I certainly don’t need to eat rocks and pebbles to help digest my food anymore, but I know I still have an appendix. It may not serve a function but why would it hurt all of a sudden?
Anyone have their appendix out. If so why? And what were the symptoms? How was it diagnosed? Any info would be great.
I had my appendix out as a child. My symptoms were pain in my side and vomiting and a high fever. A trip to the doctor showed I had a high white blood cell count. I think they also did a pelvic exam to rule out any “female problems”.
I was very sick though. It wasn’t something you could just ignore. It was very painful and I couldn’t stop vomiting. I don’t know if everyone is that way.
I had my appendix removed back in the 6th grade (1975 or thereabouts), following a diagnosis of acute appendicitis (inflammation of the appendix). I’d spent the entire day with mild abdominal pain and loss of appetite. As I recall, I didn’t have any noticeable fever, and I didn’t start vomiting until I was at the hospital.
It was the loss of appetite that tipped off my Dad – we had steak for diinner that night, and I didn’t eat. That set off warning bells in his head, as I have never been known to refuse a good slab of sirloin. So after dinner, we went to the ER, where I was diagnosed – as it turned out, my appendix was quite severly inflamed and in risk of rupturing, which would spread nasty stuff throughout the abdominal cavity, leading to peritonitis and possible death.
As I recall, the ER diagnosis was pretty rapid – all they did was take vitals and some blood, and felt my abdomen. Pain or tenderness at McBurney’s point is one of the main tools docs use to diagnose acute appendicitis. IIRC, an elevated white blood cell count is often used to confirm the diagnosis.
Hmm. I’m not vomiting at all. But I have a sharp pain in the area where my appendix is. My wife says, “AHH it’s just gas”
But it is waaay to acute to be gas I think. It usually happens when I lay down or when sitting.
The classic symptoms for appendicitis are basically what In Conceivable listed. The pain will localize in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen. (Below and to your right of the navel.)
In the “in case you were wondering, but you’re probably not” category, the point of tenderness in the abdomen in appendicitis is called McBurney’s point.
Robin
Generally your Appendix only needs to be looked at if you have extensive end-noting, or mention, but do not generally explain, a technical point in the main work.
d&r
Gas pain can be pretty sharp.
My appendix pain was not a sharp occasional pain. It was a constant pain. It would get sharper at times, but it always hurt.
It was less then 24 hours from when I first noticed the pain till when I had my appendix removed. I started getting sick one evening and by noon the next day I was appendixless. I probably would have gotten to the doctor earlier, but I didn’t want to wake my parents up early in the morning just because I was feeling sick. (I was a good kid)
Oh yeah…One more thing.
It is your body. You know if something isn’t right. If you have a sharp pain that concerns you then stop by the Doctors today. Even if your appendix are fine there might be something else wrong. And if nothing else maybe they can give you something for that gas! 
I had mine out when I was in the 7th grade… IIRC, the way that they determine if pain at McBurney’s point was gas or appendicitis was “rebound tenderness” (I never particularly lost appetite or vomited)
Press two fingers slowly, but quite firmly at the point you are having pain. This should be sore, but not just “killer, I think I want to die” pain. Hold it for about 10 seconds. Release quickly.
If the first thought that goes through your mind is that you have been stabbed by a big rusty knife, and it hurts so bad you see colors… (OK, an exaggeration, but not by much) you need to see a doctor, pronto. You may very well have an appendix problem.
I am definitely not a doctor, though, so if it hurts, go anyway.
Hope you get all fixed up soon.
My appendicitis felt like stomach flu for about a week. On Friday I couldn’t even walk all the way to my apartment building’s elevators.
My pain was actually high and centered, and not all that sharp. It was thought that it might be some sort of gall bladder problem.
Finally, on Saturday night, a nurse insisted that I be looked at again, since my vitals were going down. Lo and behold, my appy was rupturing.
My appendix was higher in my body that most. My scar is 6" long and directly to the right of my navel.
do some sit-ups.
If it is gas, the bubles will be worked out.
If it isn’t…you’ll know.
Right away.
The above is a joke.
If you are really sick, getchyer @ss to a ER—ASAP.
minor nitpick, but–
The appendix is not analogous to the gizzard (that’s the organ in birds where swallowed stones are used to help grind up food). It’s analogous to the cecum, which is a long, blind-ended tube in many animals, including rabbits and koala bears, that helps digest plant material. Bacteria capable of breaking down cellulose live in there.
Minor nitpick of your nitpick:
A koala is not a bear, but a marsupial.
Country doctor wisdom (meaning I don’t have a cite) for appendicitis:
Your breath smells like rotting apples.
I had my appendix out when I was in college.
At first, because of the mild pain & naseua, I though I had food poisoning. Later, the pain localized to my lower right side & I was running a mild fever.
A blood test show massive (5x normal) white cells counts. A probing jab to the sore spot nearly made me leap off the table through the ceiling tiles.
The idiot Dr. at the college health center though my white cell count was “too high” for appendicitis & put a lot of focus on why I hadn’t thrown up (I hadn’t eaten due the nausea). He sent me home for six hours. When I returned, he referred me to the local hospital adjunct for a consult with a surgeon. That Dr. sent me right across the street, do not pass go, do not collect $200, and I got surgery to remove a bouncing baby appendix. The made a big hole since they said they found a big lump. I guess they got it just in time.
I was sick a week or two before the appendix got infected. The nurse nodded and said that wasn’t uncommon. Perhaps something infected then infects the appendix as a secondary?
I have seen and diagnosed several dozen hot appendices in my emergency department. My track record is well over 95%. A high white count is NOT a reliable indicator of appendicitis – it is often normal (although may rise with time).
More common symptoms include pain before vomiting; migrating pain (which may start around the belly button but localizes around McBurney’s point, 2/3 of the distance between the belly button and anterior spine of the hip); loss of appetite; pain “going over the bumps” when driving to hospital; fever; tenderness when you puff out your stomach; tenderness when you shake the bed. Other signs you sometimes see are “rebound tenderness” (when you push over McBurney’s point, it hurts just as much when you let go as when you push down), a “psoas” sign (it hurts to bend the legs), an inflated white count, or an ultrasound or CT scan which shows a big-ass appendix (we don’t have access to CTs easily at my small hospital, but don’t need it to make the diagnosis either). A rectal exam should be done too. A pelvic exam should also be done in women to exclude right ovarian pathology (ruptured cyst, ovarian torsion, etc.)
I know they’re not bears, but aren’t they sometimes called “koala bears”? That’s how I remember hearing about them as a kidlet.
Anyways, they have a huge cecum because of all of the eucalyptus they eat.
I’ve known 3 people who had appendicitis: my mother, my daughter, and a friend. My daughter had some but not all of the symptoms Dr. P mentioned above. We took her to the pediatrician, who sent us to the hospital, where the surgeon’s exam results were inconclusive. For one thing, the pain wasn’t in exactly the normal place. The doctors both told me that there is no “gold test” for appendicitis, and that they were not 100% sure she had it. For one thing, they said, abdominal pain can be perceived in a place far removed from where the problem really is. It’s also possible for the inflamed appendix to be in a slightly different position from normal. However, they added, the risks involved with what might turn out to be unnecessary surgery were not nearly as great as those associated with failing to operate when it was necessary. They operated; the appendix was indeed infected, and she was fine a couple of days later.
My friend told me that she had various vague abdominal pains for a long time, and various doctors found nothing wrong. This went on for months. Finally somebody took a blood sample and found a very high white blood cell count. Appendectomy was done, symptoms never recurred.
For what it’s worth, I second the suggestion to check with your doctor. Also, it’s usually advised NOT to take laxatives if there’s any chance of appendicitis; that apparently can make things infinitely worse.
I had my appendix removed when I was in the first grade. I woke up with a stomachache, mostly on one side, that wouldn’t go away. I thought it might be gas but I couldn’t get any to come out. My dad took me to the doctor, doc poked and prodded a bit and arranged for my appendix to be removed that night.
Alas, it turned out I had a swollen lymph node and not appendicitis at all, but they took the appendix out anyways and I have like a five inch scar. I have heard that the techniques for determining whether it’s appendicitis or something else have improved since then (it’s been about seventeen years).
Here’s the thing with appendicitis. If you go in and it’s not your appendix that’s the problem, you’re just out some money for the doctor visit. If it is your appendix and you don’t go in, the results could be doubleplusungood.
I was nauseated, weak and feverish – but I had no pain. My temperature was going up a degree every half hour to an hour.