Woken up at 4:30 am every morning with severe pain in abdomen

[Kinzie86]

This started on November 24th and has been ongoing. The first time it happened I woke up very abruptly at 4:30 AM with a severe deep aching dull pain in the center of my upper abdomen that wrapped around both sides to my mid-back. It's been happening every morning since then; I wake up at 4:30 AM with the same pain. Throughout the day the pain subsides but it starts again every morning and will last several hours. The pain will be so severe when it first wakes me up that any kind of movement hurts incredibly bad (especially leaning back) and I can't go back to sleep on either of my sides. I have to just lay flat on my back and eventually I fall asleep for a few more hours. The pain is still there when I finally wake up about 7:30 AM and will begin to dissipate within a few hours.

I'm a 32-year-old female. I've had an undiagnosable chronic illness since July 2017 when I was in Thailand with a ton of other symptoms that doctors can't figure out. I've had several different tests done over the last year including tons of blood work, two endoscopies, one colonoscopy, a CT scan, X-rays, stool tests for parasites, hormone tests (blood, saliva, and urine). This pain in my abdomen is a new symptom that I can't figure out. What's confusing about it is that it wakes me up at 4:30 AM every morning. If anyone has any insights I would really appreciate it.

Thank you so much!

[specialmom]

Well, that's a pain, literally!  Waking up in pain at 4:30 am every morning would be exhausting!  So, since this has been going on, have you been to your doctor to discuss?  A gastroenterologist would also be a good specialty to help you.  My first thought is something related to your gallbladder.  I had gallbladder issues and it sounds similar to what you describe. Gallstones are well known to cause pain directly in the area that you describe (middle ab to back). Cholecystitis or immflamation of the gall bladder is also something that would cause that kind of pain in that area. However, that your pain is cyclic and only in mornings sort of doesn't fit. But it is worth checking out.  Looking at GERD as a possibility too.

How is your diet? Weight? Overall health? And last, how is our pooping history (sorry . . .  we are talking digestive here and that's part of it. :>))

[Kinzie86]

Thank you for your response! I agree that going back to see a GI specialist would be a good idea at this point. I initially was thinking gallbladder as well, but you're also right that the timing on it is not exactly in sync with gallbladder issues (from what I've read online). I will look into GERD, thank you for the suggestion. As far as diet, right now I'm eating a  paleo diet, minus the eggs. I'm underweight, I'm only 100 lbs and am 5'3" (I' haven't been able to put on weight for the last year and a half). I'm able to have a bowel movement every morning but I often see undigested food particles in my stool, so I am assuming I'm having issues with malabsorption. I just went to a new doctor last week and she isn't sure what could be causing this either but gave me a test kit to test for SIBO since I'm also having major issues with severe bloating as soon as I eat food. Thank you again for your insight!