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Waking up with bad lower abdominal pain and needing the bathroom urgently please help!

KitKatGirl profile image
15 Replies

I have been diagnosed with Crohn's disease and IBS for about 16 months now and I am on azathioprine and meberverine to help the pain and flare ups but recently, over the past few weeks, I've been waking up at around 2am with horrendous lower abdominal pain which usually lasts about twenty minutes and then I need to rush to the toilet where I tend to be for rather a long time with diarrhea and still having the cramps. I feel so sick afterwards that I'm up for most of the night. I could really use any advice from anyone who has similar experiences or knows any tips to stopping this. Thanks muchly

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KitKatGirl
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15 Replies
Gillian3 profile image
Gillian3

Hi. I have UC and have had it a few years now. I have the same problem, I have nights where I end up getting up 4-5 times a night and then have to get up at 5.30 to get myself to work and my kids to school, it is totally exhausting. I have found lately tho that the best way to fight it is with diet. If I eat sensibly, cutting out too much roughage such as raw veg, fruit and salad and stick to white foods such as white bread, crackers, white rice and pasta etc, I do find I can eat chocolate 😀 And weirdly curries as this doesn't affect me, and I drink water and squash more than I do hot drinks (tea or coffee just in the morning with breakfast) that I do manage to sleep most nights through til around 4-5am. Alcohol always upsets my tummy and I end up getting up in the night unfortunately. I hope this helps you. Another lovely guy has suggested drinking Volvic water or something similar as this can help, I'm yet to try this. Good luck and hope things improve for you soon. If you need anymore support then shout. Gill 😊

KitKatGirl profile image
KitKatGirl in reply to Gillian3

Thanks for the advice. I usually eat quite bland foods like rice and pasta but last night I did have a small amountof icecream but I am usually fine with it so I didn't think anything of it until you brought it up! I'll stick to bland foods for now, no more icecream for me :( , I'll also give the volvic water a go and hopefully that will help! Thanks KitKatGirl x

Gillian3 profile image
Gillian3 in reply to KitKatGirl

You have to have some treats though, it may not be the ice cream, I don't think ice cream affects me too much, but everyone is different I think. I'm no expert on any of this so don't take my advice too rigidly, I was just sharing what I do and what kind of works, I've eaten an egg mayo sandwich for lunch and have a feeling I've made a mistake. It's really tough. Take care 😊

KitKatGirl profile image
KitKatGirl in reply to Gillian3

I think it was what I fancied and all my family were eating AND it was Ben and Jerry's cookie dough so I felt I couldn't really say no 😬 I used to have problems with milk but I thought it was okay now but if I'm going through a flare up or just not feeling well I think I should probably avoid it, much like that egg mayo sandwhich you ate! I find its great to get advice from people as well as doctors because they can tell you the medical advice that they e read in books but people can tell you what it's really like! Hope you feel better I always find mayo make me feel sick. Thanks KitKatGirl x

Hi there,

I have been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis earlier this year. I don't know if this is the same thing but just last week I had woken up in the middle of the night with severe abdominal pain and the urgency to go to the bathroom a few times in a very short period of time. I ended up feeling so sick, almost throwing up and passing out from the immense pain (plus a cold sweat and difficulty breathing) that I had to call an ambulance.

I ended up on a drip, had X-rays, stool tests done and kept overnight for observation. It turned out to be faecal loading and I'm on Movicol now. It may be worth getting an X-ray done to see if it's that as that quite common/normal when on some medications for IBD (I am taking 6-mp and prednisolone).

I hope that's of help to you

Take care,

Amiya x

KitKatGirl profile image
KitKatGirl in reply to

Thanks for the reply, I had no idea that it could be serious I thought I was just feeling a little unwell! The doctors have been worried about fecal loading before and had mentioned it and xrayed me in the past but it all seemed fine. I'll speak to my crohns nurse and ask to see if they can see me to check it out. It's been awhile since I'd even thought of this as I haven't had the problems in the night for a while. Thanks for the help I wouldn't have payed too much attention to it otherwise! KitKatGirl x

blesley profile image
blesley in reply to

I had problems with certain foods ice cream also, it was found I had too much acid, so was given meds to combat that as it appeared to be GERD I have bowel probs, colitis, which flares up with Acidic foods, so do feel food irritate the bowel and herd.

Marz profile image
Marz

What did you eat that day ? May be a good idea to keep a food diary to see which foods cause the problem you have described. I have had Crohns for over 40 years - with endless surgeries with complications.

As Hippocrates said - Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food :-)

I always found any meds made me worse - NOT better !

KitKatGirl profile image
KitKatGirl in reply to Marz

Thanks for the reply, my normal diet is very bland foods with a lot of plain pasta and rice but last night I had a spoon of icecream which could have caused it even though I've been okay with it in the past it seems like diet and/or fecal loading appear to be the cause of this so I'll keep a closer eye on what I eat and also speak to my nurse to see if its anything more serious. Thanks for the help! KitKatGirl x

Marz profile image
Marz in reply to KitKatGirl

Check out the ingredients in the ice-cream. Am betting there will be some gluten in there - under the disguise of some other name for wheat. Used to thicken it :-(

Rice is known to be quite a problem for some due to spraying of crops. Not as pure as it looks.

Keeping a diary/journal will highlight things you may not have thought about ....

CormorantWatcher profile image
CormorantWatcher

Pinning down whether a specific dietary ingredient is to blame can take an age - it might even be eating your main meal at lunch time, smaller meal in the evening. I found gluten to be an issue, but only after surgery for UC (total collectomy). When I thought back, issues I'd had before would have/could have been gluten related, but even a UC intact bowel can deal with gluten way better than with no colon....

As suggested, try keeping a food diary. My consultant also recommended I try probiotics, but warned that none of the probiotics available in supermarkets have been clinically tested.

Good luck with getting some relief.

Marz profile image
Marz

Am drinking Pellegrino as I read :-) Very expensive here in Crete !

Marz profile image
Marz

Not able to source it at present. I have not read the work of the Professor. Does he indicate that the silica removed the toxic aluminium ? Can the silica rich water cause constipation as water is absorbed in the gut ?

Marz profile image
Marz

Thank you :-)

SORRELHIPPO profile image
SORRELHIPPO

I do agree with the food diary, I kept one, and at certain times am very limited in what I can eat, all tins and packets need inspecting with a magnifying glass. My fall backs if bad are bananas, white bread, eggs, tinned tomato soup and tinned tuna in brine, wonderful!!

Do not forget the basic dioralyte (rehydration sachets from chemist) if the runs and or vomiting. Also I would see my doctor with that level of symptoms, just in case, I have had both narrowing and faecal loading in the past, these do need checking out.

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