Recurring Abdominal Pain

You take a medicine that commonly causes recurrent abdominal pain. Before you undergo any testing and before other diagnoses are considered, your doctor may recommend discontinuing one of your medicines or finding an appropriate substitute.

Please do not discontinue a medication without consulting your physician.

If your symptoms are severe, your doctor may recommend that you undergo one or more tests in addition to considering a change in your medicines.

Recommended tests might include a variety of blood tests, and stool tests or a rectal exam to check for blood in the stool. Your doctor may also recommend a test to view the lining of the stomach and small intestine as one of the first tests in your evaluation. Tests that can identify irritation or injury in the stomach and intestine lining include esophagogastroduodenoscopy ("EGD" or "endoscopy," in which you swallow a small camera on a flexible tube) or a series of x-rays after you swallow a liquid named barium ("upper GI series").