Having a horrible stomachache or mysteriousabdominal painis never fun.
The cause of appendicitisisn’t always clear.
You may not have that textbook, localized pain off the bat, however.
Jeremy Woodhouse/Holly Wilmeth/Getty Images
The gut nerves really only tell you a general area of where something is wrong, Dr. Staller explains.
When somethings angry in that area where your appendix is, people actually feel discomfort around their belly button.
If your appendix ruptures, you might actually feel a sensation of relief.
Once in a while we see this in the emergency room.
Usually this is an indication to the care team that your appendix has ruptured.
When it ruptures it can cause very serious infections, Dr. Klein says.
The truth is, if you are dealing with appendicitis, you will most likelyknow.
It hit me like a ton of bricks.
The pain never let up or dulled in the slightest.
It felt like knives mercilessly carving up my insides.
I couldn’t believe how fast I went from feeling absolutely fine to writhing in agonizing pain and crying.
I was worried that I was overreacting and being a baby about it.
I was seen within 10 minutes of arriving.
Sure enough, they told me I had appendicitis and needed surgery.
I had a laparoscopic appendectomy the next morning that took less than an hour to complete.
I was released the same day, a few hours later.
The whole ordeal took less than 24 hours.
I was having breakfast with a friend and had what seemed like a nagging stomachache.
I was 23 at the time.
As the day progressed, it got worse.
I went to the theater to see a show in the evening with some friends.
I still thought it would pass.
Finally, by about 2 A.M., I drove myself to the hospital.
I had just started dating someone new who I really liked at that time.
My very naive 23-year-old self said to the surgeon, Can we do it later this week?
I have a date tomorrow.
He laughed out loud and said, You have a date with me!
The surgery and the whole experience really pulled the rug out from under me.
I had never experienced pain like that.
Up until that point, I thought I was in relative control of my body.
It prepared me well for when I gave birth by c-sections though years later.
I was 18 and going on college trips, deciding which school I wanted to go to.
At first it would come in waves, then at some point the pain intensified and didn’t leave.
At one point during the night the pain became so intense that I couldn’t move.
My uncle then inspected my lower stomach and put pressure on different parts of it.
We rushed to the hospital where they took me straight to the emergency room for surgery.
I’ve had appendicitis four times.
Yep, four times.
The first time was when I was 26 years old.
Only a portion was removed, unbeknownst to me until two years later.
I had a second appendectomy in Boston in the spring of 2018.
Between 2016 and 2018, I was admitted into the hospital two other times too.
The first time, I woke up one morning with pain that felt like gas bubbles.
I tried to do someDownward Dogsto relieve the pressure, but that didn’t work.
Then, I thought maybe it was just an upset stomach from dinner the night before.
It became excruciating and was isolated to the lower right side of my abdomen.
There’s truly nothing like it.
The pain is stabbing, aching, sharp and constant all at the same time.
I thought they were just cramps.
This was particularly interesting because I typically dont experience cramps when Im menstruating.
So for the next two weeks, I continued to feel debilitating pain without thinking anything of it.
This just goes to show you what women go through every month.
On my move day, I felt the worst pain in my stomachlike someone was stabbing me.
I couldnt move my body.
So when we arrived on campus, she ordered that I go to the emergency room.
They did a CT scan and [determined the issue was] my appendix.
They put me under that night, before it burst.
[The operation] only took 30 minutes.
My case was unusual.
I was 42, and in a small town in Turkey along the coast.
We had just had lunchcrab pulled from the waterthen got on a boat.
I thought I had food poisoning.
I felt excruciating, sharp pains on my right lower side.
It wasnt until about two weeks later that I got home and saw a doctor.
I looked fine on the outside, but the scans showed a mess internally.
They decided the best route was to give me heavy antibiotics.
I was in the hospital for four days, and they released me with two more weeks of antibiotics.
I just had my appendix removed in June.
Since I didnt have other symptoms of appendicitis (e.g.
After examining me, she sent me straight to the ER.
After doing several tests and blood samples, I had emergency surgery at 4 A.M. on Tuesday.
I spent the rest of Tuesday in the hospital recovering, and at 6 P.M. they discharged me.
I had the surgery laparoscopically, and the recovery time was about two weeks.
I had appendicitis when I was 20.
But as time went on, the area of the soreness shrunk and localized.
Soreness became pain, and I had difficulty sitting up.
I vaguely remember a burning sensation.
Of course I turned to the internet, and all my symptoms seemed to line up with appendicitis.
I was visiting my parents in Toronto at the time and thought Id sleep it off.
Surgery went smoothly, no issues.
I have three small incision points, each about an inch wide, and minor scarring.
Healing largely required rest, also to let the incisions heal.
It really wasnt that bad!
But I remember laying in bed with just this feeling of overall malaise.
My stomach hurt like I was having gas.
I got so nauseous that I threw up laying in my bed.
It was more uncomfortable than painful.
I called mom and she told me to have my friend take me to an urgent care.
I walked into urgent care and they sent me over to the ER pretty much right away.
You know it must be bad when you get to cut the waiting room line.
Shortly after, a surgeon came in and told me I had appendicitis and would be in surgery ASAP.
I started crying in fear.
I had never been to the ER before or had a surgery like this.
Hearing those words was very surreal, especially when youre without family.
Recovery was long and uncomfortable.
You dont realize how much you use your core until you have it cut into.
Its the oddest sensation.
Seriously, thats sort of what the recovery felt like.
I felt tight and full.
Simple things like sitting up from laying down required a friend to help.
I first noticed slight abdominal pain, almost like gas pains, that started to severely increase.
To be honest, I thought it was something I had eaten for lunch, or constipation.
It felt like someone stuck a knife in my side and slowly pushed harder every 30 minutes.
Of course looking back on it, I’m realizing I probably waited way too long.
I learned I did have appendicitis, and my appendix ruptured.
But based on my doctors recommendation, I did not have my appendix removed once it was ruptured.
I didn’t ask as many questions as I should have.
I was treated in the hospital for three days until I was cleared to leave.
Then, I had outpatient surgery two weeks later.
Also, you’re able to never ask the doctor too many questions.
The pain was super erratic, and at first it felt like indigestion.
But it increased rather drastically, and I got to a point where I couldnt even stand up.
I had a complete loss of appetite and was feeling very fatigued.
I was 22 and in college at the time, and luckily my dad is a doctor.
When the pain started to become more severe I FaceTimed him.
The scarring was very minimal, and the healing process was fine.
I had been having stomach issues for a few years.
When everyone asked if I was feeling alright, I just chalked it up to jet lag.
The following morning, my mom heard me downstairs hysterically crying in the family room and unable to move.
I described the pain, and my dad eventually rushed me to the hospital.
It felt like someone was trying to stab me from the inside of my stomach.
Before my surgery, I asked a billion questions: How many of these procedures had they done?
How many years had they been doing this?
Had they ever killed someone?
At this point my anxiety was really at the forefront.
I had appendicitis when I was 22.
I remember that I just could not fall asleep because I was so nauseous.
I was tossing and turning for hours as the nausea got worse and worse.
I had been alternating between laying in my bed and on the bathroom floor.
I felt intense waves of nausea, like I really needed to throw up but nothing was happening.
So I started looking up symptoms online.
I know it’s usually bad to self-diagnose, but at around 5 A.M.
The surgery was smooth, and my recovery took almost no time at all.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
