# Pain On Both Sides Of Body!



## Matt b (Feb 27, 2011)

So I went this whole past week only having one bowel movement. I wouldn't even really consider it to be a bowel movement though. Not that much. I have had no appetite this whole week and have felt generally I'll feeling.So I figured I had to go back to Milk of Magnesia if I wanted to have a bowel movement. For some reason that is all that works now. Not even enemas work any more!I started taking milk of magnesia a couple of months ago and thought I had found a cure for my constipation. Except soon after I began so suffer pretty bad side effects. I would get what I guess was extreme bloating on my left and right side. Worse on the left. Lower rib cage torwards my back. At first it was a pressure pain only on my left side but now I sometimes feel it on my right side. It's worse when I'm laying down also. I can also feel pain pressure in my stomach area also. When I first had these problems I thought I had a kidney issue. I have had lower back and left side pain for a few months now even before the milk of magnesia. The pain in my left side always felt like a fist or something. I have been to the emergency room and even payed for some blood work to be done and all came back fine. Kidneys are apparently ok.So yesterday I gave up and took two tablespoons of milk of magnesia. To my surprise it only took one night to get a bowel movement. A huge brick/softball of a bowel movement this morning. I know I still have a lot more to come out though. My appetite never came back at all after the bowel movement. Then just like every time I take mom I began to get pains in my left and right side along with lower abdominal pain. I feel nausea slightly and I feel like I might throw upmfor some reason also. Other that that I feel generally I'll like I have this past week.I'm gonna take the milk of magnesia again tonight because I feel like I need to. Man I hope this feeling that I am getting is just bloating! It feels like something is seriously wrong! I feel terrible. Ever since I started feeling bad in November I have felt worse every single day after. I can pretty much only afford to go to the emergency room and can't afford to go see a doctor so I haven't been checked out good yet. When I did get a little extra cash I decided t have some blood work done instead of going to the doctor.I just don't know what Is wrong with me! It started with all the sudden not being able to have a bowel movement. I have also had constipation but not like this! That turned into the worst depression and anxiety of my life. Then terrible sickness and pain.Also when I say depression and anxiety I am serious. I feel like I need to be committed to a hospital just for that. I feel disoriented and anxious all the time! I cant even put into words how i feel sometimes. I thought i was depressed before. Didnt know what depression was until now. Sometimes I wonder if my anxiety and depression is causing all of this or at least worsening it. I am the worse hypochondriac my doctor has ever seen he says. I'm sure that doesn't help the matter. I also have nobody to talk about any of this to. I'm just alone and going insane. Am I gonna die? I had a basic health blood test, thyroid test, and a h pylori test. Would the basic health blood test of showed if I had something seriously wrong? I feel sick and in pain now and know I will feel worse tomorrow. I cant afford to go to the doctor. I can't go back to the emergency room. I am seriously going insane!!! I take klonopin for anxiety already and it does absolutely nothing all the sudden now to! It worked one week for my anxiety and now it does nothing.Someone just tell me I'm overreacting! Tell me this kind of thing has happened to them before also! I don't know what to do!!!


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## KaraS (Feb 21, 2011)

Matt b said:


> So I went this whole past week only having one bowel movement. I wouldn't even really consider it to be a bowel movement though. Not that much. I have had no appetite this whole week and have felt generally I'll feeling.So I figured I had to go back to Milk of Magnesia if I wanted to have a bowel movement. For some reason that is all that works now. Not even enemas work any more!I started taking milk of magnesia a couple of months ago and thought I had found a cure for my constipation. Except soon after I began so suffer pretty bad side effects. I would get what I guess was extreme bloating on my left and right side. Worse on the left. Lower rib cage torwards my back. At first it was a pressure pain only on my left side but now I sometimes feel it on my right side. It's worse when I'm laying down also. I can also feel pain pressure in my stomach area also. When I first had these problems I thought I had a kidney issue. I have had lower back and left side pain for a few months now even before the milk of magnesia. The pain in my left side always felt like a fist or something. I have been to the emergency room and even payed for some blood work to be done and all came back fine. Kidneys are apparently ok.So yesterday I gave up and took two tablespoons of milk of magnesia. To my surprise it only took one night to get a bowel movement. A huge brick/softball of a bowel movement this morning. I know I still have a lot more to come out though. My appetite never came back at all after the bowel movement. Then just like every time I take mom I began to get pains in my left and right side along with lower abdominal pain. I feel nausea slightly and I feel like I might throw upmfor some reason also. Other that that I feel generally I'll like I have this past week.I'm gonna take the milk of magnesia again tonight because I feel like I need to. Man I hope this feeling that I am getting is just bloating! It feels like something is seriously wrong! I feel terrible. Ever since I started feeling bad in November I have felt worse every single day after. I can pretty much only afford to go to the emergency room and can't afford to go see a doctor so I haven't been checked out good yet. When I did get a little extra cash I decided t have some blood work done instead of going to the doctor.I just don't know what Is wrong with me! It started with all the sudden not being able to have a bowel movement. I have also had constipation but not like this! That turned into the worst depression and anxiety of my life. Then terrible sickness and pain.Also when I say depression and anxiety I am serious. I feel like I need to be committed to a hospital just for that. I feel disoriented and anxious all the time! I cant even put into words how i feel sometimes. I thought i was depressed before. Didnt know what depression was until now. Sometimes I wonder if my anxiety and depression is causing all of this or at least worsening it. I am the worse hypochondriac my doctor has ever seen he says. I'm sure that doesn't help the matter. I also have nobody to talk about any of this to. I'm just alone and going insane. Am I gonna die? I had a basic health blood test, thyroid test, and a h pylori test. Would the basic health blood test of showed if I had something seriously wrong? I feel sick and in pain now and know I will feel worse tomorrow. I cant afford to go to the doctor. I can't go back to the emergency room. I am seriously going insane!!! I take klonopin for anxiety already and it does absolutely nothing all the sudden now to! It worked one week for my anxiety and now it does nothing.Someone just tell me I'm overreacting! Tell me this kind of thing has happened to them before also! I don't know what to do!!!


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## KaraS (Feb 21, 2011)

Matt, just wanted to let you know I've had the same pain in my back, near the kidney area. I, too, had a scan and it was normal. I am the one who thinks I am a hypochrondriac because how could anyone have as many problems as I do and for as many years and then I get rid of one and replace it with something else. I know I irritate my docs because I want them to help me but I can't take the meds prescibed because I have bladder problems so everything burns it which makes my pain worse. So, yes the anxiety and depression can be just as bad and can take on a life of it's own. I have dealt with depression most of my life. Anxiety does worsen pain because it causes alot of tension in the body and also alters your perspective and makes it harder to get a handle on things. I am having pretty high anxiety right now but am finding it is better just listening to posts and getting information and finding a sounding board. I think with as many tests as you've had, if this was something fatal they would have found something so I would try to calm myself and reassure myself with that. Do you trust your doctor? Not sure from your post if your felt he/she was competent. I guess since I am in a "state" that I can relate to some of what you're saying. I don't know if that helps or not.


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

Hi Matt,One bowel movement in a week must have made you pretty uncomfortable. You need to make sure to drink plenty of water with the MOM as it draws water into the bowel. You are likely to need to have more bowel movements at this stage but once you are "cleaned out" you should eat lightly for the next few days - don't overeat and drink plenty, including fruit juice if tolerated. Then you should maybe take MOM every other day or every 3 days since it seems to work for you, just not everyday or you will have the severe symptoms. Have you tried Miralax, I know it works for lots of people. As for the anxiety - maybe stay off the boards for a while, take your mind off things, watch TV, a DVD, go a walk, whatever, it all helps!


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## Matt b (Feb 27, 2011)

So if others have had these pains on both side then please tell me what you think it is.There are very few things that are on both sides. Kidneys, Lungs, colon. I'm assuming it's bloating in my colon? Right and left side?I showed my doctor where I hurt at and he said it couldn't be my stomach or colon. Complete opposite of what I have read every where else. He thought maybe my spleen. Except now the pain is on both sides. I have not had an X-ray or ctscan since any of this started. I have only been looked at by emergency room doctors and had blood and urine work done.If it's bloating fom the milk of magnesia would I feel it on both sides? Is it air or fluid in my colon? What exactly is it that I am probably feeling? It feels like I am full of farts but they don't come out if that makes any sense.Btw this morning no big bowel movement like yesterday. Only small amount of diareah. Usually by day three on mom I have a really good bowel movement. I hope so. I hope th diareah wasn't just the only stool that could make it past the blockage. I'm always thinking the worse.Another thing before I went to sleep last night I took gasx. This morning I didn't have as much gas as usual. Good and bad. When I have lots of gas it helps with the bowel movement. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Maybe I wont take the gasx tonight. Although my understaning is the gasx only works on the gas in your stomach and not your untestines.


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## Mikeyswife (Feb 24, 2011)

I can totally relate to the Anxiety, this whole constipation problem has me feeling like a nut case. The first thing I get in the morning is a bad nervous stomach, then my worry kicks in and I stress on if I will have a BM. It's disgusting and it has me preoccupied constantly. I have been using Miralax once a day, I go but not a lot. I was going to switch to MOM and see if that makes a difference. I seen that you only take 2tbs of it, you really should take 4tbs, in fact it says it on the bottle that you can take up to 4. I always did and it seemed to work in the past. I also understand what you mean about the pain, it started just on my left side and would hit me in the rib, but now it seems to be uncomfortable at times on both sides. I know that anxiety just makes things worse but it's hard not to feel that way.


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

IBS pain can be anywhere in the abdomen - I get most of mine in the lower left abdomen, not the right hand side, ehich is more typical. Just because you feel pain at that site does not mean the pain is coming from there. Nerves can be very complicated and can send mixed messages abour the sources of pain, sometimes called referred pain. Another typical point at which you can get pain is around the left or right ribs, which is where the colon bends but it is nothing serious, if not very painful. When pain flares up the best thing you can do is breathe deepl, try and relax and distract yourself with something. Remember laxatives can cause a lot of pain, so sometimes its a double edged sword!


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