What Causes Abdominal Pain?

Posted on Wed, 23 Jul 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 23 Jul 2014 Answered on

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I have had abdominal pain for 14 months which at times is severe, and at others times, not there. It is alleviated within five minutes by drinking a large glass of icewater with lemon juice. I cannot walk upright for more than 20 minutes without this pain coming on. I have a hernia around my navel from removal of a 20 pound ovarian cyst in 2011, which later tore underneath that area. I have had a colonoscopy which showed no problems. The General Surgeon said the hernia is not causing the pain. At times I can feel my pulse all over my abdomen pumping really hard. The GP and his PA just ignored my symptoms. The GI docs PA said sounded like pancreatitis. My amylase and lipase are low. I don't know where to go next. GI doc seemed more interested in scheduling colonoscopy, then wanted me back four weeks later with no attention to the pain. His scheduler urged me to 'exercise 30 minutes a day three times per week' to help my fatty liver, but I can barely stand to do dishes. Sometimes I feel really shaky and weak, but the chief symptom is this pain that comes and goes, seems intestinal, and is helped by lemon water. I read that the first symptom of pancreatic cancer can be pain alone. They ignore this 'pain' complaint, as if I hadn't even brought it up, but it has severely limited my activities now since May of 2013.

Answered by Dr. Dr.Albana Sejdini Greca (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Kindly provide the requested medical data...

Detailed Answer:
Hi my dear,

I am sorry for the situation you are in.

Before running into final conclusions, I need to have more details on your medical history:
- can you describe the location and intensity of the pain you feel?
- is it right after eating or all the time? is there any particular food/drink you take that you think might trigger the pain?
- apart appearing when standing up, does the pain get aggravated when you are moving around or at bedtime (during nighttime)?
- have you measured your blood sugar levels and/or blood pressure at the time when you feel shaky and weak?
- can you provide the lab reports you had? I need to check them myself and advise for next follow up steps?
- apart ice water with lemon juice; does the pain get relieved when you use any particular pain killer?
- do you have any other symptom (i.e. diarrhea, loss of appetite, fever, etc.)?

Looking forward to have the requested medical data in!

Meanwhile, I advise to:
- drink more water
- take buscopan or other spasmodic drugs to relieve pain
- be careful with foods you eat and drinks you take (avoid those that could trigger your symptoms).

Thank you!
Dr.Albana

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