Ascites and Abdominal Pain

jcavanaugh

Hello:

My dad is currently suffering from ascites. He is on fluid pills but they are no longer working very well. He complains of pains in his stomach sometimes once a day, sometimes twice a day or not at all. I am trying to figure out if ascites can cause abdominal pain or if this is just the cancer. Any thoughts??

Jennifer

lisa42

what are ascites?
Hi,

Sorry to appear ignorant, but what are ascites? I figure if I'm wondering, then others may be too.
I'm sorry your dad is in pain. I wish I could offer advice, but all I can offer is support through prayer.

Take care,
Lisa

kimby

Abdominal Pain
I'm sorry I don't know about ascites at all. I do get abdominal pain, however. For me, it is intestinal. I have gas pains and colon spasms that are significantly different than before my resection 8/07. It is extremely painful sometimes and doesn't feel like gas at all. It's usually diet related but I haven't been able to locate the exact cause unless I eat only low residual. It is worth it to me to eat normally and deal with the pain but we are all so different. The colon spasms are related to chemo. Each 'cocktail' I've been on has caused colon spasms for me and they are really the worst!

I'm not sure if this helps at all. It is just my experience.

Kimby

msccolon

ascites and pain
The ascites (a straw colored fluid tumors "weep") doesn't hurt itself, but the extension of the abdomen from the ascites can hurt, as can the location of the tumor. I had pain from my tumor, but the ascites itself actually helped buffer everything in there. I remember cringing going over rail road tracks after getting the fluid drawn off, but soon enough the ascites was back and buffered everything again. Admittedly, the fact that the tumor was leaking so much fluid wasn't a good thing, but there's always a silver lining to every cloud!
mary

ADKer

msccolon said:

ascites and pain
The ascites (a straw colored fluid tumors "weep") doesn't hurt itself, but the extension of the abdomen from the ascites can hurt, as can the location of the tumor. I had pain from my tumor, but the ascites itself actually helped buffer everything in there. I remember cringing going over rail road tracks after getting the fluid drawn off, but soon enough the ascites was back and buffered everything again. Admittedly, the fact that the tumor was leaking so much fluid wasn't a good thing, but there's always a silver lining to every cloud!
mary

Ascites and pain
I had significant ascites after liver resection surgery, about 25 lbs of fluid. It was uncomfortable to an extreme degree but I would not really say painful. I can not imagine having that degree of ascites for any significant period of time. I was fortunate in that the ascites began to resolve within 5 days. In addition to the water pills, I believe that a good diet, including adequate protein, helped. A nurse in my surgeon's office told me that the fluid was collected by the liver and was very high in nutrients; improving my nutritional status would cause the liver to have less need to store additional nutrients in ascites fluid. I hope that this is helpful.