I will try to keep my story brief. Within the last 5 days I made a late night trip to the ER with severe upper abdominal pains. Doctor conducted the following
Blood work
Ultrasound
CT scan with dye
The outcome was that he did not see any ulcer or perforation
in stomach and that the blood work came back normal. He said that I should follow up with a specialist to have an EGD and sent me home. Meantime this pain persisted for the next day or so seemingly mocking the symptoms of a stomach ulcer, worse at night, seemed to get a little better when I would eat, and pain that led me to believe this was a nasty stomach ulcer. Well I went to my gasro doctor and his PA reviewed the testing from the hospital and set up an appointment for the EGD. The results of this was no ulcer was found I have barretts esophagus
hernia, but no good reason for that severe pain. My thoughts are going towards could this be gall bladder related? But wouldn't that have shown up on the CT scan? Also my pain was more towards the left side not the right. Could a hiatal
hernia be so aggravating that it wakes me up out of sleeping and feels like a knot in my upper abdomen for hours at a time?
So as of now I am on Protonix twice daily, Zoloft, and Xanax as needed. I am having anxiety right now worrying about if this pain is coming back, checking my vitals I am running a low grade fever
where it does not belong. Unlike the stomach, the esophagus can't handle acid and is letting you know something is wrong.
Other than testing for Celiac disease, which can cause terrible heartburn that does not respond to the treatment until you stop eating gluten, it sounds like your doctors are treating this appropriately. I think you will have discomfort until the tissue has a chance to heal. I think all your pain can be explained by the acid being where it did not belong, and they are using a multi-drug regimen to help you. They probably suggested you elevate the head of your bed to have gravity help keep the acid down, and to lose weight if you are over your prime weight. Give it time. If your stool changes color to red or black or you are vomiting what looks like coffee grounds, then it is time to get more urgent attention. That could be a bleeding ulcer.