Morning Lump and Pain

First, I have no idea what is wrong with my bowels but am patiently awaiting a 5/18 GI appointment. My doctor has mentioned IBS, IBD, colitis, etc. as possibilities, so I'm just hanging here miserable as ever.

Anyways, the topic of this post is my "morning lump." Weird sounding huh? What happens is that first thing every morning, I start to feel crampy down by where my appendix would be and when I am laying flat on my back and look down at my quite flat stomach, what I see is a baseball to softball size hump to the right of my belly button. When I press it, it's tender and firm, but not like rock hard. I can move it too. I can push on it and it will slip over under my belly button. I can push it up towards my right ribcage too. When I move, it will pop back to its normal location. It's huge. It literally sticks up about 3-4" and this morning when I showed my husband, he was kind of freaked out. Trouble is, I can never seem to produce this when I go to the doctors.

I had a pelvic ultrasound on 2/14 and nothing showed up, but then again they were looking at my ovaries. I had a pelvic exam around the same time, she felt nothing. I had another pelvic exam mid-March, she saw and felt nothing. When I was lying on the table, it wasn't there. So what is it and why is it usually only there in the mornings and why is it so painful.

I first got this when I was constipated in March of 2009 when I quit smoking. After a couple of months of smoking again, it disappeared. It came back six months later when I quit again. If this is related to constipation, why do I still have it every morning even when I am having regular BM's? And, if it is my colon, why on earth can I move it so far around in my tummy?

Any thoughts?

Wow this sounds very strange I don't really know what it could be hernia maybe? If you move might be correcting itself but I really don't know just thing I thought of when you said it's a lump sticking out like that. Hope you find out what it is and if you do please share on the forum I would be really interested to know lol.

No, definitely not a hernia, it doesn't protrude up through my stomach lining. My husband has one near his belly button so I'm fairly familiar with them. This is like someone has inserted a softball into the part of my colon that is near my appendix area. It also moves of it's own volition. Kind of like when baby rolls inside the womb and you can watch the stomach kind of swell, surge and shift. This will do that. It's really bizarre and kind of starting to worry me. It would probably worry me more if it was always present, but it's not, it's only there until I get out of bed and start moving around. If my GI figures it out I'll definitely update this post!

I'll be interested to hear how you get on too, Bypeep. My bowel problems surfaced 6 months after I quit smoking and I too don't have a problem with bowel movements, although my D is on the increase. I get pain in my appendix area and in my pelvic area. An ultrasound and Barium FT have shown narrowing in my lower bowel. I have, not a lump, but more a sort of a 'ridge' couple of inches below my belly button. It moves a bit of its own accord like you describe, but I can't push it around - it's too painful.
I'm waiting for a follow up appointment after the Barium test.

My first thought was hernia as well...there are also lymph nodes right near the appendix..wonder if one is swollen?? Did they do a trans-vaginal ultrasound to get a better look at your ovary and pelvic bits? Not my idea of a good time but it is a better image than a roll up bedside one.

I was thinking maybe lymph node too. Only because the ones behind my ears swell and it comes and goes throughout the day. But that's not based on any sound knowledge...just a guess :smile:

Hi bypeep whatever is there shouldnt be there. I would let your Gi know what is going on. Hope you find out soon what it is. Let us know ok?:smile:

Maybe you should consider video taping your belly and bringing it with you to the doctor so they can see. Sounds like you need to find some answers.

-Donna

Keona said:

My first thought was hernia as well...there are also lymph nodes right near the appendix..wonder if one is swollen?? Did they do a trans-vaginal ultrasound to get a better look at your ovary and pelvic bits? Not my idea of a good time but it is a better image than a roll up bedside one.

Click to expand...

Yes, they did trans-abdominal and trans-vaginal. I had worried that it was an ovarian cyst as well, but my ovary only had multiple follicles on it because I was ovulating right around that day.

Whatever this is, it's not always there. It's only there in the first part of the morning. My doctor says it's my colon bunching up as it springs into gear when I wake up. I get that it's probably bowel, but what I don't get is why it just appeared after a three week long bout with constipation in March of 2009.

It has something to do with my bowel in that area. Not sure what part is there. It's weird. A little while after I get up I get pain in what I assume to be my ascending colon too. Then under my right ribcage for a bit. It's like my bowel is pushing stuff up but it doesn't like it. My doctor also mentioned the possibility of me having a redundant colon. I don't know. It's really frustrating and I think they think I'm crazy because like I said, whenever I have them examine me, it's not there. But then again, most of my doctors appts are later in the day because of my schedule.

I will video tape it and photograph it. This morning it was only half the size of yesterday so not quite as freakish.

I will update when I get back from GI on 5/18 - though it seems like a looooong time to wait!

about two weeks ago i noticed that my period was late with two weeks then i started having stomach pains. after a week i noticed i had a lump on my abdoment that appears only in the morning and this lump is painful and moves about on my abdoment. i did pregnancy tests and 5 out of these tests showed that im not pregnant of which the test that showed positive was done during early evening and some test results show an invalid result. my nipples are also painful when touched. could i be pregnant, what about this lump and my painful nipples.up to this day i havent had my period even though i feel period pains help me please

did you ever figure out what's going on?? you described to a T what is going on with me.

Hey I was wondering if you ever found out what that was in your stomach because I have the same exact thing and the doctors haven't done a thing about it because like you said when I there its npt there anymore.. I am 18 and it's been there since I was 14. It's gotten worse and bigger.. I'm scared that somethings really wrong. Please help.

Hi, I have the exact same thing. I have no idea what it is. I am 45 and I have just started having it this year.