I am so fedup of this strange pain I get, and I don't understand why it is only when I am sleeping. It is however related to my bowel movement, as I go to the toilet first thing in the morning when I wake up. After that the pain passes, however, until then for about 2 hours I get cramps in my lower abdomen, particularly on the left side.
I have been having this pain for more than 4 years now. I sometimes do have a very erratic sleep schedule over the weekends, but gets back to normal over the week... could this be related to that?
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lifewave
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The body works best when it has a set routine and knows when it is expected to do what.
I think that part of the payment for having a very active weekend is abnormal bowel habits and motions, and it is up to you to decide on the value of the trade-off.
The thing is, that I don't get the direct 'i want to go poop' pain. It is a weird stabbing pain on the lower left side... i have to walk around and massage myself a bit and then maybe hope for a bowel movement... but it is a good idea though. maybe i should just wake up for 15 mins. It is really hard when all you want is to sleep!
It could be because of general inflammation of your colon caused by bacterial imbalance. Get some Bimuno from Tesco if you are in the UK, and don't eat between meals.
I have suffered from pain at night anywhere between 3am and getting up, but can be later in the morning prior to getting out of bed. My pain was felt more in the mid to lower back. This used to resolve itself on rising or if I completely propped myself up on pillows. I was diagnosed with visceral hypersensitivity (intestinal nerve pain or functional abdominal pain):
It is where the brain interprets the normal activity of the bowel as pain - this is due to a wearing down of neurons in pain control centres of the brain which can be caused by PTSD, neglect or abuse in childhood, extreme stressful events etc. The first line treatment is nerve pain agents such as low dose amitriptyline. There is a theory that being on something like amitriptyline for 6-12 months can help the pain control centre neurons to regenerate. Unfortunately I couldn't tolerate these. I am currently on Linaclotide which helps with intestinal pain, but is also for IBS-C (slow transit) plus Alflorex probiotic which has been scientifically studied to help with IBS and is avaiable on a free 2 month trial on joining theibsnetwork.org. In combination I am now mostly pain free and able to tolerate far more foods that I hadn't been able to dream of eating for years due to the pain they caused.
Depending on how your bowel movements are you may need antispasmodics such as mebeverine (Colofac) - though this might slow your transit down if the opposite isn't an issue. Some people also take enteric coated peppermint which may help with spasms and pain.
I would advise getting a telephone conversation with your GP to discuss your symptoms in detail and to discuss what you need to help with your symptoms.
Hi, thanks for this answer! I did have a very stressful life and childhood (parents divorce, mom passing away and having addiction problems, etc). Lots of stress that has carried on with me to my adult years. It might be related to that.
Everyone is different. For me the pain got so bad that the only things I could eat to control the pain were white rice, protein and certain low fodmap vegetables - so everything else caused me pain. FODMAPs were certainly culprits since these can create more gas in the system which puts an extra stretch on the intestines which can trigger off nerves causing pain. However, FODMAPs are good for you, so the best thing is to try to find a remedy or medication that helps with the pain which in turn should allow you to consume more foods. After getting help with the pain from medication and the probiotic I've been introducing foods back into my diet very slowly starting with small amounts for 3 days and increasing the amount for another 3 days if mild or no symptoms or cut back to the previous amount for longer if symptoms. I've read that the gut microbiome can adapt to handling a new food if not given too much of it to tackle. It's very labourious but worth it in the end.
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I was a bit relieved when I got Into this site and saw there are others who suffer pain 24/7. I have had unrelenting never stopping severe 
Relief at last - only taken 3 years 
Ibs pain
Ongoing nausea and stomach discomfort accompanied by differing bowel movements
Can't take much more. Is it IBS?
