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Avatar universal

Thoughts on symptoms and treatment thus far

I'm posting this an behalf of my girlfriend. I'll try to be as thorough as possible.

I had to pick her up from work last week (she's a nanny) due to vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramping. She was back and forth between vomiting and diarrhea every 10-15 minutes for hours until she stabilized somewhat. The nausea and pain persisted however. We went to emergency where blood work and an ultrasound were done. She was running a slight fever. Blood work came back normal so she was discharged with ulcer meds and pending the ultrasound results being sent to her GP. This was going to take a few days and her pain was not getting better and she continued to vomit every so often (maybe once a day) so we went back to Emergency. They were able to check the ultrasound and do more blood work. Both came back normal. They did an Xray which was normal except the Doctor noted a possible blockage in the right portion of the intestine as the majority of matter was in the LL area. Doc said this may or may not be an issue. Doc said to discontinue ulcer meds and she was discharged and given magnesium citrate to try and clear the blockage however this made her vomit soon after so not sure it had a chance to work. She was also given hydromorphone for pain and antibiotics for possible colitis, (infectious colitis i'm guessing?) That was 2 days ago. She's able to keep food down but still feels very crampy, bloated, and has abdominal pain. She hasn't really had a good bowel movement in days. She had metamucil twice yesterday and this morning there is still no result. I took 1 serving with her last night before bed and it's already done it's work on me. After 2 days of antibiotics should she be feeling better by now? The pain and cramping is constant to varying degrees. The last time in the Emergency the doc talked about having her breath tested for H Pylori bacteria but that wasn't done. Doc said next step was either scope or CT scan. CT is last resort due to age (33), and associated radiation.

We don't know what this is yet and I'm trying to figure out if we should go back to Emergency or wait for her appointment with her GP which is 2 days away. I realize internet advice is no substitute for a doctor in person but based on this info Is there anything we could be missing?

History-

She does have a history of feeling somewhat campy after eating occasionally.

She had ecoli a few years back. Think maybe the "crampy after eating" may have started sometime after the ecoli but can't be certain.

6 Responses
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Avatar universal
She had an ultrasound, it would have shown that.
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Avatar universal
Actually gallbladder stones, sorry, I think that is what my mother and her sister had, almost same symptoms exactly.
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Avatar universal
Any lower back pain/cramping?
If so, kidney stones! Get an ultrasound for those....
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Avatar universal
Good, I'm glad she is feeling better.
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Avatar universal
Thank you. She is feeling slightly better this morning and we see her GP tomorrow. I think we'll get an appointment with a gastro from that. One thing I didn't mention is that she also had a urine sample which was also fine.
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Avatar universal
Welcome to the gastroenterology community!  I would highly recommend she see her PCP or a gastroenterologist about this ASAP.  A CT scan is probably warranted, and one CT scan won't really cause any harm (it is when you've had many many CT scans that there are risks).
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