Acid Reflux, Nausea, Vomiting, Weightloss, What's Wrong with Me?

[beerbaroness]

20 year old female--About 6 months ago I suddenly became very ill.  I had a very strong burning sensation in stomach and lower esophagus and was extremely nauseated, vomiting after I ate anything besides crackers.  I saw my gastroenterologist who prescribed Zegerid (PPI).  The acid reducer helped with the burning, but I was still vomiting multiple times a day.  The doctor then performed an endoscopy but found nothing wrong with me.  I had been vomiting for two weeks, however, and it did not stop so he also prescribed Zofran.  The Zofran made it so that I was able to stop vomiting and calm my stomach enough to begin eating again.
Since my doctor couldn't find anything wrong with me, I thought it might have had something to do with my anxiety.  I was prescribed mild sedatives before I returned to college.  For months I followed a fairly strict ulcer diet (nothing acidic, nothing too fatty, no alcohol, no caffeine (I already had to stop drinking coffee in high school because of how it effected my stomach), no raw veggies, etc.  I was feeling better but wasn't eating much out of fear of becoming as sick as I was again and ended up losing about 30 lbs. (I'm still a healthy weight but just barely).  I slowly and carefully expanded the parameters of my diet but still avoid extremely acidic foods, wine and liquor, spicy foods, and anything else I think would bother me.
Recently, however, I have begun to feel the burning and a little nausea.  It seems to be partly related to my anxiety, but that can't be the whole picture.  I'm afraid that I'm going to repeat one of the worst experiences I've ever had and still have no idea, (though I know what foods seem to bother me), what's wrong with me.
Any suggestions before I completely shrink up?

[gnorb]

Other than the endoscopy, have you had any other exams? From your description, I wonder whether a gastric emptying exam might be in order. Your symptoms could be a number of things. Gastroparesis comes to mind, but that's not by any means the only thing it could be. (My knowledge is just limited, and I haven't examined you like your doc has.)

Good luck in finding out what it might be.

[beerbaroness]

I had an x-ray, which showed some minor back-up, and a blood test (it was never specifically mentioned if this was to test for H. Pylori, but I assume so because I don't think they would do an endoscopy without checking that first).  Since then I have been taking omeprazole daily as well as a probiotic (Culturelle).  Gastroparesis seems to fit, especially because it can be caused by abnormal eating patterns (I have a severely disrupted sleep cycle and tend to not eat before 1pm and often only fit in two meals a day) and because I often find it hard to digest food.  I'm planning on going back to the doctor.  A stronger effort to find a reason may be more likely considering my weight loss.

[sujanj]

u think about many things ..thats again the main reason for acidity...u take the pills suggested by ur doctor..but mainly think positive n have shorter meals after every 2 hours.in this period dont think too much about anything..just relax n take deep breath every time.

[Stewie510]

Hello

I feel so sorry for you because it sounds like we are going though the same thing. I have what you have. What times of the day do you get sick? Mine is only in the morning, that's why they thing its acid reflux related. I am waiting to see a gastro doctor but with no insurance its goign to take up to 8 months. In the mean time I have been doing the same kinda food thing you are doing. I was told possibly a gluten allergy too. Do you have random diareah sometimes? I think i do from messing up on my diet with out even knowing it. I ate wrong 3 days ago, and i'm still paying for it. I had tons of upper abdomen pain that lasted from the late night into the early hours in the morning for about a week. That all went away and i'm not left with this. Lab work all normal along with a CT Scan. Its a mystery and i'm scared as hell to eat anything in the mean time. I feel what helps is I wake up and immediatly get hot water. I was drinking tea but stopped incase it is a acid thing. You dont want tea. Then if the nausea still is there I run a hot bath. If its STILL there i go for the tums. By this time the anxiety starts to kick in and diareah starts. And i dont know if its diareah or anxiety. What I feel also helps is smoking a little pot. I know you are not suppose to smoke with acid reflux but its helping me. I cut back though. But during those 4am 5am nausea wake up calls, I just gotta. Its the only thing that gets me to calm down and sleep for another hour before I have to wake up with the rest of the world. Oh yeah and I also put a heating pad on my feet. I find that with anxiety (IBS) your feet get cold due to the lack of blood in the area (its all at your stomach). You want to re channel this blood to the area's that need it. And your feet loose it 1st. I even went to see a acupunturist just after all those pains, he noticed my feet were freezing, and he was the one who opened my eyes to that little other mystery issue in my head. So anyways, after running around (well walking really slowly) in the morning doing all these things, the nausea starts to go away. Maybe because its working, maybe because my mind is on somethng else? Who knows. But its helping. Try it.