Some days the pain will start very hard spasms in my bladder-lower bowel
area. They will kick me into hard AD in a flash. I know
the pain starts at my spine but I've been scanned and scoped to make sure
because the spasms hit my stomach first. I'm sure it's
just the muscles reacting to the pain. I've looked at a lot of
x-rays and test results and think it's just SCI thing with me.
Hi
All...
Severe Groin Pain is what I call it... and I do notice it most with gas,
unusual bowel programs, or as a hint that "unusual" is on the way.
It's been a long time since I wrote... not getting messages and busier
than normal... but I check the archives when I can. And THIS
particular problem is a real biggie for me, too. And, while I haven't
found a cure, I've found some things that have helped. Some a
little... others a lot. Some by themselves and others only in
conjunction with something else.
* I've had the full scan, top to bottom, that I think wheelchair was
talking about. They put me through a CAT Scan after drinking some
thick chalky stuff they tried to say tasted like Pi�a Colada (sure!), and
not eating for 8-10 hours... nada. Nothing found.
* Or, if wheel meant something else, maybe it was this one where I was
scoped from the ends after spending six hours on a commode chair one night,
violently blowing clear water out my butt (did you call that "Go Lightly"
Wheel?), followed by a barium enema... a heavy, X-ray opaque white metal
pumped in "backwards" that shows the shape and size of the bowel and can
expose any 'raw' or irritated areas, among other things. Again,
nothing found but spasms. (The catheter and balloon used to insert and
hold the barium and solution in was literally SHOT back at the
X-ray tech who kept saying 'more... more...' just to get the fluid past a
spastic area... LOL!) This was actually kinda cool because I could see
the X-rayed movie of it all happening. (heheh)
* I got to a point where I had my gall bladder removed because all the
Docs could finally come up with was "Referred Pain" (and it was known I had
gall stones anyway... so, no real loss) that was causing all my
discomfort... that was 8 years ago... no change.
* Acid is a problem. I need to take two different precription acid
reducers. (My insurance hates this! Both meds are supposed to do
the same thing... but the trick is that they do it using different
biochemical/physiological pathways.) One is an H2-blocker that blocks
certain receptors so your body realizes it has enough stomach acids [the
ones like Zantac, Cimetidine]. The other type is a proton pump
inhibitor [like Prilosec or Prevacid] that stops acid production in the
first place. I have to take both... one alone won't work for me.
* In my case, the bowels are also 'overactive' ... they're always on the
move so I have to slow them down with a prescription called Librax (can't
remember [or pronounce] the generic) and sometimes use Immodium to slow "the
propulsive motility of the bowels." Without these, I could be doing a
bowel program twice a day and still be uncertain in between.
* Simethicone [Gas-X] really helps the pain you're describing at
times. I take one every night at bed time since during the night and
waking up are the most painful. I've described it as riding a bike at
full speed with no seat... just the post... and then hitting a bunch
of speed bumps!
I've found that the most painful times are after I'm lying down and my
body starts relaxing, and then suddenly something wakes me and
everything tenses up again. (e.g. a loud noise, my wife getting
in/out of bed, the cat walking on me or the dogs barking at a noise,
etc.) The next thing I notice is that evrything is everything is
hyper-sensitive (hyperaesthesia / hyperesthesia). The
slightest touch, a tiny movement whether conscious, subconscious, or even
passively (i.e. someone else moving me even just a little bit), or simply
having clothes or the sheets brushing against the hairs on my arms feels
like *FIRE* or being dragged across coarse sandpaper. I'm told
it's some type of extreme neurogenic pain, possibly from hyperexcitable
spinal neurons, ... but real or not, it's the perception that really
matters!
I seriously empathise and hope you can find something that
helps... and maybe pass that info on here if you do... Right now I'm
having a terrible time with this pain because it's compounded by diarrhea
this week... also painful/stressful on the system. The gas has been
getting worse... and that just gets the whole system going haywire again.
Take care & best of luck!
Sincerely,
Tod
