Thanks for getting back to me!
The pain first started hitting me last year around May. At first, it was concentrated in my upper right abdomen, right around the ribs, but then it migrated down to the lower right side. Lately, the sensation has shifted—now it’s mostly hitting my hip area and my back. It feels like a constant burning sensation. I wouldn't say I get cramps, but it definitely flares up whenever I change positions. I work a desk job and my posture is honestly trash, which probably doesn't help because an MRI of my lumbar spine showed some bulging discs and a small hernia. Right when this all kicked off, I actually rushed to the ER because I was terrified it was appendicitis, but all my inflammatory markers came back totally normal, and I still don't have any of that localized tenderness you get with appendicitis when they press on your stomach. The pain is pretty much constant, though I did have a window of maybe a month or two where things felt fine. It isn't triggered by anything I eat, either. I've been through the ringer trying to figure this out—I've seen two surgeons, two GI docs, and a gynecologist. I've also had about three or four abdominal ultrasounds and color Doppler scans, plus an MRI of my abdomen and pelvis with contrast over at Radiochirurgija.
I've actually had two C-sections before—one about 15 years ago and the other 12 years ago.
I don't even know what else there is to highlight at this point. I’m basically living at the lab, constantly getting blood drawn just to keep an eye on my white blood cell count and CRP levels. On top of that, I’ve been obsessively checking my temperature—doing both axillary and rectal readings—just to make sure there isn't a discrepancy of more than one degree.
I’m already a massive anxiety wreck and constantly terrified of getting sick—I’m even on antidepressants just to cope—but this whole situation is driving me absolutely insane. I am freaking out about this appendix issue, to the point where I’m actually scared to go on vacation. I’ve got a trip planned to a coastal island this summer, and right now, the thought of being there is stressing me out big time. The surgeon, the radiologist, and the GI specialist I’ve talked to have all told me that it isn't chronic appendicitis. Some people swear that "chronic appendicitis" isn't even a real medical thing, while others think what I'm dealing with is just repeated bouts of acute appendicitis that happen to settle down on their own. Their logic is that if it were truly chronic, the pain wouldn't just vanish like this.
My X-ray shows the hip socket is looking pretty clean—just a bit of acetabular overcoverage there. As for the MRI on my sacroiliac joint? All clear.
My colonoscopy results came back totally fine, except for one thing—I’ve got a dolichocolon.
Even the doctors are basically just guessing at this point when it comes to what’s causing the pain. They floated the idea of IBS, but honestly, I’m not convinced that’s actually what's going on. Maybe some adhesions? My surgeon already went in to check if there was a tumor or anything like that, but nope—nothing there.
Do you think chronic appendicitis would actually show up on any of these radiology scans if the inflammatory markers are elevated? I mean, if everything else looks okay but the labs are high, is it worth pushing for a laparoscopy just to get a clear look at what's actually going on inside the abdomen?
Thanks!!
velvetmoose9 said:I’ve been digging through this thing forever... seriously, I've searched everywhere.
Look, there’s zero actual data here for a proper medical history. You haven't mentioned what you do for a living, if your job involves sitting around or being on your feet, whether you play sports, or if you've had any old injuries. We don't even know what happened right before the pain started—like, did it hit you after a day, two days, or three? What does the pain actually feel like? Does moving, sitting a certain way, or even what you eat make it worse? And more importantly, what actually makes it feel better? Give us something to work with.
Look, you can't skip the basics. A full physical exam is absolutely non-negotiable if you want to make any real decisions about what diagnostic tests to run or how to handle treatment moving forward. You need the whole picture first.
Sometimes in medicine, you just have to go back to basics.
You really have to stay on top of things and keep a constant eye on them. Some illnesses or conditions just aren't easy to "catch" all the time. There are going to be periods where a condition shows up clearly, and then other times when it's basically invisible. You can't just assume because you don't feel it right now that it's gone.
Chronic appendicitis—man, that’s such a massive headache for surgeons. It’s one of those things where nobody can actually agree on what's going on. You’ve got certain medical schools that flat-out deny it exists, others have tossed the idea out the window entirely, and then suddenly they're right back to embracing it. Even pathologists are constantly split on whether it's a real thing or just noise. It's a mess.
PID is honestly just one of those things that feels borderline mystical, if you ask me.
Honestly, we really need to step back and look at this from the ground up. It’s all about getting back to basics—specifically, taking a damn good, thorough medical history and doing a proper clinical assessment. And I don't just mean poking around the abdomen; you have to look at the musculoskeletal system and any other relevant areas that tie into the whole picture. You can't just ignore the rest of the body and expect to find the root cause.