Please help!!

[Camajay]

Hi there I am 21 year old guy living in Pretoria South Africa I have been sick now for 7 months with severe nausea which is with me 24hrs a day and very debilitating. Although in the last 7 months only actually thrown up 3 times. I also have this burning sensation running from my throat up to my chest which is very
irritating and causes my throat to be very dry to the point it feels like I want to choke. Also suffer from occasional severe diarrhoea. In the process I have lost 15kgs.
I have seen so many doctors in the last few months and done all the tests I believe to be possible. All they have found is a large hiatus hernia which I do not believe to be causing my problems as I have not responded at all to medication that should have helped if it was the hernia causing the
problems. The medication was lanzor and losec.

The reason I am contacting u is I am really desperate for me a 21 year old to be confined to bed for so long  after having such a active healthy life is really hard. I have really tried evrything but no doctor can diagnose what is wrong or help me in anyway. If you have anything that can help i would really appreciate it thank you.

[dansama]

My girl friend and I went to Turkey several years ago and she got sick with H.Pylori bacteria.  She now has the reflex heart-burn which was due to having H.Pylori.  H.Pylori commonly causes ulcers after a year or two becasue it causes excess stomach acid.  Have yourself tested, anti-biotics will get rid of the bacteria, but your stomach may be weaken/ulcerated which will take a long time to heal and may need sugery.  Good Luck.

Dan

[Lynn28]

Dan-

Does your girlfriend still have reflux even after HP eradication?
Did she have heartburn prior to the HP? Also, did she have an endoscopy? Any gastritis? Sorry so many questions. I was told that "After" HP was eradicated, all gastritis/heartburn would go away. So far it's been a year and it's still there? Is she taking anything?

Much Thanks!
-Jenn

[Lynn28]

It sounds like you have serious reflux that hasn't been put under control. Have you been diagnosed with GERD or have you been tested for H-Pylori via endoscopy?
Are you taking any PPI's?
-Jenn

[lylsiem]

I'm sorry to hear about your condition, I was just wondering if you had a lapscopey, it sounds like you maybe did. If not, get it done and ask to be sedated at the very least because it can be painfull. Hiatis Hernias can make your life miserable, I have lost nearly three months of work because of it. I ended up getting a lighter duty job, but I also have Berretts Esophogus, they found with the scope and a Miligment area and Gastritis. Losec has helped in the past, but now i'm much worse, just like you I get a dry throat, heartburn 90% of the time, being on pills too long alone can give you a very weak stomache and then your open for Cancer. You may have to travel a little to find a good doctor, but it will be worth it if you can be properly diagnosed. Hopefully they will give you options for any problems you may have.

Best Wishes, lylsiem

[Lynn28]

Oh my, what are we smoking?  You're obviously here for some reason or another. Perhaps you are one of the unlucky ones that were unable to get rid of your H-Pylori, but that doesn't mean the rest of us should stay infected and risk it's consequences. Hmm

[nanci]

I tend to agree some - I felt Nexium made my gastritis worse.  Once I stopped and switched to OTC acid blockers, my heartburn decreased at least 50%.

Can you share some details on your condition and why you feel anti-biotics didn't help you?  Were you diagnosed with
H-pylori?

[nancy9138]

You should try taking activated charcoal.  It absorbs excess acid/bile.  It does wonders for gas and acid.  The acid reducing meds did nothing for me, but the activated charcoal is amazing.  
Activated charcoal interfers with the action of just about every other medicine, so you have to take it alone and hours before you're going to take anything else.  (Since charcoal is what doctors use to help counteract overdoses and poisonings, it makes sense that it would interfer with other drugs.)
I agree with the other messages, it sounds like you have some pretty severe heartburn and acid reflux or GERD.  Hiatal hernias often lead to GERD.  The Activated Charcoal is an alternative to the prescription acid inhibitors, and will sometimes work when the other medicines have been useless.
Try to eat very small portions of food.  That will sometimes help with nausea caused by the acid/bile and hernia.  Try not to eat before laying down.  The hernia allows food/bile/acid to travel back up your esophagus, and that gets worse when you lay down or lean forward.

[JCLingo]

Where do you get this activated charcoal?  A health food store?  Thanks

[dansama]

Jen-

She still has a little reflex, but it is healing as she was misdiagnosed for a year an a half so the H.pylori has done considerable damage (a coworker had the same thing for 3 years and had to have surgery. Interestingly both were diagnosed by chiropractors, doctors and others told them the problems were in their heads ;)  She never had these problems before the trip.

My girlfriend never had any GI tests done other than blood sugar test as her symptoms acted like hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and her diet changed radically, she stopped smoking, drinking, no sugar, more veggies (I was a vegan so I had some influence :) But until she took a the anti-biotics the stomach problems wouldn't go away.

Now to make the reflex go away she has tried to cut out coffee and greasy foods, and dairy.  For a while lettuce of all things made it worse.  Also she was taking Prevised (sp) antacid at night and sleeping on a incline.

Simple grains and less processed foods are easier to digest and I would assume help the healing process as well. Brocoli has some very positive effects and is supposed to have some anti-H.pylori effects. Look at macrobiotic books for foods that can help heal your stomach, but that diet/life style takes a lot of work.

I hope this helps.

Dan

[thadius]

hi im sorry for going off topic like this , but the site would not allow me to post a question.

Well anyway here it is, im 22, almost 23 years old and i started having stomach problems when i was 18. Symptoms included: Frequent and severe heartburn, severe stomach cramps, intense nausea, but never any vomiting. this was usally about 5-6 hours after eating. i lost alot of weight due to this because i was scared to eat anything. So i went to the doctor when i was 18 and they ran some test included was an upper gi, and some blood work. The upper gi showed some imflamtion in the stomach. One doctor told me i had IBS, but i didn't suffer from diarhea (diarrhea) or constapation. Well since i changed my diet i dont have the heartburn, but stomach cramping is still present and when i eat any dairy i get bad cramps and feel nauseated, (im pretty sure im lactose intollerent) spicey things, even remoteley spicey give me bad heartburn and make me feel sick to my stomach. Even breath mints give me heartburn and cramp my stomach up. And any type of nuts make me feel incredibly sick.
I quit eating these things along time ago,and went to the doctor last year some time and they did an upper gi and an endoscopy and said that i had imflammation. so im asumming i've had stomach imflammation for almost five years, is that bad? how do doctors get rid of this? can they? they told me i probably worried to much, but i dont, im a pretty mellow fellow. I feel like they're writing me off and it sucks. anyone have any idea what could be wrong with me?

[Camajay]

Hey thadius bud camajay here i suppose you read my insert a bit higher on this page. some how i know exactly how you are feeling. Bru i dont have any answers for u i am in the same boat. We try so hard see the best doctors spend all our money and years later it seems we havent got anywhere and no answers. One thing i am realising is we need to make things happen for ourselves and that might mean becoming a bit hardass with the docs. I am tired of being shunted around just another patient with a number desease whatever. Hang in there bud i know all u want is to get better and you will do anything so lets do what we can and do all we can to get there. Treat the docs with respect they are a gift but let them no u mean buisness. All things work out in the end. God is in control. Praying for u we can conquer what we are going through. God bless......

[dansama]

I agree with Camajay. Even after we knew what my girlfriend had the doctor refused to give her the test for HP and then after she fought with him and had the test done he was much chagrined when the test came back positive.  The Internet is a great tool, but it sucks that doctors can't diagnose worth a damn.

One thing we found was mint, like in spearmint in tooth paste, menthol in cough drops, and muscle ache ointments caused really bad reactions, not sure why maybe the increased blood to the area?  So this could be a food allergy you are fighting on top of whatever else is wrong.  

Good luck,

Dan