Ongoing nausea and stomach discomfort accompanied by differing bowel movements

[InanimateCarbonRod]

Around 2005 when I was 15 and taking my exams, I would get sporadic abdominal pain and nausea. My GP referred me to a gastroenterologist and I had numerous blood tests and an endoscopy. Everything came back clean. I was prescribed Lanzoprazole and took Gaviscon tablets. After my exams finished, the symptoms appeared to go away, so the whole episode was put down as gastritis and stress related. I didn’t have any further problems until May 2015 when I had to leave a cinema halfway through a film due to abdominal pain and nausea.  Initially thinking it was a bug, I took a few days off hoping it would pass. However, to this day I am still suffering from an ongoing, undiagnosed stomach problem. I have seen several GPs, one dismissed it as irritable bowel syndrome, and another actually sent me for more blood tests, a stool test and an ultrasound scan. All of which, once again, showed nothing untoward. It is a daily struggle thinking ‘Am I going to get through today without any problems?’ My bowel movements have been affected also, with constipation a recurring issue. I took Fybogel for an extended period of time to try and resolve this and it worked initially, however I no longer take it and my bowel movements are still irregular. I go around 4-5 times a day on average. There doesn’t seem to be any pattern with anything. I altered my diet around a year ago to consciously eat more healthily – fruit, fibre, drink plenty of fluids. I don’t drink alcohol and only occasionally eat fatty takeaway foods.

I have tried many different remedies suggested by doctors over the past 22 months - some ease the symptoms but none have sorted me out. Obviously I haven’t been taking these all at the same time, but each for set periods of time to see if they made any difference:

2005: Lanzoprazole, Omeprazole, Gaviscon
2015 onwards: Omeprazole, Nexium Control, Buscopan, Fybogel, Cyclizine Hydrochloride, Tums, Vitamin Supplements

If I had to describe my symptoms in a sentence, it would be:
A regular feeling of nausea and stomach discomfort accompanied by differing bowel movements.

I am only 26 and I am at a loss at what to do. It is constantly getting me down and I get upset and angry because I just want to feel normal. The fact that tests and scans show nothing yet I clearly feel unwell is frustrating too. Has anyone got/had a similar problem? Any advice would be a big help!

Thanks.

[Katie82123]

I had to permanently eliminate gluten and dairy to find permanent relief

[1j971m]

Hi, I suffer from IBS as well and as long as I stay away from trigger foods I am fine.  However, recently I started having major issues even without eating trigger foods.  My functional medicine doctor did blood work and everything looked great except my ferritin level which was very low.  I was told a low ferritin level can cause major digestive issues.  Not sure if this is what might be going on with you but it might be work checking.  Most doctors will not test your ferritin level unless you ask.  Ferritin is iron stores in your body.  You can have normal iron levels and low ferritin.   I am taking a liquid iron supplement to help with this issue.