Undiagnoised but concerned with symptoms

Just looking for some help and advice from people who know.

I am a 43 year old woman, I had c diff in August 2012 after taking antibiotics for an unrelated problem so I don't know if anything stems from that but since then I have had bouts of stomach cramps always in the right lower side of the abdomen and frequent diarrhea.

This week has been the worst to date!
It started last Sunday with the stomach cramping in the lower right side, sickness but no diarrhea but I was doubled up in pain, unable to eat and by Thursday my Husband had had enough (my pain by then was from 1 sunday - 8 thursday) he took me to our local urgent care facility who carried out blood work and urine problems which showed up nothing, I was referred for an ultra sound scan the following morning . I was told to revisit the Dr at the urgent care facility 3 hours later for the ultra sound scan results, which showed nothing except a cyst on my left kidney. He referred me to the emergency department in the city for a CT scan, after thinking it could be the appendix or a problem with a cyst on my ovaries.
After a 6 hour wait in agony and numerous amount of drugs later and frequent trips to the washroom I had the CT scan which didn't show any problems with the appendix or the ovaries.
I felt as if I had wasted everybody's time but I'm still in so much pain and still have diarrhea.
I was given Tramacet for the pain and Esomeprazole Magnesium for the nausea and told to see how it is in another 4 days!!!!!

My friend called to check how I was and said a colleague of hers had a similar experience and she ended up having Crohn's Disease.

I don't want to keep going back to our local urgent care facility and wasting peoples time but I'm in so much pain I don't know what to do for the best.

I was looking for some advice from people who may have had a similar experience.


I should also mention that that I haven't eaten properly since Sunday
Thanks
Mrs Us3

Hey There,

I am so sorry for what you are dealing with. Did they by chance run another stool sample to check for C-diff? I know that you said you had it in August. I know it can be hard to get rid of completely and it can keep coming back. Maybe get that checked again if you have not already. I hope you can get some help and answers and most importantly, some relief soon!

Oh , also, I would try and get on some strong probiotics too. There is one called Florastor that is suppose to help with preventing C-diff and helping with Diarrhea. Also I would get one that has many different strains of good bacteria.

Don't feel like you wasted anyone's time. The staff at Emergency and Urgent care facilities aren't only there to treat emergencies - they're also there to assess whether someone is an emergency case or not. They did tests to rule out some causes of your symptoms, which is what they are there to do, whether the results come back positive or not.

That said, as you've probably realised, emergency rooms aren't the best place for diagnosing complex diseases. Rather than go back to the urgent care hospital, you would probably do better to make an appointment with your GP/family doctor (I'm not sure which country you're in, so I'm not sure exactly what their title will be where you are!) and ask for a referral to see a consultant gastroenterologist. Although this will involve a wait (several weeks in the UK, probably not so long if you're in the US), when you get to the appointment you will see someone who specialises in gastroenterological problems, who has had the time to go over your full medical history, and who can determine which tests are needed to try to diagnose what's wrong with you.

Crohn's disease often needs an endoscopy and/or colonoscopy to be diagnosed, but there are many many other conditions that could cause your symptoms, and the specialist should be able to tell you whether these tests are necessary. You've not been sick very long, so it might still be that what you've had turns out to be an acute or curable condition.

While you are waiting for the appointment, go back to the urgent care facility if your symptoms are suddenly worsening or if you get new symptoms which concern you. You might also be able to go to them for pain relief, however your GP/family doctor should be able to advise you on pain meds to keep you as comfortable as possible until you can be seen by a specialist. You can also try Imodium for diarrhoea, which is available without a prescription (you can buy it in chemists, supermarkets, etc.) which is a very safe drug which can be effective in treating diarrhoea. Try to keep eating, even if you don't feel like it.

Hopefully you can take your experience at the urgent care facility as a sign that if you had something immediately serious, they would have detected it. Your symptoms will be dealt with much more effectively by specialised doctors, not emergency medical staff who don't deal with diagnosing complex cases and have no specialist knowledge of gastroenterological conditions.

I guess the really hard thing for you will be pain management whilst waiting to see the doctor - if you can't cope with the pain relief you've been given, don't be afraid to go back and ask for something stronger. I also find a hot water bottle to be effective for pain relief, especially for cramps as the warmth relaxes your muscles.

Take care and I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks, I did go back today and have been referred to a Gastroenterologist. The Dr today was very good and said his suspicions were Endometrioitis, Crohns Diesease or a form of colitis. Thanks for your advice.
I now live in Canada (3 years) and lived in the UK for 40 years
Sorry but it was Aug 2012 I had c diff not 2013 as originally stated.

So I've been prescribed Tramacet and Buscapan,
I'm now starting week 3 and still have the horrendous abdominal pain and fatigue, it hurts my abdominal area when I poop, I still have no appetite.

Is this normal, I'm just worried.