Without going into a lot of unnecessary detail, my wife is experiencing painful stomach cramps triggered by anxiety resulting from recovery from brain surgery a month ago. We're working on the anxiety part (it's connected to insomnia attacks, which we now have under control with OTC products, and the anxiety we are treating for now with a prescription drug and an OTC herbal), but are looking for relief from the pain symptoms in the short run. This does not appear to be acid related, it seems to be more like muscle cramps, definitely stomach, not lower tract. 99% of stuff I find online or in pharmacies is for acid or diarrhea or constipation, which are not the problem, anyone have any experience with anything that works for stomach muscle cramps?
One of our friends has something called cyclical vomiting. Every couple of months, she starts with nausea, which progresses to stomach cramps and repeated vomiting - like vomiting every 30 min for hours at a time.
She told us her doc prescribed something called Ondansetron. Apparently, it shuts the whole cycle down almost immediately - cramps and all.
Clearly, your bride's symptoms are different, but if she has pain with nausea, it might be worth discussing with her doc.
I would suggest going to see a gastroenterologist. Cramps that are that painful could be related to something serious that might be masquerading as simple anxiety, and it would be good to get a pro opinion on it.
I guess the big question is, and I mean no disrespect, Is it her stomach, or is it in her head? Based on the brain surgery comment, of course.
Some focused stretching and relaxation used to work for me back in the old days, before I understood anything about it. Rolaids worked as well, but I think that was placebo more than anything. I was just a tense guy...
Anxiety can cause ulcers.
I know when someone is recovering from surgery an entire family's diet can get thrown into disarray as schedules get thrown out of whack with needing to get to occupational therapy and with just accomplishing regular things taking longer. I would start with eliminating processed foods, not being concerned with it taking longer to prepare meals, enjoying the process and the steps of it. And another thing that I would strongly consider is you are in Colorado. In low dosing of 12.5 mg there would not be any psychoactive effects, however it will make a difference with regards to inflammation and muscle tension.
