Man, I don’t really understand what’s going on

[RustyRus]

Since the end of October, I’ve felt like crud. Most of the day I’m tired, or just feel achy, particularly on the left side of my upper abdomen/chest area. Sometimes I have sharp prickles of pain in my chest where my heart is (or at least I think) but these seem to go away with a rub or adjustment. My sternum is super sensitive to touch in fact pushing on it sends an immense wave of pain up my left breast. My upper abdominal area (inch or so below ribcage on left side) seems to have a consistent dull ache that seems to go straight through me to my back, which also had a dull ache in a spot that never moves, this ache is there most of the day but can come and go. I also sometimes see undigested food in my stool (mainly like sunflower seeds, cashews which I’ve always ate before without seeing them again.. another big one is spinach) I’ve done a stool sample to test for H pylori but it came back negative.

I also suffer PVC’s which all started one night I drank too much caffeine in such a short period of time.. they’ve never gone away and happen notably once every day or two. Sometimes I’ll have a what I think is a Bigeminiy run of PVCs for like 4-5 beats and it goes back to normal.
The beginning of my PVCs made me anxious, and I developed pretty bad health anxiety, I thought I had heart failure, stomach ulcers, colon problems idk. I’ve been to the ER with “chest discomfort” and had an X-ray along with blood tests and an EKG. Everything looked normal they said. I’ve went and had another EKG which was normal as well and blood test checking my thyroid, lipid, blah blah liver and kidneys looked good. Everything except a 120LDL and my fasting Blood sugar was 106 - followed that with a HBA1C and that was also okay(5%)
My doctor thinks it’s GERD, which to be honest I’ve never had super instense heartburn before and usually when I had some heartburn I’d just take some Prilosec and it went away in 30min. It was never a problem
He also prescribed me 20mg Paxil for anxiety and depression, because all of this has really brought me down, I’ve always been afraid of the idea of death and idk I just feel like this sense of doom. Anyways he said to take half a pill for the first week so I did, I haven’t stopped taking half a pill (week and a half now) tho as it has helped me I believe, however now I’m developing this “loopy” feeling in my head. Like zombie like, dull headache(behind my nose or feels like a a tight band around my head) , sometimes it feels like my brain is itching?? Idk, my legs and hands sometimes have a slight tingle or burning feeling as well as the tip of my tongue.. my eyes Feel weird when I read especially small print, my vision is sometimes blurred but only for like a split second, and rarely.

Man idk what’s going on but I’m at a loss for words. I keep thinking “I wish I could go back to how I felt before October” cause I was on top of the world guys. But now, it feels like I’m in hell every day I feel like crap. And it’s not getting better, or at least it doesnt feel like it.

Does anyone have any insight? What should I do, should I test for something else? I’ve been thinking about getting a echo and stress test for my heart, that thing really has me worried. Although other tests like EKG, chest X-ray and ER blood tests said my heart was okay. Should I have someone look at my stomach/colon? Could something wrong with those things make me feel cruddy all day?

SOME days I feel alright like it’s all bearable. But there’s still a hint of what I’ve been feeling there. Another thing is right after waking up I feel really good, normal almost, but within about an hour of my daily routine I start to feel Cruddy.

[Red_Star]

When the stomach lining is inflamed (gastritis), it produces less stomach acid and fewer enzymes. Less stomach acid and enzymes lead to poor digestion, heartburn/acid reflux/GERD, undigested food in stools, nutrient deficiencies (causes any number of mental and physical health problems). Gastritis pain is in the upper left abdomen.

Causes of gastritis include NSAIDS drugs, H Pylori bacteria, autoimmune gastritis, stress,
backflow of bile into the stomach (bile reflux), infection caused by viruses (eg: cytomegalovirus),
diseases such as Crohn’s disease.

Side effects if paxil are numerous.  
You are clearly suffering from some of those symptoms.

***


Excerpt from Enzyme Stuff - Gastritis...

"Question: It is true that you are not suppose to use enzymes if a person has gastritis?

Reply: This is a little tricky. Yes, most places have a disclaimer saying that if you have gastrities, avoid the strong protease formulations. There are some enzyme products with low or no proteases that are for gastritis patients (like Gastro from Enzymedica).

However, there are lots of clinical studies which clearly show that taking proteases significantly speeds up healing of ulcers, gastritis, and wounded tissue. Which looks like you would specifically want proteases with gastritis. So what do you do?

Here is what is going on in the gut:
Proteases help reduce inflammation, clean out debris and infection, and stimulate healing. The can result in clean, yet exposed tissue that is very sensitive.

Think of a sizable infected wound on a skinned knee that just won't heal. The wound is sensitive and inflammed. It's raw. Nerves are exposed. As you attempt to clean it out and remove the cruddy infected tissue, it hurts. The raw nerves are exposed. It might also bleed a little.

As you apply antibiotic, it can really sting badly with sharp pain. But this process is needed to stop the infection and enable the wound to heal.

Now consider this same situation happening in your gut where you can't see what's going on. You might take proteases which are doing the cleaning work. But you experience some stabbing pain, stomach ache, irritation, and might see a little bleeding. All of this is very alarming if you aren't prepared for it. If we didn't know what the antibiotic on the skinned knee was for and why it stung, we might conclude that antibiotics are bad for skinned knees. And thus the warning for people with gastritis taking enzymes.

But proteases might be exactly what you need to really heal. So one strategy is to take an enzyme product with low or no proteases to help the body heal more gently and still get the benefits of enzymes for overall food digestion. (Carbo by Enzymedica, any of the broad-spectrum enzyme products such as Zyme Prime or Thropps). With gastritis I think Carbo or something with very low proteases would be better.

Then dose the proteases separately so you can control how much you are taking in (such as Peptizyde, Purify by Enzymedica, etc). If it is uncomfortable, reduce the dose. The wounded tissue will heal, just at a slower rate. Some people like the quick, tough-it-out method, but I really like to avoid pain when I can. There has been excellent success with this approach of separating out the strong proteases for those with very injured guts.

If you start an enzyme product and have stomachache or pain, the general recommendation is to stop the proteases for 4-5 days, then start again slowly. This allows the clean but raw and exposed tissue to heal up a bit and be less sensitive. Just like allowing a cleaned out skinned knee to form a 'scab' so the healthy but exposed tissue won't hurt as you move around. If the pain persists again, discontinue the proteases for awhile.

Healing doesn't usually occur overnight and some patience and steady persistance may be in order."

[SassyLassie]

Hello~Red_Star gave a wonderful explanation. I would also like to add, that when I was in my mid 20's I had exactly the same problems you are having. I had every test in the book from 6 hour GTT, Heidelberg gastric test, all kinds of blood work, you name it. What was discovered was I had multiple severe food allergies, and hypoglycemia, they were all due to the extremely high stress and anxiety I was going through. I had thoughts of doomsday, fear of death, would not go outside (agoraphobia), it was awful. I tried to follow a good, food allergy free diet and low sugar, it helped some, but mainly it was just time and prayer that took away the symptoms. Also, there was a book that I read and read called "Hope and Help for Your Nerves" by Dr Claire Weekes, I still have it as I refer back to it once in a while. I highly suggest purchasing it, I think it can still be obtained through Amazon.com.

I have PVC' and PAC's too, again, related to stress and GERD. I have a hiatal hernia and this pushed the stomach up through the  diaphragm which can cause the skips. I never had heart burn however, just acid reflux at times.

I know how worried you are, if it were me, I would certainly ask for the Echo and other heart tests just to ease my mind, I am sure they will all be fine however. Also, add a good, high potency "B" complex to your diet along with a good multi vitamin and multi-mineral.

Sadly, when it comes to anxiety and nerves, there really isn't a deadline for them to end, mine would come and go, but now, they are mostly gone unless I allow myself to get too upset.

I hope are feeling better by now. God bless you.

[RustyRus]

Another thing I’d like to add is I’ve recently started a non gluten diet, to see if that has something to do with it. So far I’ve been on it three days except yesterday I ate at Buffalo Wild Wings and instead of the naked tenders I ordered they were breaded but I just thought that’s how they were? Idk I ate them and within like an hour I felt way worse. Sometimes when I eat I do feel worse.. anyways there was one day I ate no gluten and that was one of the days I felt halfway decent idk if it’s coincidence, today I ate no gluten and feel like crap still.

Ugh man I’m willing to try anything at this point.