Physician:hi
Physician:is the pain more in the area of the left lower side of the abdoment
Customer (name blocked for privacy):hi what do you think?
Physician:and does the left lower side of the abdomen hurt more when you press it compared to the rest of your abdomen?
Customer (name blocked for privacy):yes
Physician:do you have any fever or nausea?
Physician:do you have any fever or nausea?
Customer (name blocked for privacy):no, just discomfort from the pain in my stomach, I had a bad headache yesterday
Physician:Well, the first thing that i would like to rule out
Physician:in case of pain in the left lower side of the abdomen
Physician:is diverticulitis
Physician:and i would recommend that you visit the ER for this
Physician:are you with me?
Customer (name blocked for privacy):what is diverticulitis? I
Physician:diverticulitis is inflammation in an outpouching the occurs in the large bowel
Physician:these outpouchings (diverticuli) usually form in people who are chronically constipated
Customer (name blocked for privacy):It seems worse this morning than yesterday. I'm not one for constipation I usually hav a bowel movement 2-3times a day
Physician:ok
Physician:like i mentioned it usually occurs in people who are constipated but there are many other causes as well
Physician:the reason why i say that i would like to rule out this condition as a priority is because
Physician:if this worsens the diverticulum can rupture as well
Physician:which is a severe complication of this condition
Physician:it is diagnosed by CAT scan of the abdomen
Physician:are you with me?
Customer (name blocked for privacy):Do you think I should go to EM or wait to see my dr on Monday
Physician:I think that you should go to the emergency department if your symptoms are severe
Customer (name blocked for privacy):what other possibilites are there? could this be a flu? pulled muscle?
Physician:other possibilities include benign (harmless) conditions
Physician:such as a viral infection
Physician:or it could just be one of those cramps that we have commonly
Physician:but the reason why i stress on going to the ER is that the location of the pain
Physician:is typical of diverticulitis
Physician:which is the reason why i would like to rule this out first
Physician:for the abdominal cramps you can take over the counter medication such as lomotil or imodium
Physician:and see if that helps
Customer (name blocked for privacy):I had a glass of water on Monday from a friend, I don't know how clean the glass was, or the water source, could I have picked up a bug?
Physician:that too is a possibility
Physician:but more than 90% of the stomach bugs
Physician:will have symptoms go away in a day or two
Physician:so that is usually not something to worry about a great deal
Physician:like i mentioned most of the other causes of this this type of pain are harmless
Customer (name blocked for privacy):would this be something that they can check out at ER, Would I have to have a fever to have this condition?
Physician:not all the people of diverticulitis have fever
Physician:this condition presents just like appendicitis
Physician:but it is on the left side
Physician:that is the difference
Physician:people with this condition can have fever, vomiting nausea
Physician:but many people will not have these symptoms
Customer (name blocked for privacy):thank you
Physician:you are most welcome
Physician:take care
Physician:good bye