Severe chest pain at night and constant pain below the bellybutton

[stevenmevans]

I am a 34 year old male diagnosed with a very large, moving hiatal hernia. Two years ago I contracted CMV and clostridium difficile, spent two weeks in the hospital, missed a month of work and lost 30 pounds. My stomach felt right again after about a year. I was on Priloesec for a number of years and am now on permanent Nexium. About 6 months ago I started having a constant "diarrhea type" pain in my stomach below my bellybutton. In a weeks time my stools go from light to very dark (never black) and then back to light again. This is coupled with nausia in the morning and lots of gas. Nothing seems to relieve this pain. 2-3 nights per week I have severe terrible chest pain right in the sternum. Very sharp, right through to my back. It feels like I am being stabbed or having a heart attack. It only happens in the evenings or middle of the night. It goes in waves. Each wave last about ten minutes. The whole experience last about 3 hours. Ibuproffen sometimes helps. I used to get this about twice a year, it is now every week. Have been unable to associate correlation to any specific food. Have had upper GI, Abdominal CT, Colonoscopy and Motility tests. Barrets has been ruled out, found no CMV, Hpylori has been ruled out. Severe reflux confirmed and gastritis found. My Gastroenterologist is starting to lean toward IBS, but that does not explain everything. Still trying to determine possible causes. Do you have any thoughts about what could be causing these problems as well as thoughts on any relief?  Thank you so much for your time!  Steve

[Lynn28]

Hi steven. I feel for you with the gastritis and if you go down below and read the posts under chronic gastrits, you will see you're not alone. I'm 27 and it STINKS. It's the absolute pits!
If I were you this is what I would do. Some of the pain sounds as though it's associated with the gastritis. So many people think, Oh, gastritis, not thinking that it's "a big deal". Not saying this is you, but it use to be me and a few others untill two yrs later and chronic gastritis. Now I take it seriously. Gastritis can cause "A LOT" of symptoms. Aches, pains, pins and needles, etc, etc. It's not fun. However, back to what I would do. I would see a cardiologist, or your PCP regarding sharp chest pains. For my own peace of mind anyway. If your GI doctor doesn't think so, and the pain continues and you have insurance, well than just go on your own. Lots of cardiac problems mimic abdominal pain. If you do a search, you will see. Keep us posted ;)
Jenifer

[Mary99]

My first question is DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR Gallbladder?  Last year I had a lot of the same symptoms.  I had every test in the book and nothing showed up.  Several doctors told me they didn’t think it was my gallbladder, it got to the point that anything I ate caused pain – usually at night.  After several trips to the emergency room – finally a function test was done on my gallbladder and it was found that although I did not have any stones (usual explanation for severe pain) my gallbladder was severely decayed.  I can tell you that once my gallbladder was removed I felt 95% better.  But to be on the safe side, you definitely should see a cardiologist because lots of cardiac problems do mimic abdominal pain.

[Lynn28]

I found this for you. Hope it helps to shed a little light on your condition. Here's just a part of the story.

"GERD, which is caused by a reflux of the stomach's acid into the esophagus, causes symptoms such as chronic heartburn and chest pain."

http://www.laurushealth.com/healthnews/reuters/NewsStory060120015.htm

Hope this helps.

[reb]

Hi there, I have had the same symptoms as you have. First, about the chest pains, I had an electrocardiogram to ressure me that I didn't have a heart problem (I was born with wholes in my heart which were fixed). This test was carried out by a nurse at my doctor's office (not a specialist) so it was available right away, maybe there is a similar set up at your doctors? Also, I was told that mine may be muscular-skeletal pain (I had pneumonia) but perhaps yours is related to your hernia causing inflammation of the chest muscles? These are just ideas to bring up to your doctor...

Secondly, I was originally told I had gastritis or IBS. I tried everything- antacids, pain killers, antispasmodics, gas relief remedies, etc. It turned out that I had/have an imbalance of digestive bacteria due to antibiotics (apparently this can also be caused by aspirin, bacterial or vial infections, poor diet, or stress). I have taken probiotics to replace the good bacteria and the relief is immense.

I don't know if any of this is of relevance to you, just thought that since I had such similar experiences.
Best of luck

[Lynn28]

Hi Reb.
Did the probiotics help you with the gastritis? Also, you said they told you you had gastritis, but found out it was bad digestion. How did they come to this conclusion to rule the gastritis out? I myself have chronic gastritis, so I'm told. However I think the gastritis is be caused buy something ELSE. Any input would be great.
Thanks.
Jen

[mauienvy]

hi,has anyone had symptoms like mine?serious constapation with bad cramps that wake me or keep me awake for hours.even enemas do not work.i have had all the tests upper & lower scopes,gallbladder tests,ultra sound.all normal except a fatty liver.the gastro doc just perscribed bentyl(an intestines muscle relaxer).he listened to my stomach and said that i have only a half of a rush.a whole rush being normal.the rush is the gases making noise as it is working.he thinks i may have kinks in my intestines or even a blockage.when i read about bentyl,it said dont take if you have a blockage.anyone have any input?i also would like to try a laxative.but they all say dont use if there are cramps.

[reb]

Hi there, I didn't have an endoscopy or anything to diagnose gastritis- it was all guess work by the doctor, I think they were trying to put a name to it to shut me up. Neither was I told that I didn't have gastritis or IBS in the end, actually, I was sent to a nutrionist to advise me on IBS, although clearly I didn't have it  once I spoke to her (this was AFTER I saw the specialist, who said it was probably due to the antibiotics). I wasn't actually advised to do anything by the doctors as since it wasn't life threatening, they didn't care... I tried the probiotics out of pure desparation, I thought the inflammation must be caused by something and there must be something I can do to help it. When I read in your question (13 Mar 02) that you had taken 140 pills to treat H. Pylori, in addition to the fact that others had written to me saying they had the same problems as I did after being treated for H. Pylori with antibiotics (jasonj 10-Mar-02, Jong 10-Mar-02 response to my question "chronic stomach pain, reb 9-Mar-02) I thought that my experience with probiotics may be worth a try for you. Either that or digestive enzymes (available from health shops). I believe the inflammation in my case was caused by a disruption in  the eco system of my digestive tract... and it clearly affected my stomach since just moments after eating something I shouldn't have I was in pain.

Even if this isn't the case with you, but your gastritis isn't caused by any of the obvious suspects (aspirin, alcohol) perhaps probitics or digestive enzymes may be worth a shot, I know I would have tried anything to feel better. I am not a health food shop junky by any means, I just would have tried anything to feel better.

[Lor]

I have your symtoms also. I had my gallbladder removed because it was non functioning - had the pain before and now more often after it was removed. IBS in my case is just a symtom of what is going. Don't take that as an answer. If you have URQ pain it has to be looked at. I didn't have any stones and was diagnosed with Biliary Dyskinesia. Which basically means sludge. I find that eating something like toast when I'm up in the middle of the night takes the pain away. Just having something to fill the stomach. Drinking water didn't last long. Lying on my back will bring the pain on so laying on that right side helps too.

[Lynn28]

Reb,
THANK YOU!

I must say, after reading your reply, a LOT of things started coming to me and making sense. I totally forgot about the 140 pills that I had taken to eradicate h-pylori. You are "Absolutely" right about the probiotic needed after antibiotic treatment. How this passed me by, I have no idea. I myself should have known this. I have a huge bottle of probiotic sitting on my fridge from last year. My PCP told me last year that I should start taking it after long term use of antibiotic that he perscribed for something else. NEVER did it dawn on me to take it right after the 2wk. 140 pill episode. And I have to say. MOST of my symptoms occurred only AFTER h-pylori treatment. That wern't NEARLY as bad before. You are a genius. When I go to the gastroenterologist in two weeks I am going to bring this up. I'm also going to tell him that I want to STOP all acid treatments and if I need to, just take on a "as needed" basis. This long term use of antaicids is no good either. Thanks a lot for that inout!! It may not seem like much, but it makes PERFECT sense. Today I spent half the day in barnes and noble reading through medical books related to gastritis. All that you mentioned above, was also noted in these books as well. Probiotics was thrown around all over.

Thanks Again Reb,
Jenn

[reb]

Oh, I am SO happy that I may have been some help to you!! :-)  
I know I was soo miserable and the doctors weren’t helping… nor were most of the medicines I took!
I have recently been told that one should keep taking the probiotics every day for a 2 month period in order to ensure everything gets back to normal. Even if this isn’t your problem, I have been told that probiotics won’t do you any harm, so it is worth a try!
Another thing I have tried is aloe vera juice (available at health food shops) as I have heard that it can help people that have gastro. problems- and it is a natural anti-inflammatory (which may therefore help stomach inflammation??). It tastes pretty disgusting, but you don’t drink that much (25 ml, 2 times a day). I don’t know if it really works so I can’t recommend it per sae (unlike the probiotics), but again, I was told that it wouldn’t do any harm, so I figured that it was worth a shot. All I know is that I am not in constant pain anymore… YAYE! Let me know how you get on,
ALL THE BEST!! :-)

[Lynn28]

Thanks! You're right. One should continue probiotics. My PC pysician told me that as well. I'm also lookinmg in to changing my PC physician and replacing him with a "complementary Physician." One who treats not only with antibiotics, but alternative as well. Also known as intergrative MD's. The best website I found for this was, www.healthy.net. They have a doctor search as well. The entire website explains EVERYTHING! Also, the ACAM (American college for advancement in medicine) has a great doctor search. (PCP) I'll definitely keep you posted. Thanks again,
Jennifer