chronic dull lower right abdominal pain

I have been having this type of achey pain for about 3 months. Sometimes it will go away for days or even weeks and then "flair up" and cause irritating pain on and off most of the day. I have had no digestive problems and no problems with heartburn, just a dull throb just to the right of my belly button.

I was diagnosed with PA 6 months ago and had and still have multiple symptoms and neurological symptoms with my hands and feet being numb, swollen, and inflamed in the joints along with balance, memory, bruising, and swollen tongue. These have decreased a small amount but I still have some symptoms, I am finding that an injection every 3 weeks keeps me functioning. I think i could benefit from more, but don't have a prescription for that frequent a dosage as the doctor said I should be fine with monthly.

The two main things I am concerned with are the abdominal pain and inflamed joints. My wrists and ankles are so bad that I sometimes avoid activity that stress my joints. Does anyone have any input as to if abdominal pain and ongoing painful hand and foot joints can be related to pernicious anemia and how I should follow up with the doctor? How do I know if I have arthritis? Can a person have chronic appendicitis that lasts for months?

Thanks for any help

Kathy

[Galixie]

Apparently chronic appendicitis does exist: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Also, sometimes gallbladder attacks can feel like they are in the area of the appendix instead of the gallbladder. Either way, you should talk to a doctor and maybe have some imaging done.

[Deuto]

Hi Kehicks

I am sorry to hear you are still suffering such pain.

Re the inflamed joints, these could be related to B12, but then again they could be caused by some other unrelated conditions such as arthritis, gout etc.

I am not really able to offer much advice on the abdominal pain either, other than to say that, as Galaxie has said, you really should consult a doctor as this sounds like it may be something best looked into and not left. A doctor should also be able to test for arthritis, gout (a form of arthritis) etc.

In the meantime, one of the more experienced people such as one of the admins here may be able to give you more advice. I hope you don't mind but I looked back at your previous posts and, as this may be relevant, note that:

- you are in the US

- you were diagnosed with PA last July as you had Intrinsic Factor Antibodies, and also homozygous MTHFR mutation

- you are on monthly cyanocobalamin injections through your doctor, but also self-inject in between (- again cyano?)

Very best wishes

[Hidden in reply to Deuto]

Hi Deuto, thank you for the information. I did have my rheumatoid factor checked during the initial diagnosis process July of 2016. The result was 10 with a normal of below 14 IU/mL. Is that a lab value that should be rechecked? Does that result ever change or is it stable like the mthfr gene?

I am glad you looked at my past information. It is amazing to have people who are so very helpful when confusing health issues occur. I have been self injecting every 3 weeks or so after getting a monthly prescription from the doctor. I know eventually I am going to run short but it seems like I cannot keep my energy up if I go monthly. I think every 2 weeks would be best but the doctor said it was excessive of the protocol. They really don't have much of an answer when I told them I wasn't back to my regular self. I had 50 years without any medical concerns and am now a complete mess. It's very confusing. I guess I should be grateful for the 50 years, I know some people don't even have that.

For anyone thinking of self injcting, I would recommend you give it a try. It's super easy and pretty much painless if you inject slowly. It makes thinks a lot of easier than going to the dr office every couple of weeks. I can inject right into my upper arm muscle with no problem.

Thanks for the information.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

lower abdomen pain - lots of things that could be going on but one that overlaps with B12 symptoms is ileocecal valve problems.

pains in my ankles is an indicator for me that I need to top up my B12 levels.

[Frodo]

Scary story re appendicitis: my son had lower right pain that came and went for a year or two. Eventually had an acute attack, GP said appendicitis, rushed to hospital, they decided instead it was 'mesenteric adenitis' (if I've spelt it correctly) no treatment. Seemed to clear up, then about a year later after a few mild pains periodically throughout the year, another very acute attack, GP again said appendicitis, rushed to hospital, Drs did 'wait and see' for a few days while he was in acute pain and vomiting, eventually decided maybe it was appendix, operated and found it highly inflamed/infected and they were only just in time to stop it rupturing.

Obviously I think it was appendicitis, 'grumbling' or chronic, for the whole time he was experiencing pain, his immune system was low for the whole time as well, but a different GP said the medical profession 'do not believe' that exists.

I have also had a lower right pain myself on and off for several years, but I had an abdominal ultrasound and the doctor assured me my appendix was normal.