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Swollen Abdomen, Painful To Sneeze Or Cough. US Found Nothing. Not Pancreatitis. Pinching In Left Side

Posted on Sun, 9 Sep 2012

Question: Hi, I'm a 37-year-old female with 3 children. I have been having "episodes" for the past 3 years. My abdomen will swell periodically and over the years the pinching in my right upper abdomen has increased in severity. In April of this year, I felt a stabbing pain that hurt worse with jarring movements. I sneezed and I felt a pop and kind of oozing sensation and a slight release of pressure. The pain was so intense, I tried to stop myself from sneezing or coughing for a few days until the pain subsided. I went to the ER a couple of days after the pop and they couldn't find anything when they did a pelvic exam. I then went to an OBGYN who did one of those XXXXXXX ultrasounds and found nothing. Over the years, I have been to several doctors. A pancreatic specialist ruled out my pancreatitis (I was hospitalized with pancreatitis for a week in my twenties when I had my gall bladder removed). And I saw 2 gastroenterologists who didn't find anything. This past week, I started to feel a slight pinching in my left side also, but the pinching is still way more often and prominent in my left side.

Answered by Dr. Sree Gouri SR (50 minutes later)

hi,
Thanks for the query.

the possible causes for your symptoms are,

-adhesions due to prior cesarean section: in some women there is possibility for formation of adhesions after cesarean section, during periods or during ovulation or when there is increased abdominal pressure etc in these situations there could be stretching of adhesions leading to pain, when these are attached to near by intestines etc the pain can radiate to upper abdomen also, these may not be visible in ultrasound.

-gastritis: in case of gastritis you can feel burning sensation and sometimes pain, the pop you felt may be because of release of gas, in case of chronic gastritis you can feel intense pain sometimes, gall bladder removal can lead to chronic gastritis.

so you better go for antacids twice a day half an hour before meals, and analgesics also help in relieving pain in case of adhesions,
you can try home remedies to relieve gastritis like,
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if your problem doesn't get relieve with these you can go for diagnostic laparoscopy as final option with your doctor's advice to find out the possible cause.

Hope I have answered your query. I will be available to answer your follow up queries. If you are satisfied with all my answer, please rate the answer after closing the discussion.
Take care.

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

Follow up: Dr. Sree Gouri SR (2 minutes later)

What about the possiblity of ovarian cysts?

Answered by Dr. Sree Gouri SR (1 hour later)

hi,

ovarian cysts can be diagnosed by ultrasound and pelvic examinations usually, so as you said that transvaginal ultrasound failed to detect any adnexal pathology I am thinking that the possibility of ovarian cyst is less.

Wish you Good Health, If you are satisfied with my response please rate the answer after closing the discussion.
Take care.

Note: Revert back with your health reports to get further guidance on your gastric problems. Click here.

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