GASTROENTEROLOGY COMMUNITY
Ongoing Severe Epigastric Pain and Nausea

Ongoing Severe Epigastric Pain and Nausea

I'm a 36 year old female, 5'1", about 105 lbs.  I have been dealing with severe epigastric pain and nausea on and off now for about the last two years.  In May of 2008 I had a cholecystectomy after a HIDA scan showed that my gall bladder was flushing well below the normal rate.  I continued to have severe pain after this surgery, and was passed around from doctor to doctor for a while.  During this time I had an EGD which showed a healed ulcer, but nothing else.  Meanwhile, as I had been overweight when this had all started (around 155 lbs), my weight was beginning to drop dramatically because I was in so much pain after I would eat, and also because of frequent nausea and vomiting.  I had an elevated liver count on one blood test, but nothing else to indicate any other abnormalities, and as I visited the ER several times during this period for acute pain and vomiting, I had occasion to have my blood tested often.  Finally I found a family doctor who realized that prior to my cholecystectomy, my common bile duct had been dilated, and that it was continuing to dilate, according to a CT scan that I'd had done in the ER (this was around December of 2008).  By this time, my weight was down to around 100 lbs and still falling, so there was some cause for urgency.  She sent me to a gastroenterologist who looked into Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction and subsequently did a sphincterotomy via ERCP on me, which revealed that there was quite a bit of sludge building up in my common bile duct.  I felt much better after this and even started to gain a little weight back, when the pain began to return around May of 2009.  My gastroenterologist sent me to a large research hospital for help (U of Michigan), where I was put on Cholestyramine to help my body metabolize fat, and also to help process bile - which my previous gastroenterologist had found an excess amount of in my stomach when he'd done the sphincterotomy.  My pain continued to worsen, and U of M did another ERCP, during which manometries were done on both my pancreatic duct and my common bile duct.  The pressure level was extremely high in both ducts, and the gastroenterologist repeated the sphincterotomy on my Sphincter of Oddi, which had stenosed shut, and also did a sphincterotomy on my pancreatic duct and put a temporary stent in that opening.  I went back after two weeks to have the stent removed, and during that procedure, two large ulcers were found - one in my duodenum and another in the gastric body of my stomach.  After this procedure, I developed an acute case of pancreatitis and was hospitalized for a week.  My weight dropped down to 90 lbs.  This was in July of 2009.  After the pancreatitis cleared up and the ulcers were treated, though, things seemed to get better.  I was able to go off all pain meds entirely, and was able to eat almost whatever I liked, though I still remained cautious.  In August, I moved from Michigan to the Chicago area to pursue my graduate degree, and in September the pain began to return - just a little at first, but it is now so severe that I am unable to eat solid foods without having an acute attack of pain.  The pain is in my upper middle abdomen, just below my sternum and a little under my ribcage, sometimes a little more to the left-hand side.  Usually it comes in waves.  It is generally accompanied by nausea, and sometimes by vomiting.  I take Zofran for the nausea, but sometimes this is not enough.  I have a new gastroenterologist here who has been very kind, but I fear maybe not aggressive enough.  Any advice or ideas anyone might have about what might be wrong with me or what I should do would be appreciated.  I am a little scared and frustrated.
Related Discussions
Have a Gastro question?
100,000+ doctor answers
Post a Comment
To
Comment
Post A Comment
Go
Blank
Gastro Tracker
Log symptoms & treatments
Start Tracking Now
Blank
Food Diary Tracker
What are you eating?
Start Tracking Now
MedHelp Health Answers
Submit
Top Digestive Answerers
Avatar_f_tn
Blank
patient915
CA
Avatar_n_tn
Blank
CalGal
Avatar_f_tn
Blank
mammo
Cincinnati, OH
168348_tn?1333651418
Blank
ChitChatNine
681148_tn?1285160820
Blank
FurballsMom
329165_tn?1330085073
Blank
Smiley2000
Australia
RSS Expert Activity
1741471_tn?1336957856
Blank
LIVE WEBINAR TOMORROW!-SUPER BODY, ... Blank
May 22 by Michael Gonzalez-WallaceBlank
2126606_tn?1335910182
Blank
Fibromyalgia Awareness
May 11 by Clare Waismann Kavin, RASBlank
2126606_tn?1335910182
Blank
Opioid-induced hyperalgesia reduces...
May 03 by Clare Waismann Kavin, RASBlank