# Weird pelvic pain



## caputsky (Jan 21, 2009)

Hi there, I am sure that this has been brought up before, but I have recently been experiencing a weird sensation and I was wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences. I have IBS-D and a moderate amount of pain on a daily basis. However, most of the time when I experience pain it is in the entire overall general area of my abdomen. It can be low, middle or high, and changes from the left to the right. For the past couple days, though, I have been having most of the pain concentrated in my pelvic region. At times, it feels like there is a lot of pressure there and almost like a hollow-feeling? (I'm not sure if this is making any sense). Also, this pain can be sharp, where as my pain that I usually get from my IBS is either dull and achy or crampy. I know this is probably not something to freak out about, but it is causing a slight concern. Anyway, if anyone has any insights or ideas, they would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!JulieP.S. It's not my time of the month if that's a question.


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## AIRPLANE (Mar 15, 2004)

The symptom you describe is very familiar to me! At age 25, I went from having C from about age 12 to major D- virtually overnight. Plus, the signal to evacuate has come strictly from the pelvic area - never the lower abdominal area as it had the first 25 years of my life, ever since that time, even though I am now more of an IBS-A type. My entire pelvic area feels very tight and compressed, and is often sore even when my GI symptoms are acceptable. I very seldom feel any sensation in upper or lower abdomen other than tightness- no aches or pains.While that time of the month exacerbated pain and symptoms, the symptoms were there all of the time. When I'd tell doctors this, they thought I was nuts or just say 'well, part of the GI tract does run through that area'. Sorry- not a satisfactory answer! My symptoms stem from an injury while doing what was a very repetitive and physically demanding job- doing laundry in a nursing home, which doesn't sound that hard but trust me it was. Plus, you had to move very fast to keep up with the speed of the equipment so sometimes you weren't as careful about things like proper lifting, etc. Whether there is a hormonal component to my issues has never really been looked into- just having you try the pill or Lupron injections like they did with me does not provide all of the answers in every case- and I'll be 50 next month so will have been dealing with this painful mystery for half of my life- 25 years!My injury has never been properly diagnosed, but I have been to chiropractors and physical therapists who seem to think something is out-of-whack but couldn't put their fingers on it and provide a solution. As with many other conditions affecting women, people who can diagnose and treat these kinds of things are few and far between, because for far too long women have been told that things like pelvic pain and cramps are 'normal' for women. I have read more than once about things including inguinal and femoral hernias, endo, pelvic congestion syndrome, often being missed in women, that are usually too readily diagnosed as IBS or normal female pain.  Plus, I have read numerous books about pelvic pain-including some on endometriosis- and I must admit that the pelvic floor and pelvic pain can be very complex so on one level I understand why so many physicians don't want to deal with it in great depth. They simply aren't trained- besides the prevailing attitude that female pain is normal. And since pelvic pain in women has never been taken seriously, the medical community hasn't paid much attention to diagnosis and treatment and therefore including it much in medical education or allowing sufficient funds for research. However, I strongly dislike the misdiagnosis that occurs as a result or the implication that women are weak or behaving like spoiled Divas- especially when some of these issues can even result in infertility if left untreated besides reduced quailty of life.One book I just read is by Mary Lou Ballweg-President of the Endometriosis Association and who also has Endo herself-'Endometriosis-The Complete Reference For Taking Charge Of Your Health'. When it comes to docs dismissing stuff like this as IBS, that woman is angry and I say good for her! (I suspect reading this book has gotten me fired up as well in case you didn't notice) Endo is only one problem that can cause pelvic pain, of course, but my impression is it is a major one, even for very young women not even in their teens.I had a hysterectomy about 10 years ago which did not help-maybe made things worse because it weakens ligaments and the cervix was removed without proper education about that aspect, but recommending hysterectomies to relieve pelvic pain is just one of many myths about these issues- not to say it is never appropriate in select cases. If this issue affected men, like someone said in one of the books I read, these conditions would have been treated like a national emergency and you certainly wouldn't be seeing the medical community frequently recommending removal of reproductive parts, you can be sure.I have been diagnosed with PFD (pelvic floor dysfunction), Pelvic Floor Tension Myalgia, non-relaxing puborectalis muscles, and a rectocele by doctors which came as no surprise- with no treatment for them having provided any improvement. I believe these are all just 'sub' symptoms of something else, as well as the so-called IBS.I have tried searching for physicians who have special interests in pelvic pain and/or endometriosis, which is like finding a needle in a haystack. I finally did find one near me on the HysterSisters site (see link in one of my posts on 'How do they test for Endometriosis')- and will be seeing him this week. Won't get my hopes up, as I've been brushed off too many times by doctors who sounded like they might know the pelvic floor- even one at Mayo whose articles on PubMed led me to really believe that he might be the one to finally shed some light on my pelvic pain and dysfunction. This will be the first doc I've ever seen who mentions pelvic pain specifically as a special interest. He is a member of the International Pelvic Pain Society- a site you can also go to to search for pelvic pain specialists by country, state and city. He has trained people in laparoscopy- not sure if that's good or bad although laparoscopy is the only way to rule out Endo and you need an experienced doc who knows what to look for and then properly treat. And possibly he has other skills for finding other sources of pain- we'll see. Plus, he did have all good reviews at www.ratedmd.com from patients, and was recommended by a local endometriosis support group so will keep an open mind (again).Sorry about the long response but this topic is something I'm VERY into at the moment! If you're anything like me, I hate to think of anyone else with this particular symptom if it can possibly be relieved! Obviously, this symptom hasn't killed me physically but I would definitely try to find a pelvic pain and/or endo specialist- not just any gynecologist will usually do. I really do think it's way worse than normal abdominal pain although I realize that after a 25 year absence of abdominal pain my memory is becoming vague!


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## Auntlo (Jan 28, 2009)

Could you be ovulating?? I get the "middle pain" as they call it when I ovulate. I've had ovarian cysts rupture on both ovaries and since then I get a pain right around the 14th day of my cycle. The pain can last up to 4 days.


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## caputsky (Jan 21, 2009)

Thank you both for the responses and ideas. The pelvic pain has been coming and going, and not quite as aching as it had been when I first posted. I don't think I was ovulating, but its hard to tell because I take birth control back-to-back so that I only have a period 4 times a year so the timing is not normal. Anyway, I'm going to try and mark down when it happens and see if I can connect it to certain times in my cycle, or if it is more random. One other thing that concerns me is that I've been having some sharp pains in my chest and I'm hoping its not connected. And now I sound like a hypochondriac which I swear I'm not (or at least until I got IBS)


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