Abdomen pain, not evil incarnate baby

April 2, 2009 4:35 PM

What is this pain in my abdomen, and why is my spleen enlarged?

I have been to the doctor, but I still have no idea what this could be. This morning for an hour I had the most crippling, wrenching pain in my abdomen, I couldn't walk for 20 min, but then it died down a little and I was able to get to work. It was in my lower abdomen and shot up a little on my left side underneath my ribs. Afterward, I was slightly queasy and shaky.

When I went to the doctor she didn't know what it was, but told me my spleen was much too tender and enlarged some. I have to get a CT scan next week.

Anyone have any ideas what's wrong with me? (I'm a 25 yo female)

posted by Attackpanda to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

mono?
posted by phunniemee at 4:36 PM on April 2, 2009

Your spleen is a lymph organ, so presumably you have some kind of infection. Mono is a good possibility, but it could be something else. And, you know, be careful and keep an eye on it, ruptured spleen= bad.
posted by lblair at 4:39 PM on April 2, 2009

Response by poster: I've had mono already when I was 17. So it can't be that; I'm to awake for mono anyway.
posted by Attackpanda at 4:54 PM on April 2, 2009

Some causes of an enlarged spleen. Notice they categorize the possibility and then give an example. i.e. "parasitic infections, such as malaria." That means that other parasitic infections OTHER THAN malaria might also cause it.

Meaning...we have no idea. If it's still hurting and you have other symptoms I'd try to push for a better/faster answer.

Good luck.
posted by barnone at 5:48 PM on April 2, 2009

you can get mono more than once. do still have your gallbladder? was the pain after you ate?
posted by kgreerRN at 6:05 PM on April 2, 2009

Response by poster: I still do have my gallbladder. And the pain was after I ate. I've had this kind of pain before, but never for that long or that crippling.
posted by Attackpanda at 6:43 PM on April 2, 2009

I know you're probably freaked out, but this is where AskMe unfortunately falls down. You're not going to get any definitive answers, because nobody here can examine you, and even if we could, most of us aren't doctors. (I'm sure not.) It could be a lot of things ranging from no-biggie to "uh oh."

(So why am I writing? I work on cancer clinical trials, and in a lot of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases, splenomegaly is a delightful co-star. I AM NOT SUGGESTING YOU HAVE NHL. It's just the first thing I thought of, because that's what I see all the time as a consequence of working on that disease committee. I don't have any fucking idea what's wrong with you specifically, and I hope it's something stupid and merely irritating and ultimately take-care-able-able. But anyway, I feel you. I had a seriously weird mole go sideways on me last year, and I spent a good two weeks waiting for the biopsy result [negative] and fretting about fucking melanomas. No fun. Hang in there.)
posted by Skot at 6:51 PM on April 2, 2009

One of my coworkers used to have pains like what you describe, with the needing to stay bent over, and it progressively got worse over time, like yours. I have no idea if she had a lan enlarged spleen. They became more and more frequent, she had a bazillion tests, and it took forever to figure out what was wrong. In the end, i beleive it was a combination of food allergies & sensitivities and Crohn's disease.

Maybe you should go to a gastroenterologist ?
posted by Kololo at 7:33 PM on April 2, 2009

my spleen enlarged when I had mono. Mono can return later on in life because you never really get rid of it, as well as manifest itself in milder or more severe cases.

be well!
posted by Etta Hollis at 8:16 PM on April 2, 2009

Spleen enlargement in generally healthy people is most commonly a sign of a severe viral infection. (IANAD, but I am someone who has had a multi-year battle with a recurring viral infection, and my spleen can get all owie at times.)

About 10% of people who have had mononucleosis have recurring mononucleosis. This could be you. Or you may have been misdiagnosed with mononucleosis and actually had a recurring virus like Coxsackie virus or Lyndonville virus (symptoms are quite similar).

That said, it could also be an ulcer, and the spleen stuff could be a coincidence, so I'm seconding the suggestion to get a referral to a gastroenterologist.
posted by Sidhedevil at 8:39 PM on April 2, 2009

I have Crohn's disease and feel like this isn't that. Crohn's is a whole mess of symptoms that would have sent you to a doctor before now (diarrhea, vomiting, persistent abdominal pain, bloody stool, weight loss, fatigue, blah blah blah). Of course, it's different for everyone.
posted by Subspace at 8:39 PM on April 2, 2009

That kind of sounds like my gallstone. Post-eating (especially greasy food) pain of relatively short duration, shakiness afterwards. I was misdiagnosed for ages because I was skinny and young at the time. Finally got a diagnosis and been fine ever since with a few very minor diet changes.

I had an ulcer once too and it's different: more burn-y than stabby and more centered.
posted by fshgrl at 9:02 PM on April 2, 2009

Gallbladder pain is generally on the right, unless your anatomy is very weird. Very many different things can cause an enlarged spleen so I don't think you're going to get any definitive advice here (though you can have some sympathy from me!). See what the CT scan turns up.
posted by altolinguistic at 1:22 AM on April 3, 2009

I had an ulcer once too and it's different: more burn-y than stabby and more centered.

My ulcer was stabby. Stabby!

And it's really unusual for gallbladder pain to refer to the other half of the body. On the other hand, unusual stuff happens in people's bodies.
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:50 AM on April 3, 2009