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about 4 days ago i started to feel discomfort in my ...

Sent to Health Experts June 07 03:28 PM

about 4 days ago i started to feel discomfort in my abdomen. also felt the need to have a BM (firday evening). Saturday morning I woke up feeling abou tthe same as I did Friday night except that I also had a feeling of light pain in the left sid eof the abdomen. By Saturday night I had a high level of pain in my lower abdomen and the "Hot Spot" on the left side was even more tender. Also had Nausea. Developed a fever of 101.5 with alleve. The fever lasted for about 3-4 hours and then broke. During the day Sunday my symptoms seem to be on a slow path of releiving except the full and slightly painfull area on the left side of the abdomen. This is Wednesday afternoon and pretty much all of my sumptoms have gone except for a feeling of fullnes in the left area of my abdomen along with light pain when I try to bend over in that direction. What is going on?

 

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Status:  Closed   Value: $15
Answer
June 7 3:36 PM (7 minutes and 43 seconds later)
         
REPLIEDCheck Mark
From your description, there are a few things that could be going on. But the combination of nausea, fever, and abdominal pain and tenderness is concerning enough to warrant a visit to your physician or the emergency room.

Depending on the exact location, you could be describing inflammation of the colon, called diverticulitis. You could also be describing a problem with your appendix, pancreas, gall bladder, stomach, etc., depending on the location and other factors.

Just because it is appears to be resolving doesn't mean that it isn't a problem. This could be an indicator of something that is very likely to recur (diverticulitis, appendicitis, pancreatitis, etc.) and that requires treatment otherwise.

So call your physician or make a visit to the Emergency department. They'll be able to give you a thorough exam and try and distinguish what was the cause, and more importantly, if there is a danger of it recurring.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any further questions - I'm more than happy to help. Take care.

If I have helped, then please click the ACCEPT button and leave positive feedback - Thank you, and take care
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Jonathan Fay, M.D. -- Doctor (MD) -- 100% Positive Feedback on 534 Health Accepts
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June 7 4:16 PM (40 minutes and 32 seconds later)
         
Reply to Jon Fay's Post: Thank You for your promt reply. One further question.

I have a regular check up scheduled with my Internest for about 2 weeks from now. I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol and take regular meds for those conditions. He normaly does a blood draw before I come in to check Liver function, and Cholesteral levels etc.

As long as I have no further deteriation in my situation (other than the slight feeling of fullness and very light discomfort when I bend over on my left side) can I wait to see him and that time?
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
June 7 4:34 PM (17 minutes and 42 seconds later)
         
REPLIEDCheck Mark
I think that you can wait, yes. Your symptoms really are most consistent, from your description, with diverticulosis or diverticulitis.

Diverticula are outpouchings that can develop in the large intestine, and are quite common. These "pouches" can become inflamed (the causes of this are unknown, but there are recognized contributory factors) and, in very severe cases, can even rupture. Most cases of diverticulosis/itis are not complicated, but if rupture occurs, this is a surgical emergency.

So watch yourself carefully. If you start to feel unwell again then seek treatment immediately, at the Emergency department if necessary. If your symptoms are resolving, however, then it should be safe to wait the two weeks and then inquire from your primary care physician.

I hope that you feel better, and again, if you have any more questions, please let me know. Take care.

If I have helped, then please click the ACCEPT button and leave positive feedback - Thank you, and take care
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Jonathan Fay, M.D. -- Doctor (MD) -- 100% Positive Feedback on 534 Health Accepts
Physician health consultant
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June 7 4:44 PM (9 minutes and 50 seconds later)
         
Reply to Jon Fay's Post: one final question. If this does turn out to be what you suggested it could be. What type of treatment should I expect. Does it require surgery? Medication?
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
June 7 5:18 PM (34 minutes and 14 seconds later)
         
ACCEPTEDCheck Mark
No problem. The treatment for diverticular disease will vary depending on whether or not the diagnosis is diverticulosis or diverticulitis, and how severe the symptoms are. You could have diverticulosis and this could have been an episode of diverticulitis.

For diverticulosis the initial treatments involve a high-fiber diet, high fluid intake, and physical activity (these all help the bowel function properly). For many people these changes can keep symptoms in check. These, of course, are good recommendations for most people in any case.

For diverticulitis, if it is severe, bowel rest can be prescribed (fluid only diet, or even no oral intake), maintaining fluid hydration, antibiotics, and sometimes surgery. In general, the more conservative measures will often be tried first to bring the symptoms under control, unless the person is in pretty bad shape (which could be an indicator or intestinal perforation, which is a surgical emergency).

So the treatment will depend on the severity of symptoms.

Again, this is only one possibility. So be on guard, and if you start to feel worse again then don't hesitate and seek care immediately.

I hope that this resolves for you. Take care.

If I have helped, then please click the ACCEPT button and leave positive feedback - Thank you, and take care
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Jonathan Fay, M.D. -- Doctor (MD) -- 100% Positive Feedback on 534 Health Accepts
Physician health consultant
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