HI there,Dont know if this will help, but I too had equally confusing symptoms, pain in the abdomen before a BM with the pain not really going away completely afterwards. And the cramps and spasms I had would be so bad I would be unable to lie down, only sit upright and keep my breathing even. My doc did a colonoscopy and endoscopy to rule out other infections/problems and finally diagnosed it as motility disorder, spasms in the colon which cause the pain. What seems to help me is (1) I take this fibre drink at bedtime to keep the stomach clear; that ensures that the BM empty out the colon completely. It is the left over stool that causes the cramping and pains, as the colon contracts and expand in a bid to push out the stools. (2) I am on some anti spasmodics (3) Dietary restrictions - no fast foods, no fried or greasy stuff, nothing too spicy, no milk products except yoghurt and some cottage cheese. Plus, one of the things that seems to have helped is regular exercise, I get up for an early morning walk, if the pains strike while I'm walking, I slow down but I don't stop completely. Relaxation exercises, like deep breathing, meditation also help. For me, emotional and physical stress become instant triggers, so I try and stay cool, which is difficult for me as I tend to be one of those "want-to-d-everything-right" kinds of people. I'm not symptom or problem free but I'm working on it and hopefully one day I might just break free. Hope some of this helps. Oh yes, when the pains are really bad and I am unable to lie down to sleep, I keep some pillows behind me in a semi reclining position and sleep that way. Once the anti spasmodic takes effect, which is usually in half an hour to 45 minutes, I try and lie down. Initially, I keep my head and feet elevated (2 pillows under the head, one under the feet). That seems to help a lot and once the spasms become less, I roll over on to my left side. See if it works for you.