Hello. My mother has been sick for over a year. We initially thought it was gastrointestinal due to symptoms but she has had test after test and nothing is abnormal.

Symptoms include extreme sickness including vomiting and severe abdominal pain for days at a time. It's happened maybe 5 times in the past year. She always is on her period and she will always wake up in the morning naseous and then be severly ill for atleast 12 hours without more than a 30 minute break. During the sickness she has back and abdominal pain - can't keep anything down.

Recently she picked up her films for another test and read the report and found out she had bilateral ovarian cysts (2cm) and uteran fibroids. No doctor ever mentioned these to her.

Since they can't find any gastrointestinal issues I was wondering if anyone had any female issues that had made you (or someone you know) extremely ill.

We really need to figure out what is going on with my mother - it's so hard to see her this way - and the doctor's aren't being much help - anyone with stories that may help or advice??

Thanks!

Hello
Sorry to hear of your mothers illness. I really do not know the cause of your mothers GI symptoms but it is good she has had dr ordering tests. I just thought I would respond because my experience with getting a back MRI led to me finding I had fibroids.I had the same reaction as you, why wasn't I told before? But sometimes that how it goes. That same MRI showed I have gall stones too.
When I went to the gynecologist for my yearly I took my findings with me from my back mri. It was also around the same time I was having abdominal cramps and nauseasness and was having a pelvic cat scan of the abdomen, and that was when the size of the fibroids were revealed. But I was never told that the cause of the nauseasness was from the fibroids and cysts.
The best thing to do is have your mother see a gynecologist and have her discuss the symptoms to see if there is a correlation. Some cancers of the female reproductive system cause gi symptoms. There is a CA-125 test I had asked for. I had 2 other tests also to get the condition of my uterus. They did a cone biopsy and hysteroscopy. I also had an ultrasound. I also had hormone levels and blood count done. All tests came out fine.
What I do know is fibroids are benign (non-cancerous) tumors of the uterus that can or cannot cause problems. When they do, they can cause enlarged uterus, excessive menstrual bleeding, severe cramps with menstruation, anemia, and mid cycle pain if they are large enough to press on other pelvic organs. In my case I had a grapefruit size fibroid pressing on the bladder, and another one pressing on the colon. I also get what called spastic colon when I am menstruating which causes abdominal pain and bowel problems. Hope this doesnt confuse you but the bottom line is to get the gynecologic workup. Ginger

I am so sorry your Mom is so sick. I too have an ovarian cyst and uterine hypeplasia. I initially went to my doctor because I was suffering from all sorts of gastrointestinal issues - nausea, diahrrea, abdominal pain, bloating, indigestion, gas. He sent me in for an upper GI and abdominal and pelvic ultrasounds. All the GI stuff came back normal but through the ultrasounds, I found out about the cyst and the uterus issues. It does seem strange that these things can cause such a wide range of symptoms, but they definitely do! I have an appointment to see my doctor again in a week to discuss options. I am interested to get his take on my symptoms and how they are all related. I'll let you know what he says. Keep us posted on your Mom.