24 hr a day nausea

for the past year, i have had nausea all day everyday..it is low grade all the time, gets worse after eating (does not matter what i eat...fatty food or a simple sandwich or plain jello) the feeling gets worse for about an hour than goes back to low grade.
had a hida scan 9 mos ago showed normal ejection. went through all kinds of test..cat scans, endoscopy, upper gi, small bowel..nothing showed up abnormal.  they have tried me on all kinds of mediciane for ibs, gerd, acid reflux.....nothing helps. they even had me taking anti nausea medicine three times a day..nothing.  in dec. i had another hida scan and this time it showed my gall bladder not functioning at all, so i had it removed
no help....still nauseated...i have no other symptoms...no pain, nothing. my gastrointerlogist sent me back to my primary care doctor...suggested colonoscopy and to have my ears and then head
(as in brain tumor) checked.  any ideas????  the thought of being sick to my stomach for the rest of my life is just not an option.  also, have you ever heard of gaing weight after having your gallbladder out???  i used to use the atkins diet every once in a while to drop a few pounds and since my surgery, it seems to make me gain weight...and yes, i had this problem way before i tried the diet.  please give me any ideas or suggestions that i can pass onto my primary doc as he is stumped.
thanks so much.

[Kevin Pho, MD]

You have had a pretty thorough GI evaluation for nausea as well as having the gallbladder removed.  In addition to these tests, I would also suggest a 24-hr pH study along with an esophageal motility study.  There are some esophageal motility disorders as well as chronic GERD that can cause persistant nausea.

Another consideration would be gastroparesis - which is delayed gastric emptying.  A gastric emptying scan can be considered to evaluate for this.

If the GI tests are completely negative, you may need to look elsewhere, as has been suggested.  An ENT referral or a neurology referral (looking for central neurologic diseases) can be considered for this.  

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Thanks,
Kevin, M.D.

[yoshi]

while you eat,does your stomach/abdomin area start to bloat??

[rouls]

not all the time, sometimes depending on what i eat

[yoshi]

did you check your cholestral level??

[yoshi]

you did not mention hector pylori test??

[rouls]

choelestrol (sp) is fine and they did an endoscopy and said no pylori problem, should i have a blood test also??

[yoshi]

wait till doc gets here and what he has to say.
i know PAJ will be here and what he may say-severe yeast infection can cause nausea .
if you are a woman,then question is -are you pregnant??
low stomach acid level can cause problem when you eat something as it does not do a good job digesting food,i get headache when it happens ,not nausea.
are you constipated??

[rouls]

yes female, but not pregnant....yeast infection in the digestive track????how would this be treated??? also, not constipated

[yoshi]

are you still on atkins diet now once in a while?
a person can have yeast infection if she has been taking anti biotics .

[rouls]

haven't been on any antibiotics for a really long time.
now just on a healthy diet watching my carbs, but not so much meat or cheese and including grains and fruit.

[MOONGLOW]

Sounds to me like you have gastroparesis.  that is what I have too.  It seems like the food just sits in your stomach all day.  Sometimes I think it takes 2 or 3 days to move through.  For nausea I take Tigan and now the doc has given me Zofran.  It helps the nausea, but you still have the discomfort.  They can do gastric motility studies and they are painless. You just ingest and radioactive egg and toast and lay still under a maching for about 2 hours.  That will definitely confirm if you have gastric emptying.  There are several medications you can take to help your stomach muscle contract.  They worked for a while but now don't.  Sometimes I think it is just something you have to live with.