Pain throughout digestive tract and back pain

[Marie59]

I am a 43 year old mother of two young children.  About three years ago I began to suffer with bouts of extreme digestive abnormalities.  I will have any or all of the following symptoms at any given time:  chest pain, heartburn, nausea, back pain (mainly on the left side and low), difficulty swallowing, constipation, diarrhea.  I have discomfort on a somewhat regular basis but usually several times a year I have severe bouts which last for days sometimes over a week.  There are no food triggers for these bouts.  I have been to a gastroenterologist and had an upper GI and an endoscopy, had biopsies, had an ultrasound of the internal organs including the gall bladder, and been checked for H.Pylori.  My internal medicine physician even went so far as to put me through the various tests to check the condition of my heart( which consequently showed I had a heart arrythmia, but of course was not related to the digestive disorders).  Since the doctors couldn't discover anything wrong with the digestive system, this is why they checked the heart?  Any insight or suggestions, anyone?  I'm so tired of this pain.

[charman41]

A related discussion, Intestinal noise and random pains throughout, also pain in chest at times was started.

[artdr]

Kellieb, I identified with your symptoms immediately because they happened to me too. I also began with fainting and repeated fainting 'spells' as the medical community calls them. I actually had 27 'spells' within a 3 month period. The feeling immediately after the 'spell' displayed the same physical manisfestations that an epileptic experiences. After sitting with a friend and fainting in front of her (not completely unconscious, but unable to speak coherently), I was taken to Mass General too. Since I have a major congenital abnormality with the vessels in my heart which is very rare and diagnosed at Mass General, I thought that I should be there since I was convinced that since they did an angiogram there they would quickly identify the problem. Well sadly I was very mistaken. They admitted me and tried to find an obvious abnormality, but after skimming the surface they finally decided to go the 'stress' route. They tried to administer profile tests, and even had a psychologist 'speak' to me. Let me add that of all my degrees, psychoanalysis is one of them. Of course there was nothing abnormal within my psyche, but they purged on until I demanded to be discharged. I was so disgusted because they did not even consider the heart anomaly and my arrhythmia to be the cause of the fainting 'spells'. Instead they turned down the road of stress and tried to blame that as the reason for the fainting 'spells'. I was ready to just give up and accept this strange occurence until I was preparing my lessons for the day (I am a teacher) and while I was sitting I fell foward and again experienced a 'spell'. After that I found a cardiologist who identified my problem as extremely rare (a syndrome associated with my vessel abnormality), and perscribed appropriate meds. I have not fainted in three years, and I also found out that my condition could be very dangerous. Without searching for my own answers, and respecting my own knowledge and respect of who I am I would never of found out the appropriate answer to a physiological problem which was not a psychological one. My cardiologist was quick to remind me that doctors that cannot come up with an obvious answer to a complicated issue are quick to blame the international excuse of stress. I actually had a doctor tell me that, "women like you usually have things like this happen to them." With that intellectual response I crawled out of the hospital half dazed. So, my advice to anyone reading this is to please reflect and believe in your intuition. There is a reason that you experience out of the ordinary symptoms, please investigate the problem before you trust the word of a doctor who makes you doubt your inner voice. Never feel as though you are wasting their time, because if they make you feel that way you should never continue to see that doctor. Remember, you are the one experiencing this problem, and only you can persist until you find an answer.

[diannna]

I am female 43, and over the last two years have been miserable, was origingnaly diagnosed with gerd and have taken prilosec for 2 years which only helped the heart burn. I have seen internists, cardiologist regarding my heart racing, and sometimes it pounds so hard i feel like its going to just jump out of my chest.It is not triggerd by exersise i am  acually more aware of it when i am resting, relaxing or sitting. The cardiologist preformed all the test even angiogram and everything looks fine.Put the pain on my left side and my heart racing is unbearable.  Someone suggested this might be menopause???any suggestions I cant keep running to emergency room all the time....

[kellieb]

I am having some of the symptoms you are having. I have had pvc's but they went away. This all started with a fainting episode one day and several near fainting spells. Have been to two Dr's and the first one was a jerk and said I have panic/ anxiety so he put me on effexor.....wrong very bad problems with it I was worse than without it. Now I went to Mass General in Boston which is one of the BEST hospitals in the country and my new internest thinks it is anxiety. I actually saw him today for the 2nd time. He told me if anything major was wrong it would of shown up on all the tests I had so far...well he is trying me on Konopin 0.5mg 2x per day and Zoloft. He said anxiety can do crazy things to your stomach as well as your whole system.....mind body....your head and body are not seperate so avoid any doctor who treats you as if they are not one. It's common sense...if you don't feel good in your mind you're not going to feel good in your body.I didn't feel stressed or anything until one day I just fainted .....been ill feeling ever since and began thinking all these things were wrong ending up in er about 15 times since Feb. and never does anything show up..so maybe it is possibly what the Dr says.....maybe not...but I know stress can do lots of crazy stuff by what I've heard and read. I am a nursing student so believe me about the mind/body thing.

[nadia]

I can sympathize with your pain.  My symptoms were almost identical to yours.  I was 38 when it started quite suddenly.  I also had a suspected ventricular tachycardia along with the abdmominal and chest symptoms.  I had problems with my gallbladder which didn't show on ultrasound right away.  I insisted on more ultrasounds and sure enough dysfunction was evident.  A rapid heart rate is associated with a dysfunctional gallbladder.  It is very scary when this pain occurs and feels like it is something very serious.  I ended up having a condition known as chronic cholycistitis.(chronic gallbladder inflammation). Don't give up keep investigating and: NO, it is not all in your head like some doctors make us feel.