Abdominal Pain

[Guest guest]

Hi all, this is K. Macon again. I was wondering if anyone else has

had this problem. I started having excruciating abdominal pain about

two years ago. My doctor at the time felt it was some type of gastro-

intestinal problem so he ordered an upper GI. When the results came

back, the test showed that one of my kidney's were enlarged and one

was

blocked. So the kidney issue became the most important issue, and

soon

after I was diagnosed with IGAN. So the stomach pain for some reason

went away, but for some reason within the last two weeks the pain

started again. Well now I have a new PCP and I visited her a few

days

ago and explained the pain and told her I had done research on IGAN

and

felt the pain was one of the symptoms of the disease. She abruptly

said she didn't feel that the abdominal pain had anything to do with

IGAN and she is sending me to do the same testing another doctor

prescribed two years ago and found no gastro-intestinal problems.

Does anyone have any advice about what I should do or where this pain

could be coming from?

Thanks.

Kenika

[Guest guest]

Hi Kenika,

I am so sorry you are having such severe abdominal pain. It is very hard to

say if it is or is not related to IgAN. I personally have bouts of severe

abdominal pain but I also have HSP with my IgAN and that can affect other

organs. This has meant that I get occasional bouts of pancreatitis as the

inflammation involved other organs besides my kidneys during a period of flare

up.

Have they checked your liver and pancreas enzymes?

Another possibility would be gall stones. Many of us with IgAN also have

high cholesterol and can have gall stones which can also cause severe abdominal

pain. Have they done an ultrasound to check your gall bladder?

Those are a couple of things to discuss with the doctor for exploration.

Hope this helps and I certainly pray that the abdominal pain gets better

soon.

Feel better,

In a message dated 7/26/2005 11:14:05 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,

kenimac208@... writes:

Hi all, this is K. Macon again. I was wondering if anyone else has

had this problem. I started having excruciating abdominal pain about

two years ago. My doctor at the time felt it was some type of gastro-

intestinal problem so he ordered an upper GI. When the results came

back, the test showed that one of my kidney's were enlarged and one

was

blocked. So the kidney issue became the most important issue, and

soon

after I was diagnosed with IGAN. So the stomach pain for some reason

went away, but for some reason within the last two weeks the pain

started again. Well now I have a new PCP and I visited her a few

days

ago and explained the pain and told her I had done research on IGAN

and

felt the pain was one of the symptoms of the disease. She abruptly

said she didn't feel that the abdominal pain had anything to do with

IGAN and she is sending me to do the same testing another doctor

prescribed two years ago and found no gastro-intestinal problems.

Does anyone have any advice about what I should do or where this pain

could be coming from?

Thanks.

Kenika

[Guest guest]

Hi Kenika

I know of no direct association between IgAN and abdominal pain. Many people

do report some though, but nobody knows what the connection might be. We do

know that the IgA immune complex problem which causes nephropathy in the

kidneys can also affect other parts of the body in subtle ways (since the

IgA is in the blood and it goes all over, not just in the kidneys). For

example, it can cause vasculitis and other inflammation of small blood

vessels. We also know there is a possibility that IgAN in the kidneys and

the disease HSP elsewhere in the body may be the same thing but at different

levels. HSP *can* cause abdominal pain, so, maybe that's the connection

between IgAN and abdominal pain. Even most doctors don't realize there is

this association between IgAN and the more systemic disease HSP. They only

think of the kidneys when you mention IgAN.

Another possibility when abdominal pain is present is pancreatitis. They

used to say pancreatitis was more common among people with chronic renal

failure than in the general population, but since the mid-90's or so, they

say that's not the case. However, I do seem to know and hear about a lot of

pancreatitis. Whether it's connected to the renal failure is anyone's guess.

It could also be brought on by some of the medications many of us have to

take. Whatever causes it, even mild pancreatitis can cause some pretty

severe abdominal pain, usually across the upper abdomen, just below the

ribs, sometimes on either side, and sometimes into the back. I would be

surprised, however, if your doctor hasn't already checked your blood levels

of amylase and lipase. I've had a few bouts of pancreatitis myself. You

could always try a blander diet yourself to see if it helps. This means

avoiding fatty, rich foods.

It's important to get the full GI workup though, because, even though we all

have IgAN, it doesn't mean we can't have other things.

Pierre

P.S. Just want to be sure you know I'm not a medical professional, I just

play one here sometimes :-)

Abdominal Pain

> Hi all, this is K. Macon again. I was wondering if anyone else has

> had this problem. I started having excruciating abdominal pain about

> two years ago. My doctor at the time felt it was some type of gastro-

> intestinal problem so he ordered an upper GI. When the results came

> back, the test showed that one of my kidney's were enlarged and one

> was

> blocked. So the kidney issue became the most important issue, and

> soon

> after I was diagnosed with IGAN. So the stomach pain for some reason

> went away, but for some reason within the last two weeks the pain

> started again. Well now I have a new PCP and I visited her a few

> days

> ago and explained the pain and told her I had done research on IGAN

> and

> felt the pain was one of the symptoms of the disease. She abruptly

> said she didn't feel that the abdominal pain had anything to do with

> IGAN and she is sending me to do the same testing another doctor

> prescribed two years ago and found no gastro-intestinal problems.

>

> Does anyone have any advice about what I should do or where this pain

> could be coming from?

>

> Thanks.

> Kenika

>

>

>