I thought I was dying

What a strange night it was, last night. I laid down to sleep around
midnight and felt uncomfortable so I got back up. Then I had a painful bout
of "the runs" that lasted an hour or so, and all the while I was feeling
very weird.... There was a sensation of being hugely bloated in my
midsection... so bloated that it felt as if my gut was pressing upward on my
diaphragm to the point I could scarcely breathe and I was going to burst.

For the next two hours I hemmed and hawed over dialing 911, meanwhile trying
to tie up a few loose ends in the house - hang wet laundry, clean up cat
boxes, mop kitchen floor, wash hair, make a list of people to contact if I
ended up in hospital or dead, etc. - all the while keeping the portable
phone handset in range in case I started to faint or something. And all the
cats were following me around looking very worried, which was downright
frightening, knowing how psychic they are.

Around 2:45 AM I sat down at the computer and found an email from Ellie,
sent at 2:30, wanting some PC advice. I emailed back that she could call me.
The phone rang at 3:00 exactly, and I talked with her for almost an hour,
during which time I started to feel sleepy. After we hung up, I again tried
to go to sleep. It was impossible to get comfortable due to a strange new
and absolutely horrendous pain right in the center of my back. It felt like
a freshly broken bone.

I finally fell asleep around 5:30 AM. Billy woke me up a few hours later,
demanding food, and I had NO pain and NO discomfort whatsoever. I was very
glad I hadn't given in to fear during the previous night, for I might have
been waking up in a much different place, needlessly.

"Pat" wrote in message
news
What a strange night it was, last night. I laid down to sleep around
midnight and felt uncomfortable so I got back up. Then I had a
painful bout
of "the runs" that lasted an hour or so, and all the while I was
feeling
very weird.... There was a sensation of being hugely bloated in my
midsection... so bloated that it felt as if my gut was pressing
upward on my
diaphragm to the point I could scarcely breathe and I was going to
burst.

For the next two hours I hemmed and hawed over dialing 911,
meanwhile trying
to tie up a few loose ends in the house - hang wet laundry, clean up
cat
boxes, mop kitchen floor, wash hair, make a list of people to
contact if I
ended up in hospital or dead, etc. - all the while keeping the
portable
phone handset in range in case I started to faint or something. And
all the
cats were following me around looking very worried, which was
downright
frightening, knowing how psychic they are.

Around 2:45 AM I sat down at the computer and found an email from
Ellie,
sent at 2:30, wanting some PC advice. I emailed back that she could
call me.
The phone rang at 3:00 exactly, and I talked with her for almost an
hour,
during which time I started to feel sleepy. After we hung up, I
again tried
to go to sleep. It was impossible to get comfortable due to a
strange new
and absolutely horrendous pain right in the center of my back. It
felt like
a freshly broken bone.

I finally fell asleep around 5:30 AM. Billy woke me up a few hours
later,
demanding food, and I had NO pain and NO discomfort whatsoever. I
was very
glad I hadn't given in to fear during the previous night, for I
might have
been waking up in a much different place, needlessly.




Yikes. If you are fine today, it had to have been some sort of panic
or anxiety attack right? Not that the physical manifestations of
those are any picnic.

Purrs that you continue to feel fine.

The midnight hours are the worst, aren't they?

Again purrs that this was a one time thing.

Jo

"Jofirey" wrote

| Yikes. If you are fine today, it had to have been some sort of panic
| or anxiety attack right?

I don't know... the thought hadn't occurred to me until you suggested it.
But doesn't panic/anxiety attack require some sort of trigger - an event
that would cause one to feel frightened? In this case, there was nothing
going on that was frightening. Well, at least not prior to the onset of
symptoms!

Pat wrote:
"Jofirey" wrote

Yikes. If you are fine today, it had to have been some sort of panic
or anxiety attack right?

I don't know... the thought hadn't occurred to me until you suggested
it. But doesn't panic/anxiety attack require some sort of trigger -
an event that would cause one to feel frightened? In this case, there
was nothing going on that was frightening. Well, at least not prior
to the onset of symptoms!

Okay, this may be TMI, but here goes:

I suffer from anxiety, but these don't sound like anxiety symptoms. It
sounds like you had too much excess air in your intestines, which happens to
me frequently and it's really uncomfortable. BUT, when I get anxiety, I
shake, I get hot and cold flashes, I throw up, my heart pounds, I have
racing thoughts in my head, I pee constantly, and I get diarrhea. Sometimes
it can take up to two days to go away and all I can do is lay on the couch,
shiver and sweat. My husband also has anxiety, so we try to help each other
through it. I never had anxiety really badly until I got the cancer.

Intestinal gas, on the other hand, I've been experiencing since I was a
teenager. It can feel like you're dying. Your tummy feels as hard and as
full as a basketball. You get sharp pains in your back, between your
shoulder blades, in your sides, it moves around. You just have to wait it
out. It will come out eventually. What I found helps to soothe it, is to
sip on water. Not chug and don't eat, just sip water every now and then.
It's not a permanent fix, but it helps as the sip goes down. I don't know
why. Well, it helps me, anyway.

Glad you're feeling better. :~)

kili

"Pat" wrote in message
et...

"Jofirey" wrote

| Yikes. If you are fine today, it had to have been some sort of
panic
| or anxiety attack right?

I don't know... the thought hadn't occurred to me until you
suggested it.
But doesn't panic/anxiety attack require some sort of trigger - an
event
that would cause one to feel frightened? In this case, there was
nothing
going on that was frightening. Well, at least not prior to the onset
of
symptoms!



No they don't. Part of what can make then so frightening. The attack
of diarrhea could have been unrelated and left you a bit dehydrated.
That could set off a chain.

But they can just come out of the blue as well.

Jo

Pat wrote:
What a strange night it was, last night. I laid down to sleep around
midnight and felt uncomfortable so I got back up. Then I had a
painful bout of "the runs" that lasted an hour or so, and all the
while I was feeling very weird.... There was a sensation of being
hugely bloated in my midsection... so bloated that it felt as if my
gut was pressing upward on my diaphragm to the point I could scarcely
breathe and I was going to burst.

For the next two hours I hemmed and hawed over dialing 911, meanwhile
trying to tie up a few loose ends in the house - hang wet laundry,
clean up cat boxes, mop kitchen floor, wash hair, make a list of
people to contact if I ended up in hospital or dead, etc. - all the
while keeping the portable phone handset in range in case I started
to faint or something. And all the cats were following me around
looking very worried, which was downright frightening, knowing how
psychic they are.

Around 2:45 AM I sat down at the computer and found an email from
Ellie, sent at 2:30, wanting some PC advice. I emailed back that she
could call me. The phone rang at 3:00 exactly, and I talked with her
for almost an hour, during which time I started to feel sleepy. After
we hung up, I again tried to go to sleep. It was impossible to get
comfortable due to a strange new and absolutely horrendous pain right
in the center of my back. It felt like a freshly broken bone.

I finally fell asleep around 5:30 AM. Billy woke me up a few hours
later, demanding food, and I had NO pain and NO discomfort
whatsoever. I was very glad I hadn't given in to fear during the
previous night, for I might have been waking up in a much different
place, needlessly.

LOL, that happens to me *all* the time. It's called, plain and simply,
*gas*. I have IBS and colitis and when it goes off, I tend to bloat with
air afterwards. It's the most uncomfortable pain, that I'm amazed you were
able to do so much! It's a debilitating, miserable thing to deal with and I
hate it. You can take all the Tums, all the Gas-X's you want, but it
doesn't fix it. I just go to sleep, too.

Sorry that you had to deal with it. :-(

kili

"kilikini" wrote in message
. com...


Sorry that you had to deal with it. :-(

kili

Not half as sorry as you would be if you had to deal with mine ;-)

I find that if I've got trapped wind, a gentle massage of the abdomen will
help work it down to the lace where it can be released. I am quite musical,
too. I also once farted on a loose floorboard. There was a cat attached to
the other end of the floorboard. A cat doing its crab impersonation with
tail like a Christmas tree six feet off the ground is quite amusing. In the
bath, in can prolong the effect of bubble bath. In a cold night, it can warm
the duvet. When one has a boyyfriend, you know you're on the track to a
long-term relationship when you are both comfortable being on farting-terms
;-)

Strike no matches.

"wafflycat" wrote

| "kilikini" wrote in message
| . com...
|
| Sorry that you had to deal with it. :-(
|
| Not half as sorry as you would be if you had to deal with mine ;-)
|
| I find that if I've got trapped wind, a gentle massage of the abdomen will
| help work it down to the lace where it can be released. I am quite
musical,
| too. I also once farted on a loose floorboard. There was a cat attached to
| the other end of the floorboard. A cat doing its crab impersonation with
| tail like a Christmas tree six feet off the ground is quite amusing. In
the
| bath, in can prolong the effect of bubble bath. In a cold night, it can
warm
| the duvet. When one has a boyyfriend, you know you're on the track to a
| long-term relationship when you are both comfortable being on
farting-terms
| ;-)

I'd like to think this was the cause of my problem, but for the explanation
to fit, wouldn't it require at some point that I would have passed some
wind? I never did. There just wasn't any obvious gas involved.

wafflycat wrote:
"kilikini" wrote in message
. com...


Sorry that you had to deal with it. :-(

kili

Not half as sorry as you would be if you had to deal with mine ;-)

I find that if I've got trapped wind, a gentle massage of the abdomen
will help work it down to the lace where it can be released. I am
quite musical, too. I also once farted on a loose floorboard. There
was a cat attached to the other end of the floorboard. A cat doing
its crab impersonation with tail like a Christmas tree six feet off
the ground is quite amusing. In the bath, in can prolong the effect
of bubble bath. In a cold night, it can warm the duvet. When one has
a boyyfriend, you know you're on the track to a long-term
relationship when you are both comfortable being on farting-terms ;-)

Strike no matches.

Oh my GOSH, I'm laughing here! Thanks for that. :~)

kili

"wafflycat" wrote in message
...

"kilikini" wrote in message
. com...


Sorry that you had to deal with it. :-(

kili

Not half as sorry as you would be if you had to deal with mine ;-)

I find that if I've got trapped wind, a gentle massage of the abdomen will
help work it down to the lace where it can be released. I am quite
musical, too. I also once farted on a loose floorboard. There was a cat
attached to the other end of the floorboard. A cat doing its crab
impersonation with tail like a Christmas tree six feet off the ground is
quite amusing. In the bath, in can prolong the effect of bubble bath. In a
cold night, it can warm the duvet. When one has a boyyfriend, you know
you're on the track to a long-term relationship when you are both
comfortable being on farting-terms ;-)

Strike no matches.


F*rt proudly, Helen. You know your marriage is secure when you not only are
comfortable with each other's gas, but glory in it. Rob is a professional,
but appreciates my amature efforts to emulate the master.

Pam S.