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Abdominal Pains, GERD, The Cure, part 1!!
by Sickboy1, Jul 13, 2009 08:42AM
I have found some very interesting information which may help some sufferers of all types of unexplained problems with stomach/esophagus and abdominal pains.
First a few Questions!!
Have your symtoms been gradually getting worse?
Gastroscopy showing up normal?
I think the main thing we all strive for is a clear diagnosis, we need to know what we are fighting against before we can move forward, i have now been 5 years undiagnosed, but yet my problems and abdominal pains have got worse and worse and the doctors gave me more and more medication to combat symptoms.
I am sick of nobody being able to tell me what is going on,so i have been devoting my life to researching stomach problems, the cause of abdominal pains and treatment.
Now there are going to be some sceptics out there and this will not suit most peoples conditions, but to those who accept and understand this it may well change your life, first i will tell you my story and how i came to where i am now, it has been a comedy of errors and misdiagnosis by the doctors, you will see how one condition led to all the other problems and why doctors are often misdiagnosing.
This is the compressed version of my story after which we will bust some common myths.
I started getting upper abdominal pains with heartburn 5 years ago, i was prescribed Acid blockers(lansoprazole) and sent on my way.Over the next two years my condition got gradually worse, i started to get pains between my shoulder blades and complained of big gurglings in the stomach, abdominal distention, i was suffering from fatigue and had severe muscle weakness in the stomach, if i tried to sit up from a laying down position my body would shake violently, after a few hours out of bed in a morning i would be worn out and ready for a lay down.
I got sent for an upper GI endoscopy, no problems found except i had "Delayed gastric emptying" i was prescribed "Domperidone" an Antagonist to speed up gastric emptying, i had a period of feeling a lot better probably for about 6 months, i was still on the Acid blockers at the same time, they worked quite well together to eliminate stomach pain.Then i started to get problems with lower abdominal pain and tightness in the esophagus, a gurgling in the throat and the feeling that something was stuck, i kept swallowing to try and clear the throat, still suffering from muscle weakness and fatigue, shaking and muscle tremors.
I was given "meberevine" to combat the lower abdominal cramps, it is an antispasmodic to relieve people with symptoms of IBS and i was told at this point that i am suffering from stress, i must admit i was a little bit stressed by having this illness for so long.
I demanded to know what the underlying cause was for all my symptoms, all the doctors had done so far if prescribe medication to "put a lid on it", i had had enough and wanted to find the underlying cause, no blood tests ever showed up anything except a high white blood cell count.
So my Doctor sent me to a CFS specialist, i was diagnosed with CFS and told i had to stop working and get plenty of rest.
Sure rest helps anybody, but who can afford to stop working, so then the Doctors had the perfect fall back, anything from then on was a symptom of CFS, and they just said get some rest, avoid stress, lol, i was not happy i still wanted to find a reason for the illness. I saw another specialist who gave me muscle relaxants and told me to stop taking "Domperodone" the muscle relaxants were supposed to resolve the problem of tension in the esophagus, i.e. the feeling something was stuck with pains going through to my shoulder blades, i was told that"domperidone" had caused the ever growing problems with my Esophagus.
My esophagus did relax, the gurgling in my throat disappeared with my back pains but my stomach problems got even worse.
I ended up booking myself into a private hospital to get to the bottom of it all once and for all, now this is where it gets interesting, i was kept in hospital on a drip for 3 days, i was not allowed to eat 1 day before the Gastroscopy and 2 days before the colonoscopy, so i went 3 days without food, just sipping water, i did not think about this until much later, but i later realised that the 3 days i was in hospital i was not taking any of my medication, the tests all came out all clear once again with a high white blood cell count, i came out of hospital like a new man, i put it down to the rest and relaxation.
After i came out i started eating normal again, only an occasional drinker of alcohol, closer to being tea total than an occasional drinker, not an unhealthy eater either, maybe only 2 stone over my ideal weight but i am of a muscular build as i have always been into fitness, after a few months my condition worsened again, new symptoms, i was getting upper abdominal pains so bad i had to go to hospital, i was in agony, a pain just below the sternum, where you would expect the Esophageal sphincter to be, the pain would radiate up through my back, into my shoulders and into my arms, the abdomen would bloat up like a football, like i had a shelf under my ribcage. I was diagnosed with Esophageal spasms and given more muscle relaxants, the attacks got worse, so i started taking more acid blockers 1 in a morning and 1 on a night, the pain started happening more frequent but the attacks were less severe, i was told that acid was aggrevating the lower esophagus thus causing the spasms, but i was at this point taking double doses of acid blockers and also taking gaviscon"double action" to protect the` esophagus and to neutralise any other stomach acids that may be present, i was advised to do this by doctors after i complained the pains were getting more frequent, even though i was already double dosing on Lansoprazole.
So the doctors started suggesting "Fundoplication surgery", i researched the operation and found a lot of horror stories, with a low short term success rate and a very low long term success rate.I still believed this was "putting a lid on it" and not actually resolving the real problem, so i started my research into why the stomach produces so much acid or what causes GERD, then everything started to fall into place and all my problems were explained from beginning to end.
This is a story about misdiagnosis and symptoms spiralling out of control due to medication side effects, to all you who are "well read" this will all make so much sense.
For starters i am now properly diagnosed, with "Bile reflux", within 1 day of taking treatment for this condition i actually knew what it felt like to be normal again, i feel better than that in fact, after being ill for such a long time, being normal feels a bit understated, it's exhilarating to know the nightmare is over.
I am running out of space, so please see "part 2" to read on!!!
First a few Questions!!
Have your symtoms been gradually getting worse?
Gastroscopy showing up normal?
I think the main thing we all strive for is a clear diagnosis, we need to know what we are fighting against before we can move forward, i have now been 5 years undiagnosed, but yet my problems and abdominal pains have got worse and worse and the doctors gave me more and more medication to combat symptoms.
I am sick of nobody being able to tell me what is going on,so i have been devoting my life to researching stomach problems, the cause of abdominal pains and treatment.
Now there are going to be some sceptics out there and this will not suit most peoples conditions, but to those who accept and understand this it may well change your life, first i will tell you my story and how i came to where i am now, it has been a comedy of errors and misdiagnosis by the doctors, you will see how one condition led to all the other problems and why doctors are often misdiagnosing.
This is the compressed version of my story after which we will bust some common myths.
I started getting upper abdominal pains with heartburn 5 years ago, i was prescribed Acid blockers(lansoprazole) and sent on my way.Over the next two years my condition got gradually worse, i started to get pains between my shoulder blades and complained of big gurglings in the stomach, abdominal distention, i was suffering from fatigue and had severe muscle weakness in the stomach, if i tried to sit up from a laying down position my body would shake violently, after a few hours out of bed in a morning i would be worn out and ready for a lay down.
I got sent for an upper GI endoscopy, no problems found except i had "Delayed gastric emptying" i was prescribed "Domperidone" an Antagonist to speed up gastric emptying, i had a period of feeling a lot better probably for about 6 months, i was still on the Acid blockers at the same time, they worked quite well together to eliminate stomach pain.Then i started to get problems with lower abdominal pain and tightness in the esophagus, a gurgling in the throat and the feeling that something was stuck, i kept swallowing to try and clear the throat, still suffering from muscle weakness and fatigue, shaking and muscle tremors.
I was given "meberevine" to combat the lower abdominal cramps, it is an antispasmodic to relieve people with symptoms of IBS and i was told at this point that i am suffering from stress, i must admit i was a little bit stressed by having this illness for so long.
I demanded to know what the underlying cause was for all my symptoms, all the doctors had done so far if prescribe medication to "put a lid on it", i had had enough and wanted to find the underlying cause, no blood tests ever showed up anything except a high white blood cell count.
So my Doctor sent me to a CFS specialist, i was diagnosed with CFS and told i had to stop working and get plenty of rest.
Sure rest helps anybody, but who can afford to stop working, so then the Doctors had the perfect fall back, anything from then on was a symptom of CFS, and they just said get some rest, avoid stress, lol, i was not happy i still wanted to find a reason for the illness. I saw another specialist who gave me muscle relaxants and told me to stop taking "Domperodone" the muscle relaxants were supposed to resolve the problem of tension in the esophagus, i.e. the feeling something was stuck with pains going through to my shoulder blades, i was told that"domperidone" had caused the ever growing problems with my Esophagus.
My esophagus did relax, the gurgling in my throat disappeared with my back pains but my stomach problems got even worse.
I ended up booking myself into a private hospital to get to the bottom of it all once and for all, now this is where it gets interesting, i was kept in hospital on a drip for 3 days, i was not allowed to eat 1 day before the Gastroscopy and 2 days before the colonoscopy, so i went 3 days without food, just sipping water, i did not think about this until much later, but i later realised that the 3 days i was in hospital i was not taking any of my medication, the tests all came out all clear once again with a high white blood cell count, i came out of hospital like a new man, i put it down to the rest and relaxation.
After i came out i started eating normal again, only an occasional drinker of alcohol, closer to being tea total than an occasional drinker, not an unhealthy eater either, maybe only 2 stone over my ideal weight but i am of a muscular build as i have always been into fitness, after a few months my condition worsened again, new symptoms, i was getting upper abdominal pains so bad i had to go to hospital, i was in agony, a pain just below the sternum, where you would expect the Esophageal sphincter to be, the pain would radiate up through my back, into my shoulders and into my arms, the abdomen would bloat up like a football, like i had a shelf under my ribcage. I was diagnosed with Esophageal spasms and given more muscle relaxants, the attacks got worse, so i started taking more acid blockers 1 in a morning and 1 on a night, the pain started happening more frequent but the attacks were less severe, i was told that acid was aggrevating the lower esophagus thus causing the spasms, but i was at this point taking double doses of acid blockers and also taking gaviscon"double action" to protect the` esophagus and to neutralise any other stomach acids that may be present, i was advised to do this by doctors after i complained the pains were getting more frequent, even though i was already double dosing on Lansoprazole.
So the doctors started suggesting "Fundoplication surgery", i researched the operation and found a lot of horror stories, with a low short term success rate and a very low long term success rate.I still believed this was "putting a lid on it" and not actually resolving the real problem, so i started my research into why the stomach produces so much acid or what causes GERD, then everything started to fall into place and all my problems were explained from beginning to end.
This is a story about misdiagnosis and symptoms spiralling out of control due to medication side effects, to all you who are "well read" this will all make so much sense.
For starters i am now properly diagnosed, with "Bile reflux", within 1 day of taking treatment for this condition i actually knew what it felt like to be normal again, i feel better than that in fact, after being ill for such a long time, being normal feels a bit understated, it's exhilarating to know the nightmare is over.
I am running out of space, so please see "part 2" to read on!!!
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i had endoscopy and was diagnosed having chronic gastritis but after a 4 mo. medication i decided to stop coz nothings workin..i still feel my upper abdomen "tighten " especially when im nervous,angry, stressed and the pain radiates through my back. everyday i still feel lump in my throat and halitosis in the morning which is really bad...i wanted to think its worst but i think something can be done about it coz when i took antibacterial meds for a week before, (eventhough finding for H. Pylori was unequivocal) both dispappeared but only for a week and then was back again until present...by the way, i told my situation to my dr. but she just kept giving me PPI to be taken before sleeping but which i think was not working so decided to stop seein her... any insight??thanks a lot...
u think my decision to stop takin the meds is good??
by the way, i tried homeopathy and the dr gave me pepsidine which i took for a month..
I've just started my treatment but I'm encouraged that she's going to find the root of the problem. When your digestive system is off-track you have to fix the problem with a hypoalergenic diet, detox program, and supplements based on what your individual body needs. It might take a couple months to recover but I've heard of a lot of success stories.
My husband started out in January 2008 with burning throat pain (his throat was as red as fire and felt like it too), he had major sinus infections, heavy post nasal drip....long, long story but for 12 months he was in and out of hosptial, had sinus surgery, every test you can imagine from a colonscopy to barium swallow, every blood test, cultures grown, antibiotics of EVERY type given etc. All they could come up with were sinus infections. No one could explain the burning throat pain and difficulty swallowing (he lost 60 pounds in 5 months because he could NOT eat) - doctors initally told him it was anxiety and nothing was wrong with him. He was treated HORRIBLY by doctors!!! Once he had his sinus surgery they kinda changed their tune but still said the throat and stomach problems were anxiety/stress/depression. In December 2008, he had his tonsils removed - to their amazment, his tonsils were severely infected and once they were removed...hummmm, no more burning throat pain (we had started asking in June if it could be his tonsils and they assured us it was not). Again, the doctors were proven wrong.
He is still having serious stomach problems and went in May and got scoped again and the doctor said to him "I'll do it this time but you have to stop this, this is all anxiety related and you need to get it under control." Doctor said scope was normal.
Still having serious stomach pain and loss of appetite, nausea, bloating, belching. Ends up in hospital again and the redo a gamit of tests - dumping, gallbladder, scope. etc. Gastrologist this time said he had "severe gastritis, and severe stomach lesions" - negative for H-pilori (sp??) bacteria. They put him on Carafate and Priolsec twice a day and he has seriously changed his diet but isn't doing much better after about 5 weeks.
Anyhow, does this sound like you? How should he bring this up to the doctor about he bile reflux? I hate to say to the doctors....."we were looking on the internet" but honestly that is the only way we have gotten answers at this point is to do our own research and push and push and push. They didn't want to do the sinus surgery and kept giving him antibiotic for months and it would not go away. Sinus surgery proved that he was seriously impacted and had alot of problems going on up there, same thing with the tonsil removal - we pushed it, we researched it. The doctors have been horrific in this and we have only found a few that have helped him!
Any other thoughts? I want him to feel "normal" again as you said in your post. What did they give you for the bile reflux. Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you