I don't know what's wrong with me

[jaz9404]

Since November of 2012, I've been encountering problems with my body.  It started off when I had stomach flu.  After the stomach flu went away, I was still having pain in my stomach.  My periods were getting heavier and I just felt weird so I went to my doctor, who said I could have some kind of bug in my intestines (since it was lower abdomen pain that I was feeling at the time).  She sent me with for a blood test, a urine test and a stool test.  Everything came up clean.  She eventually sent me for an X-ray and an ultrasound, which showed that I had constipation.  So I made some lifestyle changes, drinking more water, eating healthier.  But then I started having diarrhea in late January.  After a couple days of diarrhea, I had constipation again and then I was fine and the process would cycle.  My bowel movements were irregular and the pain didn't go away.  I went to another doctor and when I told him the pain started after I had stomach flu, he thought it was IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).  He gave me pills for it, which didn't help at all.  Then I noticed that my pain occurred usually when I intook dairy products.  He said I could be lactose intolerant so he gave me pills for that as well.  They didn't help either.  By February, the pain had spread to my upper abdomen.  I felt nauseated.sometimes and felt a burning in my throat.  My cousin, who is a pharmacist. thought that I might have stomach acid and my pain could just be from stress.  I took this into consideration since my grandma was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January and my grades were also dropping.  Also because of my grandma not being diagnosed with cancer early enough to save her, I was even more scared for myself because I didn't want to end up like her (I'm a paranoid person and tend to think the worst)  So I thought it could be stress.  But the acid pills didn't help and the last day of March, the pain got so bad that I had to be rushed into the emergency, where they took two urine samples and another blood test, where everything came out normal.  They sent me to a pediatrician, who I had heard rumors about taking drugs or something so I didn't trust him to begin with but he was the only one in my city who did endoscopes and gastroscopy.  I couldn't go to anyone else.  This guy also said it was stomach acid and constipation.  I settled for that, thinking I was just overreacting.  My bowel movements became more regular however I started having severe headaches near the end of June and although I wasn't having any stomach acid pain and the pain in my lower abdomen was less than before, yesterday, the nausea came back.  It was a pretty crappy day.  I had another severe headache, I've been feeling a lot of joint pain lately and although my parents think it's because I'm pushing myself to much when I exercise, I don't think the joint pain is related to that.  My stomach pain got worse. There was pain everywhere in my stomach for a good hour or so, upper abdomen and lower.  It was so bad that I'd rather be dead than feel that again.  I had two heavy bowel movements within fifteen minutes and the pain wouldn't stop until later that night.  I don't know if I'm just paranoid because I have been diagnosed with paranoia but I'm freaking out and especially after not knowing my grandmother had cancer until five months before she passed away freaks me out even more and makes me think that the doctors where I live just don't take things seriously enough.  I've been feeling like I only have a short time left to live so four months.  Please help me.

[patient49]

Hi again :)

So I read your post again and my response and your responses to all of us. First I wanted to say that I misspelled 'alleviated' in my first response to you and accidentally wrote 'elevated'!! Which ironically means the exact opposite thing! :/  I also looked up to see if constipation causes abdomen pain and it certainly does!!  I still think if you have anything physical going on that it's relatively minor, but I have an interesting view on physical struggle: that it makes us more beautiful so we don't need to fight it. We should just try to do our best because that's all we really can do. :)  But I bet you're young and healthy, and I think you really should see a naturopath; some can help with anxiety also, and stomach/colon issues is right down their alley because that is usually a dietary thing.. and naturopaths are big in dietary needs and nutrition/ life style. And I believe that Some ND's in your area accept public health insurance, as they do in VT now, which is nice.
If you have anxiety or are worrying, it is very common knowledge that you will discover on here (MedHelp) that anxiety (worrying) causes ALL KINDS of physical symptoms, like I was saying. I have struggled with a lot of it. So i think it CAN be helpful to find a talk therapist but not just any one. You may have to search around, and I imagine you would find a female who is not too young nor old to be the most helpful, someone that you can relate to. It could be really helpful, because you can talk things out and get some feedback :)
Well i hope you start feeling better soon and write anytime. I hope you're having a nice night! :)

Ash

[jaz9404]

Thanks for your help!  I'll definitely consider seeing an ND.

[jaz9404]

No, it starts off on the left side of my head and then quickly spreads to the rest of my head.

[jaz9404]

I have thought about seeing a therapist but my friend - who has been seeing one for a while - said that her therapist didn't help her much.  She was given medication to take and she took it daily but it did her nothing.

[patient49]

I think you have a lot more time to live!! :)

Your abdomen pain could very well be real, especially if it is elevated after having a bowel movement. I used to get pain in my abdomen from not eating well, like foods with a lot of sugars, or acidic food I guess. Consitpation could cause abdomen pain too but idk you'll have to look that up.  
Iv'e had A LOT of anxiety where it causes A LOT of physical symptoms; however I never had excrusiating pain to where I would rather be dead.. but who knows it is possible it could be anxiety.
I think you would benefit from seeing a Naturopathic doctor (ND). They are far more naturally oriented and focus on  life style and I think your condition would be really helped by a good naturopath.  Maybe you could look up ND's in your area and see which one might be good :)
Otherwise just eat well ( a naturopath can help you with that too!!). And you may just be aware of your body (sensative) so the knee pain could be from exercising and you notice it because you are tuned in to your bodies needs. It's a good thing, but I dont think you need to worry too much either. I think if you do have something physical going on it is reletively minor, like stomack acid or something. But your "paranoia" and worrying (anxiety) can also cause a lot of real physical symptoms too. Either way i dont think you should worry too much and just take care of yourself :)  And see a Naturopath :)

I hope you feel better.. I am feeling a little under the weather the past few days so I decided to come on here out of boardom and read your post. But I guess I should take it easy and not feel like I have to do things :/

:)  Ash

[SophiasMommy0603]

Hey I stumbled upon your post. When you say severe headache, where is it located? Is it in the back of your head?

[remar]

Your symptoms may be caused from severe stress and anxiety. But, I think it would be a good idea to have even more testing done to rule anything else out.
I wish I could recommend what kind of testing to get. Hopefully some of the other wonderful members will be able to help you out with that.
Have you thought about therapy to help you with your anxiety? It really can do wonders.