Lower abdominal pain , along with bloating and gas could be due to a chronic constipation (passing a hard stool, or passing a stool less frequently than 3 times a week).
If you indeed suffer from constipation, you should visit your physician to determine the true reason for that.
Very often, constipation with bloating and feeling of excessive abdominal gas, are part of a condition known as a IBS (abdominal pain is relieved with passing stool and gas)
If you suspect this for being a case of appendicitis, you need to know that chronic pain during a year that wax and wane, could result from apppendicitis, but, chronic one.
Chronic appendicitis is very rare in clinical practice, and it's symptoms are abdominal pain, with diarrhea or constipation (this is often diagnosed by preforming a blood work and ultrasound, which in your case didn't reveled anything like that).
Lower right abdominal pain , could be due to a colon cancer and diverticulitis, but very rare.

Lucy, for a year now I have had the same pain. I had an ultra sound on my ovaries, a colonoscopy, endoscopy and xrays. Nothing was found. I feel like I can pinpoint my pain, but sometimes it moves around in my lower right abdomen. The best I can describe it is it feels like a bubble that could pop sometimes. And sometimes I can feel it in my back, or shooting pains down my leg. I'm about to give up, but am afraid it's something more serious. Have you gotten any more answers?

Hi Ladybug- Ive still got the pain and if anything its got worse. Ive felt a dull pain spread down my leg. Ive also been feeling slightly sick sometime on top of this its been making me feel irritable and tired. My right hand side is now often bloated (sausage shaped) and bubbles and whirrs! I had another blood test (waiting for the results) and an MRI booked in for 2 weeks time. My specialist said this would be better than colonoscopy, as the area they would have to look is right at the end of my large intestine. She also said that often pain like this is undiagnosible & I might have to live with it!-Im 25, and 'living with it' for the rest of my life seems pretty unbearable!
I have one friend who had very similar pain for 2 years & finally pursuaded a (private) doctor to have his appendix out. He is now pain free. My doctor raised an eyebrow when I mentioned this...
Good luck with everything and let me know how it goes.

PS- Ive already had blood tests (white cell count, chrones, PID) and an ultra sound to look at my ovaries etc & smears/swabs.
Once again, good luck!

***** NOTE TO ADMINS : Making us sign up to post is a deterrent to people wanting to quickly post helpful information on just one subject. This is detrimental to the function of such discussion forums had my post not been so long i would have turned back at that request and never given this input. *****

Hey guys, Ladybug's account of the everyday symptoms sounds amazingly exactly like what i have lived with for 9 years. Over the years it has gradually gotten more persistent and intense, while i feel mt vitality is dropping slow but sure. There is the constant discomfort she describes, but once in a while i wake up in the middle of the night with the most terrible pain and I'm sure something's about to tear for hours sometimes a whole day. Followed by days before the pains return to 'normal' vagueness.

Doctors always jumped to IBS diagnosis too fast for my liking (barely checking anything). Once in a while i would get a massive attack again and renew my motivation to find the cause.

Long story short, it took years but they finally detected something both on ultrasound and followup CT scan (past ultrasound was normal). Definitely my appendix is inflamed with the immune system fighting something off (probably chronic appendicitis going on). There is also blockage of my appendix from a fecolith (piece of poo that's like calcified over time). Just waiting on eliminating Chrons before operating *fingers crossed that we can*. I dearly hope it can all be fixed after that.

Anyway to anyone reading this, the following important advice I wish I had for 9 years:

#1 : Don't let them intimidate you into accepting a diagnosis you know in your heart isn't completely right. They may be learned doctors but you live with your body and know when an answer doesn't match. If the doctor hasn't done a test insist he does (colonoscopy with samples, blood work, small bowel biopsy, CT scan, Ultrasound, Barium xray) even if it has been done a while before (like my ultrasound).

#2 : Go to the emergency room as soon as you get a substantial attack. Go while it's happening, it IS a valid emergency concern!! I am certain the only reason they detected it this time is because this time i got an emergency Ultrasound before the swelling could go stealthy again. The CT scan 1 week later showed lesser inflammation to prove my suspicion, and my bowel that had telescoped into itself had returned to normal.


This stuff is serious and is far too easy for them to just write you off just by looking at your face. To most doctors' training, appendicitis doesn't get better only worse. Insist they consider chronic appendicitis as the stance that it is a fake disease has been proven false by many recorded post-op evaluations of removed appendix.

so what happend after your surgery ???

i have had the same symtoms for about a month now (but actually, the pain has been there mildly and occasionaly for many years) and it is driving me crazy. the surgeon said it is kidnay gravel/stones moving from the kidneys. the ultrasound showed some kidney gravel, but i am really not sure that this is the cause... i have been drinking over a liter and a half of water every day for weeks now, as the doctors recommended, and it hasn't helped me. my gynecological tests confirm there is no problem with my right ovarie...
at night, when i lay down on my back, i feel as there are little bubbles moving and popping in my lower right abdomen.. also, the pain is sometimes shooting down my right groin and i have an enlarged lymph node there wich i think is reactive. the paind waxes and wanes over time and is never unbearably strong so i don't take pain killers. also, i prefer not to take them because i feel i need to know what's going on and blocking the pain will not help...
also, i sometimes feel like my intestine is bloated as described in one of the above posts... this all of course on the right side.

help please! this is driving me nuts... i feel weak and nervous!!!

Hello, ive just done a search because ive been having similar pain.. im only 22, but ive been have the abdominal pains but ive been having them left and right mainly right but in both at the minute, in my back and my chest. my doctor will do nothing, he sent me to the doctors but because they wanted me to stop in over night and i have two small children it was a last minute thigns i had no1 to watch them so i couldnt stop it.
im constantly feeling sick and loose bowles..
is this anything like what you guys are having?x

I'm also having the same pain with bloating in the lower right abdomen. When I feel into the area, I feel something small and hard (perhaps the fecolith as mentioned by the user ChronicAppendicitis above). It was really bad for like eight or nine days, with sweating and chills, waves of pain and then very strong colored orange urine. It finally subsided, but after three months or so, it's come back but more subtle now. Anyone else feel something nervey and hard when feeling around in the lower right abdomen?

ShaneWithPain: I have had the exact same problem. My doctor had a CT scan and Ultrasound done because he was worried about my Liver, (blood tests showed elevated enzymes). They diagnosed me with Fatty Liver Disease but no real fix is in motion. I don't know what to do as the diagnosis did not end with a treatment other than "eat more vegetables"

When can you get relief?

chronicapendicitis i found ur post very useful as iv been suffering now for over a year. iv had the lower right abdominal pain going into my groin and back. i was told it was ibs but i knew there was something more.iv had a colonoscopy,laparoscopy,numerous blood tests and 2 ultrasounds but so far nothing. im to embarassed to go back to the doctors as im sure they think im making it all up!

I will be going to the Doctor tomorrow in the hopes to have CT scan done, because for the last 5 months, I have been going through bouts of right upper quadrant pain, which radiates to the right side "McBurney's Point, and the right groin area. I am having one of these bouts again. It has been 8 days and I have the sypmtoms I am going to mention. I the pain radiates halfway down the inside of my right thigh. Every time I have one of these episodes, I have intense nausea, and bloating...mainly in the lower abdomen. Sometimes I stay up all night because of the pain and nausea. For the time I am going through this, I have to survive on soups and liquids, because eating anything firm, causes pain, nausea and bloating. I started to wonder, if there is such thing as an intermittent appendicitis, and here is a little something I found regarding this. I am not saying that every person having the sypmtoms I have has appendicitis, but I think this should be explored. Better safe than sorry. Since I am going overseas in October, I wish they would just remove my appendix, because I fear I will have an episode while overseas!

Intermittant and Chronic Appendicitis?
in: Bizarre, Infectious Disease, Rare, Surgery

Although we are taught in medical school and residency that appendicitis has a typical presentation like this:

Vague mid abdominal pain often several days after having a viral illness that progresses to right lower quadrant pain over 24 - 48 hours. Accompanied by fever, loss of appetite, and often vomiting, the pain often gets suddenly better indicating the patient has perforated. Subsequently they become very ill.

I have found this disease is another �great imitator� - ie it looks like something else a lot of the time. The whole �elevated White Blood Cell count� frequently does not happen and the above presentation probably occurs only a minority of the time. Very annoying. Why can�t people just read the book BEFORE they decide to get the disease and make our lives easier!!!!

Anyway, in the last week I have seen two very atypical presentations.

1. A 32 year old woman who was sent into the ER for severe abdominal pain by her gastroenterologist. He had see her three previous times over the last three months for the same symptoms - which included progressive lower abdominal pain and diarrhea over 3-5 days. With each episode , by the time the patient had come to the office, the symptoms were improving and her exam was very unimpressive. He had performed a colonoscopy and endoscopy (both normal) the first time, a CT scan of the abdomen (normal) the second time, and a small bowel series (normal) the third time. This time he said was the first time she presented to him with a very tender abdomen. She came to me with a very tender lower abdomen (both left and right sides), and normal pelvic exam, no fever but a slightly elevated white count. She looked very comfortable sitting there drinking her CT contrast. Results: perforated appendicitis with a large phlegmon.

2. A 29 year old woman (triathlete) who was sent in (would you believe by the same doctor!) for 3 weeks of intermittent crampy upper abdominal pain, episodic vomiting and diarrhea. She had already had a normal abdominal ultrasound and colonoscopy - presumptively diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome - a nebulous disease which is not serious and probably has a psych component). Her exam was startling for how unimpressive it was - minimal periumbilical tenderness. Normal labs (no white count), no fever, normal pelvic. She got a CT because she kept saying she had such severe pain and had gotten 4 doses of IV morphine. Results: Appendicitis (not perforated yet).

These are cases some people might be tempted to send home without a CT - lawsuit galore. In the old days before CT they both would have gotten exploratory laparotomies I think and made our lives easier!

FEDupWITHpain...in my right side for about 6 months now. Used to just come and go, get worse with my periods, now I have it all the time. Just a constant nagging pain in my right lower abodomen, my guess is appendix area. Thought maybe I had ovarian cyst causing the pain--ultrasound showed a fibroid, two cysts on left ovary and one on the right, but they are VERY little, probably not the source of pain GYN said, and no apparent endometriosis. Am being sent to a GASTRO-INTEROLOGIST next week--hope he can figure it out--the pain is worse at night, wakes me up! Notice a lot of you posted the pain is worse at night too--I am sorry for you for I known how much it hurts and how frustrating it is to not get relief. I am wondering if I have the chronic appendicitis as stated above other posts, that sounds right on--I get queasy, pain is sharp, and radiates to my lower back and down my right top of thigh. I'll post what they discover. Other possibilities I've been thinking: sciatic nerve? colon trouble? intestinal?

Hi there, i have all the same symptoms as above. been for bloods and tests to rule out overies. i have an appointment to see GI specialist in a few weeks. i will post any findings as i too know how frustrating it is to be a 30 year old with 6 months of pain and no answers! my pain is intermittent, i have days when i dont feel it at all, i have also had nights where i cant sleep due to nausea. Same area, lower right abdominal (couple of inches in and an inch down from hip bone)...This sems to be the area the small intestine meets the large intestine from what i have read. Good luck to all.

Appendicitis is a hard diagnosis (I'll be fair here) for the docs to make. I had many of the symptoms ya'll describe for about a year, finally culminating in nausea, vomitting, and severe pain. Three ER visits and discharges for gastric upset, and finally a visit to my primary doc over five days who sent me to the hospital in an ambulance for an emergency appendectomy for my perforated appendix. I don't mean to scare anyone, but I had bad peritonitis, sepsis, and spent ten days in the hospital on IV antibiotics with drains and such as well.

I have had simular pain for 15-20 years. It all started when I was lifting weights and something seemed to shift or pop. The pain is especially nagging after a lot of bending. I have had CT and MRI scans and the intestines checked for problems. They did find Divarticulousis but the pain is on my right side not my left. They have not found hernia or a problem with the apendics. The pain often radiates to the right testicle, but ultra sound did not reveal anything either. I will see a surgeon in a couple days but expect the same. "I dont see anything wrong". It feels like one of my intestines shifted and is being "beat up" by the hip bone but that is just laymens terms and all I can do is keep wasting money fighting the insurance company.

The pain is just below the belly button inside the hip and is a dull ache until a lot of bending such as gardening. I am so tired of the "advanced" medicine we are supposed to have that cannot figure this out.

Are they sure it isn't just a muscle issue, like a tear or a really bad pulled muscle? Tightness or pain in one muscle in the abdomen can radiate up to your chest, down, around to your back, etc.

And why aren't you taking it easier to let it heal? You still sound like you work until it hurts. That's no way to get better. If it were a severe tightness in the muscle, you would need to keep it moving and stretch it, but in a careful, controlled way. If this is a muscle issue, you may ask about going to a physical therapist.

Another male with same problem. I have right abdominal pain, shooting down my right leg and also flairs up in my right testicle at times. The best way I can explain the pain is that there is a knife in my right side, which is painful enough, but then every 30-2 min. it feels like someone kicks the knife. My doctor is fairly sure that this is a pinched nerve in my back, and has me on a steady dose of pain medication. This helps with the pain a bit, but it still nags all the time.

This problem will come along with no warning, last anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks. Then it will be gone just as suddenly. It can then come back at any time. I've actually gone more than half a year with no pain, then it starts all over again. I don't have insurance to get more tests done, so all I can do is take the pain killers. Gets me through the day, but sure is a crappy way to live.

Have they checked you for hernias? What brings the pain back after not having it for so long? What did you do that may have brought it on?

Wow! I've had this same thing - low right abdominal pain - for over 3 years now. Its SO great to hear its not just me. And, that its not "just" IBS or "in my head"! Mine started when I had a Mirena IUD put it. Don't know if that's connected or not. One thing I found that's help me is taking a couple capsules of Tumeric each day. Its the spice in curries. Odd, I know, but I discovered this after having a hot curry, EXPECTING it to make my supposed "IBS" flare up and instead the opposite happened. The pain died down greatly. Since its simply a spice and eaten by millions, I feel comfortable mentioning it here. Couldn't hurt - might help? Of course, I'm still waiting for an actual answer.... Wishing you all health and luck.