Left side back pain and stomach pain with intense cramps

Hi 

I'm looking for some reassurance please, I have been experiencing constant pain/ache in the left side of my lower to middle back going round into my stomach. This has been like this for the last 2 & 1/2 months, I'm woke up everyday in the early hours between 2am & 6am with a sharp instnse pain in the same area that I can only describe as like a spasm as any slight movement, coughing, heavy breathing causes this pain to feel like a stabbing pain that quite literaly takes my breath away, this usually passes if i get up and go sit still for a few hours and then I am left with the usual constant pain/ache.

I have been to my GP twice already and he has sent me to out local A & E and requested that they investigate, as the first time round the A & E doctor laughed at me & said 'he didn't know why my GP sent me, as It was only a UTI & sent me home with anitbitoics. I went back a second time as per my GP and they did a CT scan as my GP thought it could be a kidney stone, but no stone was found. I have had two blood test's taken & a CT scan at A & E and was sent home after being told it's just a back ache!

In1997/1998 when I was 26 I had a Chrondosarcoma removed from my left femur and was discharged from the hospital only a few years ago. Becuase of this I can't get rid of this nagging doubt in my mind that I might have something serious going on in my back. As I was initially told that the pain in my leg back in 1997 was Sciatica, so I can't help but feel doubtful of the medical profession, especially as only last year my mother was told that she only had a blood clot in her kidney to then be told 7months later that it was a tumour before they removed her kidney! I am waiting to go back again & see my GP but i feel like a nuiscance and a timewaster.

I am living on painkillers, paying out for massages and I am just so tired from the constant broken sleep. 

Please I am desperate to get rid of this constant pain/ache and get a full nights unbroken sleep any helpful advice is much appreciated.

13th Jan 2020 UPDATE

Thank you everyone for your replies and I hope that all of you are not suffering anymore pain and have found out the cause of your pain.
i just wanted to give an update on my circumstances and that I still haven't received a formal diagnosis but I have had numerous tests done and the doctors have been investigating me for a possible inflammatory Bowel disease such as Crohns Disease or Ulcerative Colitis as one of the tests revealed ulcers and my bloods showed that something is raised (sorry can't remember what though) and that there's inflammation plus that I was anemic and deficient in Iron. I do still have pain but it is not excruciating it's more uncomfortable and I am sleeping much better but unfortunately because of the impact of covid I am still waiting for a formal diagnosis.  I wish you all well x

March 2021 UPDATE 2

I have now formally been diagnosed with Crohn's disease & fibromyalgia so at long last over 2 years later I know what is wrong with me ! I still have a constant pain and have been on multiple courses of steroids to try & put this flare up into remission but no such luck yet. The pain is manageable and is more of just a very uncomfortable pain and at least the intense cramping pain has gone (felt like a contraction in labour pain) I hope everyone that has commented has now had there problems resolved or at least treated, thank you for your comments and I wish you all well. Unfortunately my story continues as there's now a gynaecological issue going on to but thats another story.  

 

  • I have similar symptoms. Its 8 to 9 oug of 10 most of the time. After 6 months  of this I am exhausted. 

  • I have been experiencing the same thing for the last three and a half months. I have been to emergency I have seen the GP several times and feel like a fake. I have had a chest X-ray which was fine now waiting for a lumbar mri. But the pain is severe and I'm living on pain killers. I had a private ultrasound thought it was kidney stones in the start but everything looked ok pancreas ok. Gallbladder ok. Bloods ok. But the pain is crippling and does not let up. Had an early uti and had antibiotics at beginning. But pain is still there. I'm at my wits end can't do my daily activities and being a carer and have kids it's a nightmare. I don't drink. I smoke. I just hope they can find what is wrong for us all. 

  • Has anyone received a diagnosis for this condition yet? About 6 weeks ago, my pain / spasms started in my lower abdomen and right groin and has now continued round to my lower back. A CT scan revealed "nothing sinister", so I'm taking anti-inflammatories and pain killers to dull the pain, but that's not a long term solution.   

  • Hi there, apologies you mention until you had them out... what do you mean sorry? What did you have out? 
     

  • Hiya hun how did they diagnose you? I've been having pretty much the same pains since this time last year I've had lots of different tests recently found a fibroid which I've been referred to a gynaecologist for but my doctor doesn't think it's the cause of the pains I get I'm also going to hospital Thursday for Breast lumps I found along with some lumps below collarbone I get aches in my bones and feel like I have a lumps in my body that cause pain almost like something pressing on my bowels and bones I've had bloods taken and only thing found was a under active thyroid that they are keeping an eye on sorry for the long post I've had a year of my body deteriorating and I'm desperate to figure out what's causing all of this x

  • Hello, I’m going through the same pain and I’m only 18 years old. The pain started in my stomach on the left side and the pain has been really sharp and painful I’ve been to the emergency hospital 4 times now and they don’t want to do another scan on me as it showed that everything was fine. They sent me with uti antibiotics and now I’m taking 5 tablets a day plus pain killers which aren’t really helping I need to take like 6 or 8 for the pain killers to kick in. The pain hasn’t gone and it’s nearly been two weeks now the pain normally starts in the morning and sometimes it lasts for the whole day it’s hard for me to sleep. I’m really scared on what’s going on with me and tomorrow I’m going to call the gp so that they can send me to take more scans and the pain has moved to my lower back on the left side too. I’ve read what people have said here but nobody has a diagnosis yet. I thought it was gas trapped inside but I took laxative to go toilet and it helped but the pain came back and I thought it was stress but when I have anxiety the stress doesn’t last for that long. I’m really scared because the pain just isn’t going away it’s everyday and I don’t know what to do. If anybody has answers please tell me because this is really affecting my life.
  • Hey hun sounds horrible and very similar to me I ended up getting referred to a gynaecologist because I had a ultrasound done and they thought I had a polyp in my womb the gynaecologist told me I needed a op a hysteroscopy and polyp removal and because of my family history a +/- laparoscopy if they went in and didn't find a polyp I've had my op now they didn't find a polyp so did the laproscopy and found endometriosis which they removed with diathermy I'm still in pain but I've seen some improvements I never even thought about my periods because I was in pain all the time but it was different types of pain different places throughout the month also my endo was on my bowel so it was effecting that I hope you find answers soon endometriosis is a chronic illness but at least it's not the big C like I'd feared x

  • Hello so since you got that removed are you still in pain? I mean I have pain in my lower back side on the left side and the pain comes and goes but when I think about it too much it comes back because I'm not used to having so much pain. They want more blood tests from me but I know they won't find anything. They keep saying I have urine in my blood and I have sent it to the lab but I need to wait to see what's going on. But I don't think the antibiotics for the uti are helping because I have the pain everyday and the pain gets worse I couldn't stop crying last night. I don't know what they are going to do because my mum is going to speak to my doctor today and he thinks I have a serious uti but I'm on two antibiotics so why isn't the pain going away. I took so many pain killers and the pain went away after 2 hours. I'm just scared because I don't know what's going on with me.

  • I do still have pain yeah but not as intense as before I also have irritable bowel syndrome so some of my pain is from that and I'm still healing from the operation it was only 3 weeks ago so I'm thinking some of the pain that's left may improve aswell I had a period last week and my pain worsened during that time it's difficult to say how much the operation has helped so soon afterwards but I do feel improvements one thing I was looking at when I was looking for answers was diverculosis because the pain was worse on the left your colon actually has a bend in it so the defending colon is at the back of your left side I'm still thinking I may have some bowel issues not just ibs because I get pains where my large colon is located again this for me could be scar tissue from endometriosis but other things can be crohns colitis and diverculosis maybe if they can't find anything u could ask for a colonoscopy x I had what I thought was uti's for months they kept giving me antibiotics but my urine samples always came back clear and the pain didn't go away they checked my kidneys they are fine and I still get pain now but I can manage it with diet and ignoring it/taking painkillers I've noticed it happens when I'm about to get my period and just after then I'm ok for a few weeks then it comes back but trying to stay away from sweetners in drinks and not having too much coffee has helped there's something called intersticular cystitis maybe look into that x

  • Thank you I hope I will feel better soon but I will get some scans done but I think they will come clear because when I got my scan done last week everything came clear. I think I need more tests done because the uti antibiotics aren't really helping. I also have stress from all of the coursework I have been given so I don't really know what to do because I don't want to do a little bit of coursework as I like finishing everything and trying to get it done. But I will look into what you sent me more. I'm scared when my period comes the pain will be more painful. Right now I don't have the pain but then it comes after and I cry about jt and I just walk around my room for a little bit and then pain starts going away but it's mostly on my stomach on the left side and my back but it's moved to my back. I'm just scared because I don't know how long I will have this for.