XP: Has anyone here had appendicitis?

Leigha12 · July 2010

I?m trying to figure out if I possibly have it. I figure I?d be in more pain that I am right now. Anyways, Saturday afternoon, my whole stomach hurt (not like a stomach ache, just abdominal pain). It got pretty bad to the point I was doubling over. It eventually moved to just one spot?where the appendix is. It was tender to the touch and sleeping was difficult. Since then, the pain has subsided to a level I call just discomfort. Every now and then, I get a shot of pain in that spot. I?m guessing it?s either mild food poisoning or appendicitis. I have no other symptoms of either. So, if you?ve had appendicitis, where you in significant pain until you had it out? Did it ebb and flow? Did it start small and build?

angelaggie · July 2010

I've had it. I had hardly any symptoms at all. First, go to the doctor to be on the safe side. If you go to an Austin Regional Clinic you can walk right in and they'll see you within 30 minutes. The one on Far West has a lab there and can run a blood panel for your white count.

Mine started with just a weird side paid, not even that bad, like gas pains really. I also felt constipated. I didn't have a fever at any point. In the morning it got worse. The pain wasn't constant. While I was going down the stairs from my apartment the pain was horrible! So I knew something wasn't right. I went to the college health clinic.

There's not really a great test for appendicitis. I went, had no fever, and they thought it was nothing. But the "official" test is they push down where your appendix is and asks if it hurts when they push and then let go and asks if it hurts more when they release. If it hurts more when they release, that's a sign. They sent me for a white cell count and mine was triple what it should be. So, I went and had an appendectomy. And yes, it was appendicitis. They said it was within hours of rupturing, which causes sepsis. So go to the doctor!

Some people do have an appendix that will flare up but not necessarily have appendicits.

Taytee · July 2010

I am ER nurse so I think I have some qualifications for answering. My advice is "You don't know until you go". You have to be examined and/or scanned to get a proper diagnosis. The symptoms you describe are however, consistant with having appendicitis. Starting as a dull ache all over (like when you are about to have diarrhea but none comes) and then focusing in on one spot. From there it comes and goes until it doesn't go away, and by then you're risking it bursting which can be fatal.

The amount of pain you're in has little to nothing to do with it. Some people experience it as "the worst pain ever" but for many more it only rates a 5/6 out of 10 and it's just more of a nagging concern that can no longer be ignored. However, it could also be an ovarian cyst or infection.

Please consider seeing your GP today and/or go to Urgent Care or the ER. Urgent care can do some prelim tests and determine if you have a UTI or Kidney infection that could be causing it and also make a good guess based on symptoms and physical exam. This website has some signs we look for and examine by. Your GP can often write an order for you to go to radiology for a CT test.

Leigha12 · July 2010

Darn nurses being all practical! :P

I'm at work in Temple right now, so considering my pain is very mild (like a 1 or 2 on the 1-10 scale), do you think I'll be okay to wait til I get back home to Georgetown around 6? Temple isn't in my insurance network. BTW, my insurance sucks, which is why I didn't just go to a clinic on Saturday.

Would you recommend an urgent care clinic over an ER? Or straight to an ER?

Taytee · July 2010

You know my answer as a nurse But personally, I'd be comfortable with waiting and going directly to Urgent Care for a urine test and a quickie blood test. If your white blood cell count isn't elevated, it's somewhat unlikely it's your appendix. They'll also want to do a pregnancy test, no matter how "impossible" it might be - to rule out ectopic pregnancy. Whatever crappy insurance you have, find out what network clinic they prefer you go to (Avery Ranch Urgent care, S&W, Seton or St Davids).

If St. Davids is fine, there's a clinic over by the HEB Plus in RR off 79 (so not too far from G-town). If there's something more seriously wrong with you, then you get what we call "The Golden Ticket" and get sent to Round Rock Medical Center. The Golden Ticket gets you straight back without a wait and the doctors already know what's going on etc. Insurance sees it as a continuation of treatment, not another medical visit (supposedly). And then I'll see you because I work tonight. LOL!

Leigha12 · July 2010

Taytee:
They'll also want to do a pregnancy test, no matter how "impossible" it might be - to rule out ectopic pregnancy.

Thanks for the info! I actually POAS yesterday to make sure it wasn't that. All of this coupled with the extreme fatigue I've had for the past month made me question it.

Leigha12 · July 2010

Oh, and I have Aetna, so looks like I can choose from any number of hospitals, I just pay out the wazoo because it's privately obtained insurance through a trust, not employer provided. But I guess this kind of thing is what I have it!

gwynnetx · July 2010

i will never go to the emergency room again unless i am dying or have had a limb come off in some way. i am exaggerating, but man, after having to go twice in my life, i have (jokingly) made a list of things to take with me.

1. boil a bottle of water. sterile water at the hospital is apparently tainted with pure gold.

2. a pregnancy test. i could buy 142 pregnancy tests from dollar tree for the amount they charged at the hospital. and i didn't know they were going to run one.

3. a book. in my case, i went in for a kidney stone and had to wait in the waiting room for 2 hours. in between the stabbing pains that left me crying piteously, i could have gotten some reading done.

4. clear thread. that time i got smacked in the face, right under my nose, with a racquetball racket, the doctor used black thread. thanks! i looked like hitler.

5. life alert necklace. after the 2 hour waiting room wait, i waited in the exam room for an hour. i literally could have died in there, and no one would have known. except my husband because he was sitting in there with me. he missed his perfect opportunity to suffocate me with a pillow and blame it on the kidney stone.

i will also (again, jokingly) refuse an IV because it was expensive. if you want to give me pain meds, go ahead and just let me stick it in my arm and push the plunger myself because it's apparently $151 per injection for the nurse to do it, and since he did it twice, that was $300 right there. the medicine itself? $20 total.

seriously, though, if i do have another kidney stone, i have a bottle of vicodin (although it makes me really nauseous), and i will tough it out until i can get to my GP or urologist. no more ER MRI's. $8,000 kidney stone. cha-ching!!

Leigha12 · July 2010

This is so frustrating. I've called the urgent care clinics in my network and all said they'd turn me away and send me straight to an ER. I don't want to go to the ER unless I HAVE to. Angry

Leigha12 · July 2010

All clear! CBC and UA came back completely normal. Doc's best guess was a spasm that could have been caused by something I ate, but not actually food poisoning. Yay!

ssinca · July 2010

great news!

XP: Has anyone here had appendicitis?

Re: XP: Has anyone here had appendicitis?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards