Ask Me Help Desk - Frustrated with the Doctors, and worried about the baby.

Hi Y'all,

Okay here's the situation--

I am 23 weeks pregnant and this is my first pregnancy (which I had been blessed with a healthy and morning sickness free one) and on Wed morning at 1 AM I awoke with a very mild knot like pain in my lower right adomen, I just went and emptied my bladder, not taking much notice of it, only thought it was just some gas pain.

At 4 am, I woke up again to empty my bladder, noticing that the knot like pain was slightly worse and had felt like there was a golf ball sitting there. Again, I figured that it was still only gas pain and that it'd pass over.

6 am, I no longer could sleep for that there was no relief from the knot pain and it felt like it now had spikes that stabbed me if I moved wrong. However it didn't hurt if the baby moved. I had bowel movements and it didn't disappear.

At 8 am I called the clinic to talk to my doctor, questioning about what I could do to relieve this "gas pain," and they had become very concerned that it wasn't mere gas pain, but rather appendicits.

So, left with no choice, I went to the Emergency Room to be checked out.

They tested my white blood count which was slightly high, so they moved on to an Ultrasound and checked on the baby who is just has grown so much (last saw her at 20 weeks, the growth is remarkable!) and is perfectly normal and healthy, but they could not see my appendix. Also I had no fever at all. They were a bit baffled at this. They also administered Morphine to control the pain, and it backfired, Morphine only made me sleepy and made me vomit.

They then opted to do a CT Scan, (they did not want to do that due to the baby at first but felt like they had no choice but to check) which came back normal.

Due to a medical reason, I could not do a MRI (I have implants which would be ripped right out of my head if I were to do a MRI).

They kept me for observation and did not allow me to eat for 24 hours and put me on IV.

They ruled out appendicits, Kidney stones, bowel blockage, and I've met with 3 surgerons so far that have been completely baffled at this. I also have exceeded my OB doctor's skills.

My mysterious pain got much more severe over time that even if the baby bumped it, I was in terrible pain. It no longer feels like just a mere golf ball lodged between my pelvic bone and the womb, but rather it throbs and sends out shock like pain that shoots up your side (right). They finally got me on painkillers that seem to at least take the edge off and is safe for the baby. Even then, on painkillers, it still hurts if I move wrong and still feels like there's a knot sitting there.

Long story short-- Everything they tested on came back to normal (My white blood count did rise again and then dropped lower than when I originally came in) but I still had this pain and also not forgetting that I later developed a throbbing headache. I am, along with the health professionals are hesitant on going for an exploratory surgery for that I could go into labor, and even though if I were to deliver the baby now, she would be able to survive, but it is better that she stays in the womb full term.

They no longer could help me and sent me home for the weekend with painkillers and antinausea pills until I could go and see some more different kinds of doctors for advice and ideas, and tests this upcoming week.

I am frustrated and want to enjoy this pregnancy without any pills, pain, worry, and know that no matter how "safe" these pills are, it can't be too good for the baby in the long term. If anyone out there that has been in the same boat or knows of someone, please, throw out any suggestions.

Thanks.

Do you notice the pain more after you eat? Are your bowel movements the same as usual? How are you feeling over all... more tired than normal?

I wonder if it may be something that is not acute enough to cause an obvious problem... for example, could it still be your appendix is slightly inflammed enough to cause you discomfort and the variations in white blood cells, but not enough to be considered appendicitis? Perhaps something going on with your liver... there are a few things that can come up during pregnancy. The gallbladder can be an issue sometimes in pregnancy. Again, maybe it is something that is just in an early stage?
It may too end up being that it clears on its own and you will never know for sure what the issue was.
Obviously keep your doctor informed of any continuing concerns and certainly if anything new develops.
Hope they can sort it out soon for you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoulaLC

Do you notice the pain more after you eat? Are your bowel movements the same as usual? How are you feeling over all...more tired than normal?

I wonder if it may be something that is not acute enough to cause an obvious problem....for example, could it still be your appendix is slightly inflammed enough to cause you discomfort and the variations in white blood cells, but not enough to be considered appendicitis? Perhaps something going on with your liver....there are a few things that can come up during pregnancy. The gallbladder can be an issue sometimes in pregnancy. Again, maybe it is something that is just in an early stage?
It may too end up being that it clears on its own and you will never know for sure what the issue was.
Obviously keep your doctor informed of any continuing concerns and certainly if anything new develops.
Hope they can sort it out soon for you.

Thank you so much for your reply, DoulaLC, I greatly appreciate it...

No difference in pain before or after eating, the same goes for the bowel movements- I do notice that since I've gotten pregnant that my bowel movements have slowed down, but when I had the CT Scan I was "empty", so they knew I wasn't having any obstruction. Yes I've felt tired than normal- which I think is from pregnancy itself. It is hard knowing whether if something is from being pregnant or if it isn't and yet easily could be passed off as a pregnancy thing which makes things a lot more complicated I think. It is possible for any of these things and the waiting game is hard on me, and I too keep hoping that it'll clear up or that a new puzzle piece that brings everything into place shows up soon.

Yesterday however, I had a meal with my painkillers as instructed by my doctor to avoid nausea, I ended up losing it all, but did not continue to throw up after that. Later, early this morning when I ingored the sign of my pain getting bigger and worse due to exhaustion, I ended up waking up to an excuricating pain of 2 new additional "knots with spikes", one was under my rib cage on the right side and another was in my lower right back (that one rather had a burning sensation), which disappeared soon as the painkillers kicked in (my painkillers had worn off) and that was scary.

I chose not to go to the hospital yet for that I still can manage the pain with painkillers and they had told me that there wasn't anything else they could do for me except to ship me off to a hospital which is well known for surgeries. I feel at a loss on whether if I should just go for the surgery to take a peek and risk endangering my little girl or if I should just keep riding it out to see where it goes. I still have no signs of fever and no other signs have shown up.

As for the baby, she is still active and is very good at letting me know that she is doing well which gives me a lot of comfort so at least that's a relief.

In overall I feel cornered and only want to do the right thing yet feel lost in the darkness. :(

Tough situation... can be a number of possible causes... hernia, fibroid, cyst, inflamed gall bladder or appendix, etc.. Some possibly related to pregnancy, or exacerbated by pregnancy... others nothing to do with pregnancy. Being pregnant, however, can make some things more difficult to discern. I'm sure they did a complete work up and apparently nothing raised any red flags requiring further examination.

The painkillers obviously help with the pain, but knowing what is causing the pain in the first place is certainly important as well.
I would think they have come up with all of the more obvious possibilities. Can only speculate at what it may be from.

Frustrating I'm sure... don't hesitate to call your doctor though. If something goes on that is enough to cause you concern, it merits a phone call.

I've been dealing with that knot feeling on my right side too but it didn't hurt just like a ball was there... it seems to have settle down now the further along I get in my pregnancy.. I believe that mine is a cyst though

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarrelRacinGrl

I ended up waking up to an excuricating pain of 2 new additional "knots with spikes", one was under my rib cage on the right side and another was in my lower right back (that one rather had a burning sensation),

This is indicative of gall bladder disease, better known as gall stones. If this is the case, there is little that can be done about it until after the delivery of the baby.

Updates:

First, I want to thank everyone that provided their input and stories and mainly, the support. I appreciate it y'all.

It turns out that it was my adominal wall muscle combined with conspitation that was causing the pain so they were able to successfully get me off the pain killers (which was my goal all along I was so worried about the effects it would have on the baby) and placed me with this really helpful patch that does not have any naracotics or anything that would affect the baby and it basically relaxes the muscle and they placed me on stool softeners and I'm doing much better than earlier. However it would seem that it may take my body awhile to adjust to this bowel movement change if you get what I mean... *shudders* So looks like everything will be all right and hopefully no more surprises later down the road :)

Thanks again Y'all...

Glad to hear it appears to be easily taken care of. Hope you will be feeling some relief soon!

Great great great... happy for youuuuu.. I knew it wasn't serious

Glad to hear it was something so simple!