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Avatar universal

I just need advice please =) (ulcer maybe)

Hello i'm a 21yr F & i think i'm about 2 face a long road of tests in order 2 figure out what's wrong with me& i'm after ANY advice or comments because this board is the only place where ppl have similar symptoms as me & i think maybe someone might be able 2 shed some light.
*med info* #july '01' i had a pain attack in the pitof my stomach 3am & @ the time thought it must have been a gassy reaction 2 eggs seem i had eggs 4 dinner & i never touch them usually. #Nov'01 4am BAM i got the deep pain in my stomach,worse then before & lasted about 6hrs,no pain killers helped(so far no painkillers other then hospital morphine eases pain) no egg was in my diet so i was confused as 2 what was causing this pain. Then pains stopped as if they never happened! #June'02 i got the pains again in early mornings, on& off, went 2 see Dr & he said it was most likely gall stones. #July i gained alot of weight pains still occured in mornings& certain foods made my pains worse, still no pain relief Dr now thinks ulcer.#August chronic pains now outlining rib cage as well as pit of stomach, still early wake up pains gained more weight Dr sent me 2 specialist seem breath test showed no traces of bacteria & he has no idea what's wrong #Sept'02'lost 12lbs in a fortnight & weight is dropping 2-4lbs a week, pains are so bad i can't walk some times, in & out of hospital but they're only giving me morphine, speciailist has booked me 4 GI series, Panendoscopy &colonoscopy. Stomach can only handel small portions of food + empty stomach pains are better then full stomach & pains occur in afternoon 2 + freq
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Avatar universal
ask about prevacid

all i know is what i am currently learning many have these
all related problems looks to me like its all related to
fungal infections caused by antibiotics and anti inflamitory
meds
look for info on pro-biotics and
detoxification try this site http://www.iknowthecause.com/info/index.mv
also online look for -- ultra body tody-- it helped me instantly with bowel spazms

ask about prevacid
good luck
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I may not be the best person to ask when pain is enough to warrant an ER visit.  I put mine off for a number of months and feel that I am paying for it in the long run.  Maybe I'm not, but I do have to wonder if I had gone during one of my initial attacks if I would be fighting what I am today.

I know that I am lucky to live in the United States when it comes to certain things - make that most things.  I am actually Canadian born and still have family there but moved to the US about 25 years ago.  I know what some of my family members fight to see a specialist and/or surgery - so I sympathize with you.

I know that personally I put off going to the ER because I was afraid of them sending me home.  I was also afraid of having to pay an extra deductible if they did not admit me (some insurance plans it can be up to $1,000 extra if you are not deemed "emergent" and are sent home).  I finally went to the ER because my attack had not gone away in 12 plus hours and it was beginning to interfere with my ability to breath normally.  I did call my primary care physician and they suggested I go to the ER.  Still - the whole time I sat there waiting (3 and 1/2 hours) I kept telling my friend I was afraid they would send me home.

I ended up being admitted with pancreatitis and gallbladder problems.  I had severe pain in my diphragm and rib area.  It built and it felt like gas.  It radiated into my back and it seemed to be more on the right side than the left.  As I said before, with the last attack my abdomen became rigid and tender to the touch.  I could barely walk and there was no position that was comfortable (i.e. sitting, standing, etc.)  I was told in the ER that the gallbladder would have to come out "some time" because it was enlarged and had a thickened wall.  I ended up being admitted because my blood work came back at around 11 times higher than normal for lipase and almost 8 times higher than normal for amylase.  These were things that I did not find out until I had been in the hospital for several days.

I was eventually told by on doctor that if I had been 50+ years old that I would have only had a 50/50 chance of survival if I presented in the same condition.

I am now 2 months post gallbladder surgery (it took them 4+ days to get the pancreatitis under control so they could do the surgery) and am still having quite a few problems.  I actually had an appointment with my surgeon yesterday and he seems to feel that I am most likely still having pancreatic problems.  He is going to review my CT and get with my gastroenterologist and see where to go from "here".

I hate to see you go through more pain than necessary and I also hate to see you possibly cause more damage to your body than necessary.  Had I known in April what I know now I would not have "put off" my attacks.  I feel lucky I didn't kill myself.  

I urge you to at least find out about your Amylase and Lipase levels and hepatic functions.  I don't know how your health care works, but is this something maybe your "family doctor" can help you with?

Please take care and good luck.

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Avatar universal
By the meantime, change the way you eat. I did it and I live happy now. No food with preservative, no sugar, no soda, no milk, no egg, nothing prepared with milk,no alcohol, no even wine. At the end, I have some food allergies/ intolerance. I used to have terrible migraines( I already treat it and it was because some food), cramps, several trips to the bathroom, the stabbing pain under the ribs,,sometimes in the lower right or left,, it was so confusing, sometimes both sides. At least do that to yourself,, change the way you eat. I live very natural: fruits, vegetables and any food that I cook in home.
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Avatar universal
Well it's probably not stomach cancer if it's based around the ribcage area. Which side? Could be your liver's a bit messed up.

I dunno :) I think it's something that needs further checkups.
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Avatar universal
hey - well my "frequent" pains are three times a week - at least one of those are chronic now.

madcat2k no one has spoken of cancer to me as yet. The pians always outline my rib cage at the bottom and in the center (just bellow my rib cage) is the sorest spot. Recently some pain is experienced on the right side at my back which is odd. Unfortunately there isn't much to change for my diet these days. At first i cut down on eggs, then spicy foods, then acidic foods, then fatty foods, then dairy, then hard foods to digest. Now the only things that don't upset me are steamed carrots cold (warm food now hurts), spinach, apple sauce (baby food) and cold water. Unfortunately my pains now occur on either a full or empty stomach and my body needs alot of water seem i do try to keep going to the gym to walk but my stomach can not handle too much on it. i also fill up really quickly also.

5fan Yes i had blood work done when i first went into the emergency adn the Dr in charge said there was nothing wrong - but i have no idea what he tested me for seem at the time i was drowsy from the morphine and when i woke the Dr's changed shift. About the test's so far all i have done are breath tests and blood tests. Personally i feel i should get more but i'm also booked for a GI series (??? i think it involves a CAT scan and Xray) also Panendoscopy & colonoscopy - unfortunately there is a waiting list for all hospitals (private and public) that's 4-6 weeks long to get those started and i feel that's going to be too late seem my pains have been increasing weekly.

My question is when is it ok to go to the hospital? see when i went to emergency i couldn't move to well from the pain - so i felt it was justified to go (in australia there are issues with beds free in hospitals so i feel bad for just going if it's just a pain attack). Also what is "bad" pain? and is it normal? - i know what chronic feels like but all my pains recently are bad. i guess i'm asking when you have attacks are they so bad that you have to slowly walk around? or is your pains more irratation?
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Avatar universal
Not sure if I can help much but has the Dr checked for stomach cancer? Where exactly are the pains? In the center or in the side? It could be an ulcer though so I would try changing your diet again. Do a search on google for Ulcer Diets and you're sure to come up with something.

Tell me what you normally eat in one day, or what you have noticed does and doesn't have any affect on you.
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Avatar universal
Have you had any blood work done?  If so what have the results shown?  Did you doctor ever do any tests with regard to your gallbladder?

I ask this because I was having gallbladder/pancreatitis attacks and they always seemed to wake me up between 2 and 4 a.m.  They were not tied to anything in my diet that I could find and they were only about two attacks a month - not what I considered "frequent".  Eventually one of the attacks didn't go away, my abdomen got tender to the touch and I ended up at the ER.

Just curious what the results of the tests you have had done were (or even what tests were actually done).

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Avatar universal
i forgot to mention my pains where a deep burn at first but now stabing pains do occur when it's bad. Stools have changed often and i use to vomit to begin with to ease some pain but once i finished it just got worse. Worried it's more then a ulcer and worried that the hospital might be missing a inflamation or possible rupture lead up seem they are not giving me ultrasounds just poking my sore stomach and then giving me shots for nausea (always feel ill) and spasms and pain - specialist thinks ultrasound is a waste hence the scopys but seem his waiting list is a month long he has only seen me when pain was on and off and mild compared to now which is frequent pain and chronic some days. Plus now and again my stomach swells a bit. so i think a ultrasound will at least rule out some things??

- i think i'm just looking for handy advice like what foods i should try to eat plus any comments *sigh* i hate the no sleeping and not knowing when the pain is going to strike - it's weird some days i'm fine and i can eat normally (well lol the foods that don't hurt me anymore AKA 'rabbit food') then i could drink warm tap water and pain occurs. I'm confused and i hate being in the dark like this. sorry for the essay but this is a really great board! thank you for reading this
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