Severe stomach cramps

Caution: extreme narcissism ahead. This is more for my personal history than for anyone's benefit.

On Wednesday afternoon, I started experiencing stomach pains whilst walking the dog. This is normally the cue for a visit to the toilet, but even afterwards there was still a small amount of pain. On Thursday morning I had breakfast as usual (although I may have skipped the apple puree), but by lunchtime I was feeling uncomfortable and had little appetite. I tried eating a little rice with vegetable soup, but it tasted strange and I had only a few mouthfuls. About an hour later I was 'going up the wall' with stomach pain; I couldn't find a position that would minimise the pain. Fortunately this wore off by the evening.

Friday morning began again with a small amount of pain; I had only two slices of toast for breakfast. At lunchtime I thought that I would play safe with some ice cream, but no, the pain came back fairly soon. This time I went to lie in a warm bed that helped tame the pain somewhat. At this stage I was considering going to the emergency room in Bet Shemesh, but my daughter reckoned that they would send me to the emergency room in a hospital, which is something to be avoided on a Friday night. Saturday was the same story: minimal pain during the morning, so at lunchtime I tried a sausage (not a hot dog!) with a slice of bread. The resulting pain came shortly. Obviously something was definitely wrong! 

Sunday morning was a repeat of the previous days. We have doctor's surgery on Sunday afternoons but my chances of getting an appointment were slim to non-existent. I went to the clinic and of course, the nurse said that there was no room (I though that they made room for 'emergencies', or at least acute cases). She wasn't sure if the doctor was even coming that day. So slowly I made my way home then drove to Bet Shemesh to the area clinic. A receptionist gave me an appointment for a nurse who spoke with me then arranged an appointment with a doctor (probably mine - she was working that morning). As it happened, another doctor saw me, not that it matters. All in all, I was there for less than an hour, so in a sense it was quicker to go the area clinic than to the kibbutz clinic - but we're not supposed to make a habit of this.

The doctor wasn't sure what was causing the problem, only that it was likely to ease up as time went by. There exists the possibility that the food that I ate on Wednesday lunchtime - food that I cooked several months ago and froze - may have been contaminated with parasites, so I have to give a stool sample (a problem: nothing going in means nothing coming out). He prescribed for me papaverine that relaxes smooth muscle, as in the stomach. I took one pill then tried eating something - again pain, although maybe not so bad as before. I went to bed at about 4 pm with a hot water bottle on my stomach and slept for an hour and a half.

When I awoke ... there was no pain. I don't think that there was much appetite either, but the feeling was wonderful. The stomach pains had made me feel very bad mentally; I was wondering whether stomach ache or headache is worse, and I think that stomach ache is the worse of the two. Anyway, in the evening I felt much, much better. I did not abuse this though and only ate some more toast in the evening, along with another pill.

I didn't sleep very well during the night, awaking almost every hour. At about 3 am, the stomach pain began again and I didn't get much sleep after that. At 6 am, another pill. By about 9 am, the pain had subsided somewhat and I began to feel normal again. I took another pill at 12 pm (I'm prescribed three a day for five days) and at 1 pm cautiously ate a slice of artisanal bread with peanut butter. No pain. An hour later, I had another slice; again no pain.

So now (Monday, 16:08) I feel almost normal. My appetite has returned slightly although I haven't eaten anything since lunchtime. I'll take another pill before going to bed, and another if there is pain during the night. I want to weigh myself tomorrow morning to see how much weight I've managed to lose. Not having an appetite means that I don't eat a cracker every hour, or worse.