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This is actually BudT's wife, Lori, posting as Bud is NOT geeling good! He has been on Minocin since about Feb. 2006 and takes a very good probiotic every day too. The last few weeks/months he has been doing and feeling soooooooo good. Busy doing projects and lots that he enjoys!
Last Thursday, he was busy doing things all day, felt good. About an hour after dinner he started with pain in the back and abdominal area around the waist or belt line. Pain got worse as the evening progressed and continued Friday. Saturday morning felt a little better. He hadn't eaten hardly anything on Friday (toast, soup) but had a very small breakfast on Saturday. Felt so bad on Friday he didn't take Minocin or blood pressure medicine. Mid-morning Saturday, took Minocin, blood pressure med. and felt so bad again and continues to be that way this morning.
He finished a round of IV clindy last Sunday. That was also the day we ran out of the probiotic he takes and we get via mail. My fault!! I didn't know we were so low. I had placed an order but it hadn't arrived. So he went Monday through Wednesday without probiotic. He usually takes it at night but didn't on Thursday because he felt so bad by then.
Would skipping probiotic for those few days be causing this extreme pain and discomfort? He is not running a temp. and blood pressure is fine. Of course this is the weekend and I can't get in touch with his AP doctor until Monday. He refuses to go to any other doc. which I can't blame him given our experiences.
I'm at my wits end to know what is happening? ANY input is appreciated.
Lori on behalf of ButT, scleroderma
Lori,
Even though it is the weekend, call the AP doctor, they should have a service. Do I remember correctly, is Bud a patient of Dr. F in Riverside? If so the message will take you straight to their after hours service, I am sure they have one of the doctors on call.
I know that everyone is different, but that doesn't sound like it could have been caused solely from several days off probiotics.
My daughter, Jess, got really neglectful with her probiotics last fall when she moved away to college, she is still struggling with getting rid of yeast, it got really bad, but no pain like you described.
Cheryl
I'm no doc and have never had any IV antibiotics so I don't know of a cause and effect there but I did have a kidney stone about 25 years ago and your discription of his pain sounds familiar, any blood in the urine? At the early stage the blood stained the urine brown. Have the Doc check it out. Good luck I hope the pain just goes away.
[user=77]BudT[/user] wrote:
Last Thursday, he was busy doing things all day, felt good. About an hour after dinner he started with pain in the back and abdominal area around the waist or belt line. Pain got worse as the evening progressed and continued Friday. Saturday morning felt a little better. He hadn't eaten hardly anything on Friday (toast, soup) but had a very small breakfast on Saturday. Felt so bad on Friday he didn't take Minocin or blood pressure medicine. Mid-morning Saturday, took Minocin, blood pressure med. and felt so bad again and continues to be that way this morning.
Hi Lori,
So sorry to hear Bud is feeling so bad. Although I'm not a medical person, I experienced similar pain a few years ago…pain radiating into upper middle back (like a stabbing, boring pain) and also pain under the right ribcage, so much so I had to cut out all the underwires from my bras, as any pressure on the area was murder. Right shoulder pain can also be a referred type of pain some experience with this.
After eating, this pain would intensify and sometimes would feel like I would imagine a heart attack to feel like – crushing, wavelike pain. After doing a bit of research online, I found I was having gall bladder, biliary attacks. The doc told me my only option was surgical removal, but I decided that wasn't an option for me and started liver flushing. It worked and I haven't had problems since.
Having said this, there is also a very nasty abdominal bug that is going around at the moment. In fact, I thought my sixteen year old daughter was having gall bladder attacks a couple weeks ago. She came in to my bedroom at 4am, shaking and in terrible pain….right under right ribcage. I got her to the doc the next day and she was sent for bloodwork, ultrasound and x-ray. They checked for everything under the sun….nothing came up and doc concluded it must be a virus. This pain continued for about a week afterwards, but she's now okay and it's passed.
The only way to know what Bud's pain is related to is to get him to the doc and have all the usual offenders ruled out. Kidney stones, gall stones, pancreas, appendix, stomach ulcers, liver enzymes, etc. Hopefully, it's just this abdominal flu bug thing that's doing the rounds…it really was a very virulent bug. I was so concerned, I thought I was going to have to get her to emergency in the middle of the night, but giving her Advil seemed to quiet things down enough, so we could wait to see her doc that day.
Please send the BBs very best to him and do hope you guys get to the bottom of this soon. With all the IVs he's been having, it may even be a herx, but with this kind of pain, it's always good to have things checked out and ruled out. Please stay in touch with us all and let us know how he's doing. You'll both be in my thoughts.
Peace, Maz
Hi Lori,
Please tell Bud we're sorry he's not feeling well. Maz already hit on it, but your description sounds a lot like my gallbladder attacks. Kim
Hi Lori,
There are so many things that it could be. Gall bladder, kidneys, esophagas issues. He may need to go in and have a work up done. But that does not necessarily mean they will absolutely find something. I have very sluggish kidneys and have pain that sounds a lot like that. I also have had pancreatitis and that too can put a person in so much pain.
When I have major swelling in the belly and pain in the back that radiates down into the butt etc…I always go strictly on papaya juice, aloe-vera with water. I mix it in equal parts and sip on that. It soothes the insides and calms things down.
People with SD often have a lot of digestive issues. I have to go in to the Gastro doc more then anyone else, about once or twice a year. I have the esophagas dilated and he checks out the stomach each time. There are times when I swear that I must be loaded with cancer and the gastro doc sees nothing, so he says anyway.
Take Care,
Diane
Thank you everyone for your quick respones! I know I could count on you! I think we're just going to have to have him checked out for gall bladder, etc. even though he does not want to! It makes me feel better knowing others have experienced something similiar.
Mentally this is setting Bud back. Today he feels like he will never get better. I'm doing my best to say the right things but he is really down. Thanks, Cheryl! I will Dr. F. and see what he says.
We so apprectiate everyone's encouragement and support!
Lori and BudT
Hi
Please dont skip the blood pressure med –got to keep blood pressure consistant without fluctuation if possible —while I am not a doctor –suggest you ask DR F about kidney tests –BUN and Creatinine
richie
Thanks for the advice, Richie. We had his kidney function checked a month ago and numbers were ok and hadn't changed since approx. a year ago. Good point about not skipping blood pressure medicine.
The more I'm researching gall bladder symptoms the more I'm thinking that's what this is. But we'll have to check with doctor. What about the olive oil and lemon drink. Should we try that and how often?
The spikes of pain hit really hard after he tries to eat anything. What he is eating is very bland.
Lori
Lori,
If you try lemon and olive oil, be very very careful. It can lay a person out in the bathroom. My daughter did that last year and she thought she was going to die. My second oldest daughter did the same thing and passed a kidney stone. She too ended up on the bathroom floor and passed out. Her husband called an ambulance for her. It really can get things moving, but maybe a little too quickly.
Diane
[user=77]BudT[/user] wrote:
The more I'm researching gall bladder symptoms the more I'm thinking that's what this is. But we'll have to check with doctor. What about the olive oil and lemon drink. Should we try that and how often?
The spikes of pain hit really hard after he tries to eat anything. What he is eating is very bland.
Hi Lori,
Yes, you're right…spikes in pain after eating is pretty typical of a gall bladder problem (inflammed by a stuck stone or GB sludge, for instance) and it's best to stay away from anything difficult to digest and fatty – just plain, steamed veg and lean chicken or fish would be good. Fats in particular cause the GB to contract in a very big way.
The lemon and olive oil drink would be an excellent, harmless addition, as it acts as a gentle, slow liver flush, but probably best to start with small amounts as a test just in case the oil gets the GB contracting too much.
After checking in with Bud's doc and covering all the corners, if he dx's a gall bladder issue, there is a quick “bandaid” fix for pain episodes, but wouldn't recommend it until you guys know what is going on for sure. Basically, it's one tablespoon of epsom salts in an 8oz glass of fresh squeezed pink grapefruit juice. Sounds nasty and, well, it is (tastes soapy)…but drunk quickly with a straw, it works like a miracle to relieve gall bladder pain within about 10 or 15 mins by relaxing the painful contractions and dilating the bile ducts to allow for easier flow of bile. The only drawback is that you need to be near the bathroom for the next hour or two, as it acts as a very swift colon cleanse, too (sorry to be graphic for the faint of heart, but watery explosive stool). Not a bad thing when one is suffering from gall bladder problems, because any constipation and back-up in the intestines just make pain much worse. This gets things moving again, as often bile flow is impeded, which is the body's natural digestive lubricant. It's not uncommon for people with longstanding or severe GB problems to have dry, clay colored stool, because there isn't enough bile making it out into the intestines.
I was freaked out at the thought of drinking epsom salts to begin with. I always remembered my grandmother putting them in her tub, as a child…and I do now! But, if you look on the side of the carton, it says that epsoms are indeed an old fashioned constipation remedy. Again, though, just to be safe, I wouldn't try anything out of the ordinary until you're sure. Just thought to pass this tip along, as it may be useful, if Bud's pain is indeed GB-related…a good test, too, because if pain is relieved with this concoction, then that's confirmation, so to speak. Just to restate – the epsoms and grapefruit juice drink is just a temporary “band aid”, though. I did it a few times before I was ready to jump into doing the full liver flush that ultimately stopped the attacks for me.
He might also want to try castor oil packs laid over the stomach. These are easy to do…just saturate a large wash cloth with castor oil and lay it directly on the gallbladder area. Then put a heating pad or hot water bottle over the top of this. Many find this helps to relieve pain.
Tomorrow is Monday and hopefully you will be able to get some answers from Bud's doc soon.
Peace, Maz
Pain like that sounds like it could be appendix, gall bladder, or kidney stones (?) Unfortunately when dealing with these diseases, every sign, symptom or pain you feel you try to connect it to the disease, but it may have nothing to do with it, but may be one of the above(?) Good L uck, Hope Bud feels better soon!!
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