nausea and abdominal pains

Hi I am a 23 year old female and with good weight.  I am reaching out here out of pure desperation.  I am losing my hope of getting better.  I have been experiencing severe nausea and abdominal pain and I have undigested food in my stool.  My pain is mainly in the center of my stomach (behind my belly button).  I also get extremely painful cramps on the left side of my stomach that seems to come and go.  I also get joint pain not for sure if that has anything to do with anything and it seems to mainly be in my left knee and hips.  I don’t know why.  I’ve had an upper Endoscopy done that showed only little inflammation.  Nothing significant my doctor told me.  I’ve had a gallbladder HIDA scan done and it is great condition.  They put me on omprezole 20 mg daily and it helps.  I stopped for awhile and the pain and nausea just came back within days.  I am scared and feel like the just don’t care.  My stomach doctor called after my HIDA scan and said he no longer needed to see me since everything seemed fine.  But I am not fine!  Please help.

[hasleyl]

Samantha, please read my post today about my 16 year old granddaughter.  We have been going through this for over a year and are at our wits end.  Don't give up; the first gastrologist we went to dismissed her as well but we went to another who is working with us but does not seem to have an answer.  We are still hoping.  The doctor is just treating the symptoms now but we are not going to stop until we find the cause.

[Banned1]

I'm with hasleyl, you CAN'T give up.  The fact that you've hand an upper endoscopy and a HIDA tells me that your Docs are listening to you and trying to find answers.  They need to know how frustrated you are and how bad your symptoms are.  It's up to you to stay in touch with them.  Don't let them forget about you.  Make a follow-up with your Gastroenterologist or Primary Care Physician.  

I'm sure you're doing your own research, too, since you're on this site looking for answers.  There is a fantastic resource that I've found very helpful called "The First Principles of Gastroenterology":  http://gastroresource.com/GITextbook/en/Default.htm.  

I've also found it really helpful to keep a journal or a blog and your welcome to read mine if you want.  It's a great way to review your situation objectively and identify patterns in your symptoms, medications and pain level.  Hindsight is 20/20 and keeping a log might help you look at things more objectively.  

It's really difficult to deal with chronic pain.  And believe me, you're not alone!  Try to stay positive and reach out for support.  Talk to your Doctor, your family and/or friends, co-workers, church or social service volunteers or anyone you feel safe with.  Take care of yourself.  Good luck and Godspeed.