Severe nausea

[Jackie]

My 17 y/o daughter has been complaining of nausea and early satiety for several months.  She has always been very thin and is now 5'10" and generally weighs around 110-115 lb.  She began complaining of inability to eat because of severe nausea and I just kept encouraging her to eat, thinking that her busyness at school and with cheerleading was the culprit.  However, her complaints of nausea and then fatigue became so severe that I took her in and asked for blood work for mono, anemia, etc..  All tests were normal with exception of bilirubin (2.2 - ULN 1.2) and slightly low potassium.  Ten days later, bili was 3.7, potassium WNL.  All other blood work including liver profiles normal. Amylase also normal.  Abdominal sonogram normal.  EGD set up for Feb. 3.  Because of her body habitus, I am often asked about eating disorders.  I see no evidence of this.  I am an at-home mom and have plenty of opportunity to observe.  She is now having problems with even fluids.  Though she has not vomited, she feels as though anything that goes down will come up.  She is now down under 100 lb (although the first 10 lb was more gradual over the last several months - which I had attributed to increased activity).  I am very concerned about dehydration, though I have been trying to force fluids. She has been drinking a couple glasses of Instant Breakfast and perhaps some apple juice for the last 2 days.  The only solid I have been able to get her to eat is perhaps 1/2 of a small baked potato.  She feels profoundly weak and stays in bed most of the day. Please help.

[Gastroparesis info]

Paula, (and others)

"This is some info I have read or heard from others"

Im sorry to hear your having trouble.I have had ideopathic gastroparesis for over 2yrs now (symptoms began after gallbladder,appendix surgery).Your symtoms sound like gastroparesis? Have you seen a Gastroenterologist who deals
with motility disorders? Some doc's dont have as much exposure
to motility disorders so they are slower at getting to the
diagnosis and proper treatment.A gastric empty scan would be the
best test to start with,it will show if your stomach is emptying
in a timely manner.Other blood tests for thyroid or adrenal gland
problems should be done to rule those causes out.Some people get
a stomach virus and it does not resolve, possibly nerves were damaged or the pacemaker activity of the gut is "thrown off"
and dysfunctions either case can cause gastroparesis. This
scenerio is usually called viral gastroparesis and I have read
that it may resolve over time,usually symptoms are severe at the
onset and progressivly improvement can be seen,it may take 2+ yrs.The prior info I read on the internet. Some people have GERD that seems to progressivly get worse and then it seems to coinside with gastroparesis.Some women notice worsening symptoms around there menstrual cycle (hormone fluxuations can worsen symtoms for some).Some people just "get it" they may have had
IBS or other stomach problems ie:constipation and then things
just slow down and don't work? When there is no identifiable
cause it is called ideopathic gastroparesis.There are some medical conditions that can cause gastroparesis like as you
mentioned diabetes, also thyroid,lupus,schelderoma sp?? there
may be others.I know how hard it is to eat when it causes so much
discomfort and you know the reprecussions.Its a double edged sword.
Some things I eat that Ive been able to tolerate have been potatos,Ensure,yogurt,chicken broth,bananas,pudding...small portions.I hope you are feeling better soon! I would ask your doc to rule out the gastroparesis. I hope this info helps.....if you need to talk or have any questions feel free to mail me at:
  ***@****
I am on disability so I have free time to help :) Good Luck!
A site you may want to look into is: www.dailyfutures.com/gastro.html
Jeannine

[paula]

Hello everyone.  I have read everyone's posts with great interest. I am a 41 y.o. female and for the last month I have been having many of the symptoms listed in this forum.  It very first started when I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I had to vomit.  Earlier in the evening I noticed that the food I ate during the day seemed to be sititng in my stomach and not digesting.  Anyway, I got up to vomit but I never did vomit; Hello everyone!  I have read with great interests everyone's postings here.  I have been having a problem for a bout a month now and my symptoms sound just like what the people here are suffering from.  It all started when I woke up in the middile of the night and was extremely nauseated.  Earlier in the evening I noticed that the food I ate during the day just seemed like it was sitting in my stomach and not emptying.  Anyway, I never did vomit; I had to go to the bathroom (but not diarreah) and I ended up passing out!  It was very frightening for my husband who thankfully has been very supportive.  Anyway, I felt sick for a couple days after that and I thought I just ate something that didn't agree with me or I had a virus.  Then the same thing happened to me a few days later.  My husband took me to the e.r. and they ran some blood tests which were all normal.  I went to my doctor the next week and he thought I might have gastritis or a dumping syndrome, or possibly gallbadder disease so he ordered an ultrasound which was normal. Now he's wondering if I have an ulcer and I go for an endoscopy next Thursday.  My biggest symptoms are inability to eat, constant nausea, fullness in the stomach and I've lost 10 lbs.  This has been going on for about a month.  I was beginning to feel like I'm going crazy and I was wondering if I was making myself sick because I'm afraid to eat because of how violently ill I got that one night.  So I basically force myself to eat something and within 10 minutes I feel like I've eaten a big turkey dinner and then I get really nauseated.  I'm only eating about 1/5 of what I normally eat. Prior to this I was always very healthy and never have stomach problems!  I'm beginning to wonder if I have this gastroparesis.  I am not diabetic and I have read that 85% of people who have gastroparesis are diabetics.  Does anyone know why someone just gets this disease out of the blue?  I am quite frightened.  Thanks a lot everyone!

[alice]

I have the same sx as most of the clients Ihav read the GI doc has ruled out gastroparesis but I continue being severly nauseated the sight and smell of food makes me nauseated. I wake up nauseated. my tongue is often coated white and I hav a bad taste that I can't describe I have ony vomited on two occassions one was in Dec when the nausea began the other was this past Saturday when I vomited 4 times and only mucus came up. I cannot eat anything on most days and very little some days. I have lot about25 pounds since Dec. I have had EGD, Colonocsopy and much lab te only thing elevated was me Eosinophil coun in Dec and again 2days ago

[Katherine]

Since December of 1999 I have had problems with my stomach. For about 1 1/2 weeks in december I could only eat fruit, salads, and soups. I had a banana for breakfest and then i was full.  Then as i started to go eat for lunch i would get nauseated, I eventually found that eating 1 apple i was fine and full.  Dinner, was always bad anything fried or greasy i could not eat and when i did eat, i was always throwing up afterwards.  So, I stayed on 1 banana for breakfest and 1 apple or soup/salad for lunch and either nothing or something small for dinner.  I loss 20 lbs doing so.  Then I started eating what ever I wanted mid-Jan. and i was fine.  But, then It started over again and i went back to my fruit,soup, and salads. Then i was able to eat anything after 3 weeks of that.  But, now it has started again.  Everytime me and my husband started out to go it i would get nauseated and even to the point of throwing up.  My stomach burns some and I just fell trouble.  Sometimes I just don't feel like eating and at other times I'm afraid to eat.  I'm not at point were i'm under weight, actually i'm just a little over weight.  I don't done what this is or what to do for it?  Pleas help!!

[lisa j.]

Concerned husband. You sound like a loving and caring man/husband.  I am sure your wife is very frustrated by now.  These symptoms can truly get you down and confused.  Giardia and IBS does come to mind as well.  My father-in-law had Giardia and it lasted a long time with quite a bit of nausea.  
    In a comment made on a previos comment before this, a woman explained something that may bring something to mind.  She had stated that her bowel would close off once a month causing her to be ill.  According to her there is a name for this.  Sometimes it closes off and others x's it does not.  
   Another suggestion would to re-post your message as an original message.  (You asking the first question).  A doctor will write you a message back if you are the initial poster.
   I also know a female who is allergic to flour and almost died because Doctors could  not find out the problem of constant nausea and other symptoms.  I am unsure what the disease or allergy is called, but she has to be extreamly careful or she will become VERY ill and possibly die.
   Don't give up on you quest to find answers.  Nausea is a sign of so many things.....but she can not continue this lifestyle.  She is not crazy either, so don't let a physician tell you that it is in her head.  Support her and encourage her.  This is getting me through gastroparesis symptomology and intially when they were unable to find a diagnosis.  Best of Luck.  If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail my husband or I.
***@****            Lisa

[berry]

Hello, I'm new to the forum.  My wife has had some of the symptoms of gastroparesis described by many of you.  However, she has had the gastric emptying test and it came back normal.  She began to have chronic nausea after coming back from our honeymoon in the Caribbean in November '99, where we think she caught a traveller's bug.  She does not vomit.  She does not have diarrhea anymore (she had it for a month after coming home from the honeymoon; it went away only after two rounds of antibiotics).  The nausea never stopped.  She has had bouts of dizziness.  The only trend she can detect now is that her nausea seems to come in "waves" every three-four days or so.  We're ready to get our hands around this as you can imagine.  She has her first appointment with a GI specialist next week, after many months of frustrating appointments, tests and poor judgement by her primary doc.  Just so you know, the tests she has had are:  stool culture, brain MRI, gastric emptying test with small bowel follow-through, 3 pregnancy tests, numerous blood tests - all tests have been inconclusive.  Medicines taken include:  basic anti-acid OTC pills, pepcid, reglan, prevacid.  Have stopped birth control pills one week ago.  I'm hoping its just a mean paracite that we can't detect.  Can anyone shed light on these symptoms or suggest a course of treatment/questioning?  Some people have suggested that it may be irritable bowel syndrome or giardia.  We'd like to hear your thoughts.

Sincerely,
A concerned husband