Nausea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sarahmay]

Can anyone out there relate to this?
I had my gall bladder out over a month ago..no gall stones just a diseased gall bladder.  Before the surgery I was terribly nauseated all the time......this was pretty much my only symptom.
However, since the surgery, I'm STILL nauseated, if not worse.
I've had every test imaginable...egd, gastric emptying..etc....etc...as far as gastro tests go.
Has anyone out there experienced persistent nausea..like 24/7? Has it been diagnosed as something??????????????
I do not vomit...although it takes everything within me not to.
Please Please Please......
If you have any information..........write back.
Thanks

[5fan]

Best of luck to you, your wife and yoru new baby and CONGRATULATIONS.

I know many people who have had their gallbladder out and never looked back.  Unfortunately, there are a few of us who just don't seem to have that little bit of luck on our side.  

I truly hope she doesn't have any post-op problems.  

Take Care.

[atldsl]

It seems no one here has an answer, nor do I.  My wife did not start getting nausea until 7 weeks into her pregnancy.  Now it is 6 weeks after delivery and she is still nausea and vomiting, mostly from 4 or 5pm through the night.  The doctors did many of the tests listed above and determined the gallbladder should come out.  So far the vomiting is still occuring almost like clockwork, however the day the gallbladder came out after the surgery there was no nausea or vomiting for an entire day and evening.  Unfortunately, she does not have the strength to be with the baby.  We're still praying that things will settle down now the gallbladder surgery is done with.  

ATLDSL

[sarahmay]

Thank you all for your responses. And to 5Fan, i'm sorry you're going through so much as well.
I too had an EGD, and was told it was chronic gastritis.....inflammation....but i've really been given no explanation as far as the nausea.
Do you experience it when you first wake up, and continually during the day?  Do certain things you eat or do make it worse?
Just curious..Nothing seems to effect mine one way or another...it just stays BAD(nausea) all day long...
Good luck with your tests....and yes I can totally relate...not a good thing to have a needle phobia when you don't know what's wrong and you have to keep going to the doctors for tests and tests...
i think ibs is something doctors say when they don't really have a clue....
who knows?
good luck.

[5fan]

Sounds like you and I are pretty much in the same boat.  

I had my EGD done on 9/6.  The doctor took biopsies of my pancreas and my stomach lining.  According to the nurse at my doctor's office my results were "okay" - I guess that mean no H. pylori.  He had given me a prescription for Librax to be taken three times a day before I had the EGD done.  He wanted me to start on it in case the CT, blood work and EGD came back "clean".  He did warn me that it was possible that I could go through all these tests and they could all be normal.  That's when he mentioned IBS.

The nurse called me today and told me he was going to call in a refill on the Librax and also add Nexium (sp?).  I haven't started Nexium yet, but hope it works.  He want's to see me back in a month and see where things stand then.

I haven't yet found any specific food or drink that causes the nausea to be worse.  I have pretty much had to give up coffee because it seems as though it does aggravate it - not cause it, just aggravate it.  For me to give up coffee is unbelievable.  I have worked three jobs for the last four years and have pretty much lived on coffee.  Going cold turkey in the hospital wasn't much fun!  Oh well, at least one bad habit bit the dust.

I do find that the pain I have is worse after I eat.  

I do find that Coke helps control the nausea some.  I have always drank a lot of water, but I have to be careful now because when I drink large amounts it comes back up and along with it comes the bitter bile junk (for lack of better word to call it).  I know most people would think I'm crazy about the Coke but my mom told me when I was little and had the stomach flu that was the only thing that worked back then.  Of course I do open it and let it warm up some so that its just a little on the flat side.

The other thing I find that helps are mints although I just read somewhere on this site that they actually can aggravate some conditions.  I'm going to ask the doctor about it when I see him.

I don't "wake up" with the nausea.  It seems to arrive about 20 minutes or so after I'm out of bed.  When I hit the shower it seems to hit me and then it's a battle most of the day.  I have found that with the Librax I do get short spurts of not noticing the nausea - maybe and hour or so about 30 minutes after I take each dose.

Unfortunately, I've also developed the untold but not uncommon post gallbladder surgery side effect.  Near uncontrolable Diarrhea.  I don't know if anyone has warned you about this (none of my doctors did), or if you have read about or even experienced it.  Luckily one of my friends from college is a nurse (BSN) and she had her gallbladder out in December 2001.  She didn't even know about it as a side effect until it hit her.  She was the one that warned me not to be surprised if it started about 1 to 1 and 1/2 months after surgery.  Mine showed up at just about that time and the last few days haven't been fun.  I feel like I have the stomach flu both ways and I'm not sure how long it will last.  (I guess that varies from person to person).

For now I've just adopted the attitude that if everything I eat is going to bother me then I'm going to eat what I feel like.  I do find that certain things do not appeal to me anymore.  The thought Red sauce makes my nausea worse and before my surgery I lived on pasta and red sauce.  I'm not sure if the nausea is just so exhausting that foods just are not appealing, but for the most part I try to eat something because it is time to eat and not because I particularly want to.  I know that not eating is not going to make the situtation any better.  I have tried on really bad days to stick with oatmeal or chicken broth.  Sometimes these work - sometimes they don't.  I'm hoping when I go back to the gastro he may be able to give me a little insight into what I should avoid, because you know sometimes we think the things we're eating as nice, bland, good for you foods - but they really are NOT!

I know this is a long resonse, but in closing I understand your feeling about IBS being a diagnosis for "we don't know what is wrong with you so it must be IBS".  My mom was in the hospital 12 years ago for three months.  They told her she had spinal cancer and were sending her home because there was nothing they could do for her (that was a hospital in Maine).  At the last minute they sent her to Mass General in Boston.  They determined she didn't have cancer, but after two months and I don't know how many specialists were never able to give her a diagnosis of any kind.  Finally about 6-7 years ago her doctor told her she had fibromyalgia.  From all the research I've done it seems this is another "we don't know what it is so it must be".

I have a good friend who has listened to me be upset about what is going on and I have tried to keep a good attitude - "AT LEAST I'M ALIVE!" and we always end up back at "doctors are not God - after all they are only practicing medicine."

Hope things get better for you.  Sorry you're going through this too.  Keep me up to date with any progress you make.  You can e-mail me at ***@**** if you don't want to post everything here.  I know this e-mail is quite lengthy.

GOOD LUCK and BEST WISHES.

[5fan]

I understand what you are feeling.  I had my gallbladder out approximately one and one-half months ago.  NAUSEA - ever since.  

I had horrible pains before the surgery (not a lot of nausea really).  I went to the ER and was told that the wall of my gallbladder was thickened and would "have to come out sometime".  I was praying they wouldn't send me home, I just didn't think I could take one more attack.  

The physician assistant at the hosptial make it sound like it was no big deal and that the pain I was feeling was because of my pancrease being inflammed.  I had a sonogram and x-rays, but no stones.  They ended up admitting me because my amylase and lipase levels were off the charts.  My hepatic functions weren't so hot either.  I spent four days NPO (no oral intake of any kind, ice chips, water, food, etc. - even told to only brush my teeth once a day).

I went through a CT and a HIDA scan and no stones were found.  Finally on the sixth day in the hospital they did surgery and removed the gallbladder.  Lucky for me they nicked an artery and that complicated the actual surgery a bit.

Due to the pancreatitis and liver issues when I went back to the surgeon a week after surgery and was having a lot of pain he had me go through a repeat sonogram and more blood work.  (I hope I never see another needle).  My pancreatic levels were on their way down and my liver was also, but due to a fever I was put on an Augmentin (SP?) - talk about nausea.  The Dr. prescribed something to go with the Augmentin so I didn't think much about the nausea until after my 10 days were up.  THAT WAS OVER A MONTH AGO.  

Since then I have been referred back to my Gastroenterologist and gone through another two rounds of blood work; a repeat CT and an EGD - with nothing visible found.  I have been told that my stomach lining is "inflammed".  I'm waiting on the results from the EGD right now.  I have been doing some research on H. pylori, because I've been told that may be a possibility.  The other thing my Gastro said was IBS.

I know I can't stand to live this way much longer and sympathize with you.  GOOD LUCK!

[imkindly]

I saw the terrible advice on liver disease that you gave a few days ago (where you didn't even understand the basics).

So how in the world can you DIAGNOSE intrahepatic stones?