Abdominal Pain, Weight loss, Nausea

About 4 months ago I began losing weight.  I thought it was stress, I've always lost weight when I was stressed.  But the weight has continued to come off and I am now only 89 lbs.  I become nauseated when I eat, feel full after only a small portion, and end up throwing up at least once a day.  About 2 months ago a pain began in the upper right side of my abdomen.  I went to the ER after a few weeks of the pain, the doctor did blood work and an ultrasound on my kidneys, liver and gallbladder and told me I was fine and to follow up with my family doctor.  The catch is that I don't have health insurance, and therefore see a doctor at the university I attend.  They are not able to do much more there than hand out antibiotics and set broken arms.  It started out as short jabbing pains that would resolve within an hour or so, eventually it became more and more steady.  Now its almost always there, to a certain degree, and at night, after laying down for an hour or so, it usually becomes so intense that I begin screaming.  We have 2 children, it is coming to a point where I can barely stand upright some days to take care of them. Another note is that I had an emergency c-section last year when my daughter was born.  There were complications with bleeding afterwards.  I did not stop bleeding for nearly 6 months, though my OB continually checked me and could find nothing to explain this fact.  The right side of my abdomen is now swollen, it is apparent that is is swollen due to the fact that the other side is sunken in severely after all the weight loss.  I am beginning to worry and each day I feel weaker.  If anyone has any idea what might be wrong, I would very much appreciate the input.    

[Sarsi]

Hi

Are you constipated at all?
I had a lady next to me while i was in hospital one time and she had very similar symptoms.....it turned out that she was severely constipated - even up into her stomach (hence she could only eat a few bites at a time and lost weight quickly)....they gave her some enaemas and laxatives.....and she started feeling much better....

I hope this helps xx

[QuiltingBee]

Hi.

Please have a HIDA scan done to check for gallbladder function.  Ultrasound will NOT tell you if you have a gallbladder problem.  I just had my gallbladder removed 6 weeks ago.  For several years I have not been well.  CT scans and MRIs and ultrasounds said everything was "fine."    HIDA scan showed my gallbladder ejection fraction to be 8%.  When they took out my gallbladder, I immediately felt incredibly better.  Also, pathology report showed my gallbladder was not only NOT WORKING, it had high-grade dysplasia and was on the way to cancer!    I have since found out that many people die from gallbladder cancer because it is such a sneaky, quiet disease process.   PLEASE, demand a HIDA scan!

[Chips1989]

Go to the hospital or a doctor that can do a Chest X-ray. Get everything figured out this could be just an inflmination of the liver.. it might even be a liver disease that they couldnt detect at an early stage. Are you losing your colour in your face,hands,feet,legs,etc? You might be lacking of a certian vitamin or protine. Maybe your liver is producing to much bile or not enough. At any rate its not something you should look online for cause you will find millions upon millions of mixed answers. Get that checked again. . .asap

[Bama_Lori]

Same things happened to me for YEARS.  It turns out I have Hyperparathyroidism (HPTH) causing all of it...all of it.

These CHEAP blood tests will rule that out:  Calcium level, PTH (parathyroid hormone) level, and Vitamin D.  

If it is HPTH calcium will be slightly high, PTH will be high, and Vit. D will be low.  HPTH causes pain in gut, kidneys, bones, muscles, and depression.  They nickname it:  Bones, Stones, Groans, and Psychic overtones...cute little jingle for a horrible condition to have.

HPTH causes hypercalcimia, which causes Alot of symptoms, I lost 75 pounds in 10 weeks time, my hair was falling out, and I could hardly take care of my self, puking at any food smell....I had to smoke pot just to keep from dying from malnutrition, even then I was only able to eat like a rabbit, raw carrots and such.  Yea, and they said it was all in my head, caused by depression and such...BS.

Go to parathyroid.com and read about it.  Go to Wrongdiagnosis.com for a full list of symptoms.

I have been told there is nothing wrong with me for YEARS because they NEVER checked my PTH level.  

Take your waking temperature every morning for a week.  IF it is below 96.3 you might have a parathyroid adenoma, or a thyroid condition screwing your entire body up.  It is benign but can wreak havoc on your mind and body, in every function.

Good luck,
Lori

[MonicaKathryn]

My body temperature has always been very low, so thank you for mentioning that, I will have it checked.  My mother also had to have thyroid surgery ten years ago for that condition.  I am not constipated.  I will ask them to a HIDA scan.  When I went to the ER the doc said it seemed like a gall badder problem, but only the ultrasound was performed.  Thank you all for your responses. I will update with results as soon as I have a chance to go back to the hospital... the children's father works a very abnormal and demanding schedule, so often I am left to either go to the ER with a baby and a 4 year old or just wait till he's home.    

[Bama_Lori]

The ER will not waste their time on you....trust me, if you're not bleeding, broken, or strokin, avoid that place like the plague.

My best advice is this:  Go to a 24 hour outpatient clinic, if they arent open 24/7, take the babies with you and just do it.  Austin must have plenty of them!

I would do this if I were in your shoes:  Take at least three days worth of temperature readings:  Hand write it in a journal, record waking temp, before you even roll out of bed;  I also included my temperature readings during various times of the day, and as related to symptoms such as sweating or hot flashes...even while feeling like I was burning up, by body temp was low....96- 97 ...and sometimes it was 99 when I felt cold.

Make another list of symptoms that you have been suffering from over the past year or so, then draw three vertical lines, making columns for the date and a check mark.   For the three days you are monitoring your temps...check off which symptoms you are also having that day.

Take both these lists in to an outpatient emergency clinic, and tell them abdominal ultrasound showed nothing specific and you have been researching your symptoms and feel you may have a Para-Thyroid problem or a Thyroid problem  since thyroid regulates metabolism, and you have evidence of metabolism problems as you present your low temp journal.  Ask them if they would be so kind as to run a thyroid panel and check PTH, Calcium and Vit. D.  

This is only a blood test and you will be out of there in a jiffy and know within a couple of days which kind of specialist you need to see.(saving you time and money prior to doing expensive test that may be unnessary)  

...make sure to get a copy of the blood work results, don't take their word that all is "normal" --normal is subjective when it comes to thyroid and parathyroid issues and not to be interpreted by a general physician or a lab!!  This visit and tests should not run you more than 200.00, is my best guess.

The clinic will refer you to a specialist if anything does come back abnormal, so I would start there, even better, find you a GOOD primary care doctor, thats what you really need for a diagnosis. 75% of cases are diagnosed AFTER a patient switches doctors and they get the right tests!

Good luck Monica,

Been there, done all that.....your organs, bones, and neuro-muscular systems will not function properly with HIGH Calcium......It also causes abdominal spasms., heartburn, constant burping, and bloating..I have them all the time!  I had no idea what was causing my severe upper abdominal pain for years and tons of money and tests were thrown at it until I had to ASK for the PTH test.....5 years of lost work due to it, lost my credit, lost my house, nearly lost my family too, dont let that happen to you.

My spasms feel like I am having a heart attack and is SEVERE pain.  When you are having severe pain, press into the area as it is happening....I am a massage therapist....Here is how to do NMT (nuero-muscular therapy) press hard with hand flat and fingers straight out, into the area of most pain.....and hold for 2-3 minutes or less if it starts to soften, I feel the muscle "flip" and release, then soften.....this will stimulate blood and oxygen...delivering calcium to the muscles and cause it to release...you should feel the muscle soften as the pain releases its grip....if this is the kind of pain you are having it is due to nerve problems (calcium or thyroid)  

.....They did so many tests on me for that pain it is ridiculous, even admitted me for a heart work up after all the abdominal scans came up clean!  Dont let them keep doing all these unnecessary tests first.-  It will bankrupt you and keep you SICK as a dog, making you think its all in your head, and then tell you that you are perfectly fine after all those test, and then tell you to see a psychiatrist!!

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Unintentional and unexplained weight loss is definitely not good. There are many causes like worms in stool, depression, anorexia nervosa, AIDS, cancers especially colon cancers, drug abuse, infections and loss of appetite. Loss of appetite can again be due to certain medications, drug abuse, depression, AIDS, acute and chronic infections, cancers and hypothyroidism. Either you do not eat well or there is increased metabolism as in hyperthyroid states, HIV, cancer etc. Poor absorption as in irritable bowel syndromes and malabsorption syndromes too is possible. Malabsorption syndromes are seen in intestinal tuberculosis, HIV, tropical sprue, parasites in stool and Whipple’s Disease. Diabetes too can be the cause.
In your case it can be duodenal ulcer with severe acidity. Treatment is a combination of drugs to reduce the acid and lifestyle changes. You will need to take a combination of medications (under medical supervision) like a proton pump inhibitor such as omeprazole,  lansoprazole or pantoprazole empty stomach in the morning and an antacid gel after meals for complete relief. Possibility of H pylori infection too should be looked into by a carbon urea breath test and a combination antibiotic tried. Many a times a persisting H pylori infection can be the cause behind acidity not responding to treatment.
Life style changes that will help include: Avoid heavy meals and eat frequent small meals. Avoid too much of caffeine, tea, smoking, fried food and drinks both alcoholic and non alcoholic fuzzy ones. Avoid heavy exercises within 4 hours of a heavy meal. Raise the head end of the bed by pillows to 30 degrees. Avoid lying down for least 2 hours after food. Maybe these tips will help you.
If they do not help you then all the above causes I have listed will need to be looked into. Keep a stress diary and see if there is a link to any type of food.
Since I cannot examine you and know other related conditions you may be having, nor is a detailed history possible on net, I have listed the various possibilities that should be looked into. Please consult your PCP for primary examination followed by proper referral. Take care!