Recurrent nausea after stomach virus

I am a 24 year old woman. In early June I had a stomach virus consisting of intense nausea and diarrhea as well as aches and general malaise. Since then (now mid October) I have experience recurring nausea which is worse at night. It keeps me awake and I can hear and feel my stomach churning. I have seen two gastroenterologists. The first performed an upper endoscopy (normal accept for mild chronic inflammation in stomach and esophagus) and ordered as HIDA scan. The scan came back "borderline" (33% ef).  I have had a normal abdominal ultrasound and blood work. Negative for h.pylori, mono, and celiac sprue. Food allergy test inconclusive. Gastric emptying study normal. My doctor has ordered a subsequent HIDA scan (last one was 2 months ago), and I have yet to follow through on it.

I have been prescribed a host of PPIs, currently on Aciphex. I have also tried most anti-emetics: phenergan (only thing that helps but knocks me out), Zofran, and Tigan. Also, I have tried Hyomax which didn't seem to help much. I eat a very bland diet, essentially the same thing every day. I can feel fine for days at a time, and then be randomly sick for a day. The longest time I have felt okay was 2 weeks (recently), and last night I had a relapse. Up all night with nausea yet again.

I have been told that I am likely experiencing some kind of postinfectious IBS/dyspepsia which will gradually fade out over six months. I would very much like to believe this. Anyone else with postinfectious digestive problems experienced relief?  It certainly feels like something is very wrong with me. I am uncertain (as are my doctors) whether the gallbladder is the culprit as I have no pain and cannot correlate episodes to eating fatty foods. I do not feel consciously anxious during episodes, although I do become quite depressed as this sickness is ruining my life. Any advice or support would be SO appreciated, as I feel utterly alone in my suffering. Thanks

[TummyQueen]

I know exactly what you mean. About 6 years ago I had a horrible stomach virus that lasted for 5 days. By day 5 I couldn't even touch my stomach. So went to the Dr. He did blood tests and found out I had had pancreatitis. Went for every test under the sun with a GI Dr.through the next 3-6 months. Endoscopy showed inflammation of the stomach lining. I had a MRCP, which is an endoscopy where they look at your gallbladder and they found some sludge. Had my gall bladder removed as they thoughtit was the culprit for the Pancreatitis. Still had general abdominal pain afterwards and a constant feeling of nausea for months afterwards. Over the years I've been diagnosed with IBS. I still once in a while get extreme episodes of intense pain in my upper abdomen. Dr's think it's the ducts of my pancreas/gall bladder going into spasms.
Just last week I had another stomach virus- vomiting, fever etc. And about 3 days afterwards had an extreme pain attack in the middle of the night. Again most likely my  ducts cramping. And I've been nauseated ever since.
Anyway, I am still nauseous and my abdomen is all distended and bloated and it's now been 10 days since I was sick. I think my stomach lining is inflamed from being sick with the virus.

Unfortunately for me, I think it's just something I'm going to have to live with as every test showed nothing or was inconclusive. Every time I go to the ER with pain they keep me for a few days for pain control then
send me home. So now I don't even bother going. I know it will stop in 7-8 hours. I'm 30 now so all this started when I was your age. It is very frustrating but I can manage pretty well with a good low fat diet. It keeps the episodes to two or three times a year. When I have a pain episode or nausea bout I go on the BRAT diet (bananas,rice,apple sauce, toast) until my stomach calms down. Nothing much else that can be done. Just eat light foods, no dairy, stay away from acidic foods and high fat and just let your digestive system rest. Also it's good to eat a little something, like plain saltines or a banana, on regular intervals so your stomach doesn't get completely empty. The build up of stomach acid can irritate it too. So even though you're nauseated, you still need to eat.
Hope this sheds some light and you know you're not the only one out there!

[Curious3d]

Your description sounds exactly, to the letter, like what I am experiencing.

I had a stomach virus in June, followed by a week or so of discomfort and nausea, and one bout of severe nausea following a high fat meal.

I had a sonogram and a gallstone was found. The gallbladder came out, but the same feelings I had before the surgery persisted: intermittent, random bouts of nausea and dizziness, centered around BMs. I shared my symptoms with my surgeon, and he prescribed Questran (cholestyramine) which stopped the diarrhea immediately.

Weeks later, I went to my regular MD when one of the dizzy bouts got bad, and he prescribed a nasal spray thinking it was a middle ear thing - that somehow there was a digestive related fluid shift that was aggravating an inflamed middle ear.  

Since the nasal spray, I've had no more dizziness, but I have had mild bouts with the random nausea every couple of weeks. No abdominal pain at all, and I usually feel great in the morning, and then when I settle down in the evening I feel slightly nauseated most nights.

I eat small meals, and I try to keep my fat intake below 10grams per meal. I make sure I get a lot of veggies and fruit, and enough protein.

Chewing ginger gum helps me a lot when I feel sick, you should try that.

I have no idea what's up, but I think it IS gradually getting better.