Undiagnosed mystery GI illness

[hevyne]

4 months ago, my body decided to "reject " meat.  Basically, the thought of eating it would make me extremely nauseous.  I never ate red meat anyway so I figured I was ok.  Next, about a few weeks later, I could not eat fruits too.  About 3-4 weeks later I lost vegetables too.  I now survive off of Dairy and Carbs (bread) and the thought of eating anything else makes me sick.  They thought maybe I was anorexic-which I am not, they thought ulcers-endoscopy showed none there.  I have had Barium swallow tests, chest x-rays, ultrasound of my abdomen....all turned up nothing.  

Meanwhile, I survive now off of may 10-12 bites of food a day, barely get liquids in me, and was always thin (5'5-130lb.) but have lost 18 lb.(current weight is 112 lb.) in the past few months.  

Since none of my tests yielded anything, they have basically blown me off like I am making all this up.  I love to eat...I really miss it a lot.  But this severe nausea that gets worse with my eating is really making it a struggle to get anything in anymore.  I am weak, tired and nauseous all day long, and just lost my job due to this.  Can you help please?

[hevyne]

Thank you so much for your response.  He looked for an ulcer through the endoscope. I was not given any ulcer test.  I really think that they think I am some quack that likes to go the the hospital and dr. to get stuck with needles, drink barium, and take in some radiation rays....yup...that sounds like fun to me :(

What is worse is that now I have lost my insurance for the month so I am stuck suffering becauser no one will see me unless I give them cash upfront.  I will have the insurance next month though...if I make it that long.  

I will look at the lists, thank you very much for your help.

[harrald]

Hello, Hevyne:

I have had GERT since before it was named. I went through all the same procedures as you until I was in a study to test for a new ulcer treatment. Then, I ate about 5 Tums a day, and just assumed my stomach secreted too much stomach acid. The trial then was testing for a new cause of ulcers caused by a bacteria. The bacteria can bury itself in the lining of your stomach wall and go unseen for years. This trial did not make sense to me , but it was free and I actually received a $100. The trial is now history, because the bacterium that causes ulcers is named Helicobacter pylori. I blew into a ballon and my breath was analyzed, and I was positive for an ulcer. A simple blood test confirmed the ulcer, and I have been taken Prilosec, 20 mg(and several similar medications) for 15 years. The endoscope did not confirmed I had the ulcer, but the blood test did confirm I had an ulcer. This is a wild guess, did your doctor perform an ulcer test on you, or did he just see no ulcer present while looking through the endoscope?

Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, says there are 25 digestive disorders and many have similar symptoms. The National Institutes of Health in Maryland has provided a website that lists digestive disorders/diseases from A to Z. For example, find GERD in the list and click, and a webpage just for GERD appears, Pages for each disorder may have from 5 to 10 separate listings within the page. Each page gives more information than I have ever seen. Maybe from your past and present symptoms, you can find which individual disorder you have. The list is extensive, so choose which disorders you wish to check daily and go until you finish the list.

What was puzzling about Helicobacher pylori, you can have an ulcer caused by H.pylori and not know it because you do not see ulcerative tissue through an endoscope. Perhaps after your read the A to Z list, you may learn something new about your condition so you can investigate whether your doctors missed something.

For what it's worth, an Australian doctor tried to convince his mates that a bacteria was the cause of ulcers. He was laughed at and criticised until he drank a container of H.pylori bacteria and developed an ulcer caused by the bacteria.

I hope you find the causes of your stomach pain and nausea.

Harrald