Abdominal pain anyone else?

SOPHIE333

Hi all,
Mum is having severe abdominal pain. Morphine and Oxynorm not working very well, just enough to get through. Med says her intestines has stopped working and not because og cancer cells blocking it but from not eating much and having her bag on her tummy has made her tummy inactive and now not working and with pain following. Anyone else with these problems? And how to make the cramps go away? Doctors doesent seem to know how..
Thanks,
Sophie

Tina Brown

Morphine never worked for me.
When I was in hospital I was told that morphine wasn't effective for abdominal pains. They gave me something called Buscopan for abdominal spasms. My intestines are inflammed and very sensitive so I am having similar problems to your mum. I only get cramps when I eat ........... so sometimes I don't eat. Not a good solution though. Sorry I couldn't help but surely the doctors know which meds work on the abdoment.

Also morphine causes constipation so ought to be avoided.

Tina

lulu1010

Tina Brown said:

Morphine never worked for me.
When I was in hospital I was told that morphine wasn't effective for abdominal pains. They gave me something called Buscopan for abdominal spasms. My intestines are inflammed and very sensitive so I am having similar problems to your mum. I only get cramps when I eat ........... so sometimes I don't eat. Not a good solution though. Sorry I couldn't help but surely the doctors know which meds work on the abdoment.

Also morphine causes constipation so ought to be avoided.

Tina

Fentanyl
When I was diagnosed and in much pain they gave me Dilaudid in the hospital and sent me home with a Fentanyl patch. Just let the Dr know you are in pain. They should at least be able to control that and make you comfortable.

SOPHIE333

Tina Brown said:

Morphine never worked for me.
When I was in hospital I was told that morphine wasn't effective for abdominal pains. They gave me something called Buscopan for abdominal spasms. My intestines are inflammed and very sensitive so I am having similar problems to your mum. I only get cramps when I eat ........... so sometimes I don't eat. Not a good solution though. Sorry I couldn't help but surely the doctors know which meds work on the abdoment.

Also morphine causes constipation so ought to be avoided.

Tina

Hi Tina
Thank you for your advice. Mum still cramps a lot and she has the same condition as you I presume. Not nice to your body. She also have hard time eating and gets pain when she does. Now she is on a strictly fluid diet and struggles to hold on to it as she vomits once or twice a day (and a lot at the time!). Not good. We all hope she will be a bit stronger, but doctors don´t seem too positive. We will all family go to Malta on 7th of june to celebrate my uncles birthday and mum is really looking forward to it. I hope it will be a joyful moment. Please keep me posted on how you are doing and what meds you are recommended.

Sophie

Tina Brown

SOPHIE333 said:

Hi Tina
Thank you for your advice. Mum still cramps a lot and she has the same condition as you I presume. Not nice to your body. She also have hard time eating and gets pain when she does. Now she is on a strictly fluid diet and struggles to hold on to it as she vomits once or twice a day (and a lot at the time!). Not good. We all hope she will be a bit stronger, but doctors don´t seem too positive. We will all family go to Malta on 7th of june to celebrate my uncles birthday and mum is really looking forward to it. I hope it will be a joyful moment. Please keep me posted on how you are doing and what meds you are recommended.

Sophie

Hello Sophie
Your mum does sound like she has the same problems as me. I will tell you what the doctors told me:
The cancer has grown on the OUTSIDE of my bowela and intestines causing it to be squashed and restricted. Therefore as the food tries to pass through the intestines there is not much room for it. It is just like I have a gastric band. If I eat too much there is no where for it to go so it makes me vomit. I am loosing weight 13 pounds in 2 weeks (its Ok at the moment because I was a bit overweight) I am now back on Carboplatin and straight away I can tell it is working as my tummy is less bloated. So I am hopeful that the chemo will kill off the cancer and my bowel and intestines can get back to normal. But at the moment all I can do is eat small amounts of food often. Things that work for me are:
boiled egg, white fish, mashed potato, oatmeal, white rice, soft cheese. My doctors told me to avoid fibre - fruit and vegetables as it will irritate my gut. If I am careful I do not get any pain

Hope your mum soon feels better and let me know how she is, Tina xxxxx

SOPHIE333

Tina Brown said:

Hello Sophie
Your mum does sound like she has the same problems as me. I will tell you what the doctors told me:
The cancer has grown on the OUTSIDE of my bowela and intestines causing it to be squashed and restricted. Therefore as the food tries to pass through the intestines there is not much room for it. It is just like I have a gastric band. If I eat too much there is no where for it to go so it makes me vomit. I am loosing weight 13 pounds in 2 weeks (its Ok at the moment because I was a bit overweight) I am now back on Carboplatin and straight away I can tell it is working as my tummy is less bloated. So I am hopeful that the chemo will kill off the cancer and my bowel and intestines can get back to normal. But at the moment all I can do is eat small amounts of food often. Things that work for me are:
boiled egg, white fish, mashed potato, oatmeal, white rice, soft cheese. My doctors told me to avoid fibre - fruit and vegetables as it will irritate my gut. If I am careful I do not get any pain

Hope your mum soon feels better and let me know how she is, Tina xxxxx

Hi Tina
Thank you for your encouraging ansers! I have talked to mum ans she has some hope again, though her onc told her that there is no need for testing other chemos as carbo is the best (and not working more than 8 rounds last time) which I strongly disagreed on ( I have studied med myself). Of course more types of chemos should be tested and carbo was half a year ago so it might be good to try again. Her onc is very negative about treatment over all which makes us all sad. But we have proved him wrong before, due to information from you all on this site (!), and we will try to pursuade him again and if not working, change onc for the second time. Good to hear that carbo is working for you! Hope it will feel better as soon as possible as I know how painful it can be. Thanks for tips on food. Mum says thanks.

Sophie (on swedish mother´s day)

cinderellabell

Tina Brown said:

Morphine never worked for me.
When I was in hospital I was told that morphine wasn't effective for abdominal pains. They gave me something called Buscopan for abdominal spasms. My intestines are inflammed and very sensitive so I am having similar problems to your mum. I only get cramps when I eat ........... so sometimes I don't eat. Not a good solution though. Sorry I couldn't help but surely the doctors know which meds work on the abdoment.

Also morphine causes constipation so ought to be avoided.

Tina

ab cramps
I have cramping when I eat meat. I also eat small meals. My appetite hasn't been affected tho. I have low grade ppc and am undergoing chemo now.