Stomach pains

[Suecon]

Sorry for all the questions - but I have another one. Are stomach pains and generalised bellyache a feature of lupus flares?

[Paul_Howard Partner LUPUS UK]

Hi Suecon ,

They could potentially be the symptoms of lupus, something else, or a side effect of medication. Have you mentioned these symptoms to your doctor?

[Suecon in reply to Paul_Howard]

Hi Paul. I have a go app on Tuesday so will mention it then. It's difficult tho when there is no diagnosis. I always get stomach pain when I have what I believe is a flare. What causes it, do u know? The pain, I mean

[Paul_Howard Partner LUPUS UK in reply to Suecon]

It could potentially have a number of different causes; Depression and mood disorders can cause stomach upset; mesenteric vasculitis can occur in people who have severe SLE and stomach/abdominal pain is one of the symptoms; osteoporosis can cause recurrent problems with digestion which can cause stomach upset; fibromyalgia can commonly cause stomach upset; ulcers can cause stomach pain - these may just be a few of the possible causes I'm afraid. If this is a regular occurrence your GP may be able to refer you for further investigations to identify the cause.

[Suecon in reply to Paul_Howard]

Thank you. I only seem to get it when I have a flare so I doubt I have any of the problems you suggest. Thanx, tho x

[Cann in reply to Paul_Howard]

For me it was the other way round - gut disorders caused depression and mood swings - doctors didn't understand the close connection between the gut disorders and depression at that time and some still don't. When my gut flares, my mood changes, too, because when you feel ill, the mood is bound to follow.

[Suecon in reply to Cann]

Thanx, Cann. I, and my family, have noticed a change in my personality. I'm angry, anxious and moody. Together with the hallucinations it's pretty disturbing. Do u get help for it now?

[Cann in reply to Suecon]

I have been struggling for 16 years to manage it myself because when the doctor said I was depressed and put me on antidepressants and sent me to a counsellor in 2000/1, I was continuing to become sicker and sicker.

I even became suicidal and my husband told me to stop taking the drugs.

I had explained to my GP that I was not depressed but seriously ill, but not knowing what depression was, I gave the drugs and counsellor a try.

Eventually, I told him we were wasting each other's time and I needed to find a way to save my life and as much as the talks we had were good, they were not helping my physical illness. The GP wasn't listening to me and I stayed away, but when my husband and daughter insisted I went back, the GP was shocked at my loss of weight. I reminded her of how months before I had said to her that I was physically very ill, but she didn't believe it until, she said I need to eat a good meal and my husband and daughter said to her, she is always eating and always hungry, but the food goes straight through her. She sent me to a gastroenterologist who said he was afraid to give me the picolax for a sigmoidoscopy as he felt it could kill me. He had nothing else to offer other than hospitalization and I didn't want that as I felt they would kill me.

I saw a naturopath instead who felt my symptoms were those of coeliac at the least possibly crohn's disease.

She suggested I cut out gluten/wheat, but felt I may need to cut out all grains. I did and I felt a lot better, but I had many allergies and still do.

I was lucky enough to be taught muscle testing by a kinesiologist and I use that to find out what to ingest.

However, it takes time and the right food and when I have to be somewhere or do something, I can't do it and I suffer a flare in my gut and then the mood swings, etc. and have to go back to muscle testing and only eating what my body can take. I have not found any help in the conventional system - they did suggest I may need to have part of my bowel cut out, but I remain positive that I will manage it as surgery is traumatic and I feel I have had enough trauma in my life.

[Suecon in reply to Cann]

That's truly awful. What a terrible time you've had. I'm so glad that you found a way through. I too have many allergies but I don't have the problems you describe thankfully. Keep well x

[Buffy14]

I have always had diarrhoea and sometimes severe stomach cramps with it and vomiting I have always put it down to medication, interesting to know osteoporosis can cause this as I have that aswell .

[happytulip]

Serositis of the abdomen can be caused by a lupus flare. I have had both serositis of the chest and abdomen during bad flares. It's exceptionally uncomfortable/ painful. In fact when I was younger, prior to my lupus diagnosis I was incorrectly diagnosed with appendicitis but when they opened me up they said that my abdominal cavity was just a mass of inflammation and swollen mesenteric lymph nodes. They took the appendix out anyway. This was years before my diagnosis of lupus but it all makes sense now.

I think that it's very easy for physicians, especially surgeons to not consider serositis as it's not something that they will see very often.

[Suecon in reply to happytulip]

Thank u. It's awful that u went thru so much. I can't say that the pains are very bad but they are very uncomfortable. And I am chesty and a little breathless so perhaps there is inflammation x

[Cann in reply to Suecon]

I get chesty and breathless when I eat any dairy foods - milk, cheese, etc.