN FOR THE PAST 2 MONTHS. I PREVIOUSLY HAD HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION (15 YARS AGO). NO SUMPTOMS SINCE THEN UNTIL 2 MONTHS AGO. I HAVE BEEN ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL SINCE LAST THURSDAY ON AND OFF . NO ONE CAN TELL ME ANYTHING. MY ILLNESS IS A "MYSTERY".. I HAVE DONE BLOOD, URINE TESTS, BECAUSE I ALSO HAD BLEEDING WHN I PASSED STOOL. DURING MY ADMISSION I HAD A COLONOSCOPY (THEY FOUND POLYPS AND INTERNAL HEMMOROIDS) AND A "NORMAL" RESULT OF ENDOSCOPY. THE DR TOOK A SAMPLE WHICH HE WILL TEST AND WILL TELL ME THE RESULTS IN 2 WEEKS TIME. DESPITE BEING GIVEN PANTOPRAZOLE 40MG I STILL EXPERIENCE PAIN. I AM WORRIED IT MAY BE STOMACH CANCER. I SEEM TO HAVE NO ANSWER TO MY PROBLEM. I AM WORRIED AND FRUSTRATED AS I CAN SOMETIMES BE IN AGONY NOT KNOWING WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY HEALTH. PLEASE HELP ME..
THANKING YOU IN AVANCE FOR YOUR REPLY

Answered by Dr. Dr. Prasad J (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Need more information...

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

I understand your concerns and I would like to help you. But first I would like to know which part of the abdomen aches. You can name the area with respect to belly button position - upper/lower; right/left. Further can you describe the pain in your own words (something like continuous dull ache / burning pain / stabbing / intermittent crampy).
I would also like to
- what other symptoms do you have with this pain. I read you had blood in stools which may be due to polyp or internal hemorrhoids. Do you have any other noticable symptoms?
- How does the pain behave in relation to food and sleep?
- Have you lost weight / appetite?

Please provide these preliminary details which will unable us to have an useful discussion.

Having said that the pain doesn't outrightly points towards a cancerous condition. But I agree with the previous doctors statement - 'we should wait for biopsy report'.

Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar