Quote from threethings:

Ok...here is a list of the symptoms I've had over the last few months. Does anyone have anything like this? Or know what they might indicate? Ok, so in Oct I had to take Zithromax for an infection. Within one day I had severe diarrhea with a lot of pain in the abdomen. The pain was in the area of my belly button but also radiated to my sides, into the folds of my legs, and also down my legs. I went to 3 doctors (gastro, uro, gyno), and nobody could figure out why I had the pain. They all assumed I had a reaction to the zithro. After 3 weeks of moderate to severe pain, it finally started to subside. After all was said and done, I had diarrhea off and on for that 3 weeks as well as constipation. The diarrhea was so painful that it caused rapid breathing and weakness.
The following 4 weeks I had no pain. I was back to "normal" for the most part. However, a couple of weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night with pain that felt like acid reflux and extreme nausea. The following morning I woke up vomiting violently. I vomited about 15 times. A couple of hours after the vomiting I developed severe pain in the folds of my legs. Again, it radiated down my legs and my knee joints hurt. After 4 hours of non stop pain I went to the emergency room. I had a fever of 101.5 and the pain began to shift to my mid abdomen again. I had a cat scan to rule out kidney stones and blood work to make sure I didn't have an infection of some kind or worse. They discharged me with a diagnosis of "unknown". The following morning I went to my PC and she sent me for a cat scan with barium. This test showed that I had inflammation of the small bowel (mostly on the top of the small bowel). I had to get a pain killer because I couldn't sleep. A few days after that I was scheduled for a small bowel follow through. By the time I got to that test, the pain was gone and so was the inflammation. So....I'm back to square one. I have a follow up appt with the gastro dr tomorrow. They will be giving me the camera pill but they are still unsure what I have! This is getting frustrating because when I do have the pain...it's unbearable. On top of that...I can't go to the bathroom...and then a week later I'll have diarrhea. I have a lot of cramping and gas in between these bouts of pain as well.
So...any ideas?? :)

The Z-pack caught my eye.

I took Z-pack and a corticosteroid for an ear infection/dizziness this past May. No big deal, right? Infection subsided. Well, about a month later, I noticed severe pain in my left flank which would sometimes radiate to my belly, severe constipation and then loose stools. Finally, I went to my family doc, who diagnosed me with a UTI. No other symptoms of a UTI, but that's what he said. Put me on Floxin (more antibiotics) for a week. Pain was even worse with the Floxin, and my culture from the lab was negative for a UTI, only doc's office was positive.

After a week of being of Floxin, I go back in with serious pain, on and off constipation/loose stools, another UTI test in doc's office. He says I still have a UTI, will send sample off to be cultured again. In the meantime, he prescribes another antibiotic (Macrobid), kidney ultrasound, referral to nephrologist and GI specialist, extensive stool sampling tests and full blood tests. Took Macrobid for a few days, and the pain was excruciating. Culture came back negative for UTI again, kidney ultrasound was normal, still waiting on blood work.

Called doc about extreme pain on Macrobid, and his nurse said since it doesn't appear there's an infection, stop antibiotics, give it a few weeks, come back in. Hold off on seeing specialists until blood work comes back. Blood work finally comes back totally normal except elevated cholesterol.

With my high cholesterol and fear of kidney issues, I stopped drinking any type of carbonated drinks and seriously began work on a better diet and daily cardio (walking). By the time the two weeks were up and I was due to call the doc, all my pains and bowel issues were gone. Since then (August/September), twice I've eaten a heavily fried food, and the pain and bowel problems came right back, lasted a day or two and then disappeared. I've discussed my diet change and exercise with my doc, and he doesn't see the need for any further testing at this point. He believes whatever the problem was, was fixed with a healthier diet and exercise.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. I never vomited, but sometimes the pain was so severe, I broke out in cold sweats and nausea. The not knowing, either, was very stressful, which I think only compounded the problem. I also believe it was all the antibiotics that did this to me, combined with a not-so-bland diet and sedentary lifestyle.

Good luck, and I sure hope you get to feeling better soon :)

Lysne