Why can't I eat without getting sick?

[desperate to eat]

Two and a half months ago I began experiencing extreme nausea and vomiting after eating.  It would not matter how much or how little I ate, it would not matter what kinds of food I ate, anything that went in my mouth ended up coming up within an hour of eating.  Three crackers could cause me to vomit as much as a cheeseburger. I was loosing weight rapidly and to date have lost 30 pounds in just over 2 months. After ruling out being pregnant and having no other symptoms, I went to the doctor. Blood tests were done and although I do not know what they were looking for they told me they were normal. After an ultra sound, which showed no gall stones, and biliary scan that showed a rating of 4% my doctor referred me to a surgeon to have my gall bladder removed. I had a laproscopic cholecystectomy with no complications. That was a little over a week ago.  Three days after the surgery I began eating again, and just as before the surgery, within 20 minutes of eating I became nauseous and within 30 to 40 minutes would vomit everything I had eaten.  This has continued without ceasing since the surgery.  It is as if nothing has changed.  I went back to the surgeon yesterday and he is now ordering a CT Scan of my abdomen and pelvis.  He gave no indication of what he is looking for and I was wondering if you have any idea what could be causing these symptoms?

[jharpold]

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[michele83]

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[chrisgayle]

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[JB STEVENS]

My wife was diagnosed with GASTROPARESIS.  She had been constantly nauseated and having diarrhea.  The "SPECIALISTS" determined her stomach was just not working and needed to be removed.  They assured us that she would not be able to throw up after this surgery.  They removed her stomach and connected her esophagus to her upper intestine and made a small pouch for food in her intestine.  She still stays nauseated almost all the time and can throw up as easily as before and has diarrhea constantly.  She used to weigh about 150lbs and is now hovering around 100lbs.  She is very sick and has to go to the hospital now about every 4 to 6 weeks to get fluids and such to help with dehydration and malnutrition.  She has a pretty good appetite and can sometimes only eat just a little and other times amazes me at how much she can eat and not get sick.  The Doctors have said they have tried every medication available to help her.  She takes Xanax and Phenegran which seems to help with the nausea sometimes.  She only seems to be getting worse and I am afraid I am going to lose her.  I can not take that as an answer.

I am currently searching for a specialty clinic/hospital that may be able to help her.  For those of you whose Doctor suggests stomach removal and there is no cancer or other life threatening diseases, please get lots of opinions.  

By the way, she has had all the tests it seems possible to determine what is wrong with no success.

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.  You can e-mail me directly at ***@****.

Sincerely desperate,
John B. Stevens

[jerryh06238]

In my case, I did have a CT scan. I also had a colonoscopy. The CT scan was done back in August, and was really not too much help for the surgeon since it was taken a while back. It was also hoped at that time that medication could keep the symptoms at bay. My nausea seems to have been worse than yours, but did not last as long. I would get sick just from swallowing my own spit. But then I could actually feel my bowel pass through the narrowing, which was sometimes painful, and I would be fine afterward. I had to change my diet so that everything could pass through more easily. I was only allowed a low residue diet, no raw vegetable, fiber, fruit, etc... This seemed to work for a while, but the symptoms came back. After my surgery, I found that I had an area of my colon that had narrowed to just 2 centimeters. As a result, the area behind it had ballooned to 12 centimeters. I was surprised that the only time it hurt is when my GI doctor examined me, but he also knew where to push so he could feel it. Good luck with CT scan. I hope you don't have too much trouble drinking the contrast. You may want to ask your doctor for something for the nausea before you drink it so you don't have problems when you have your test.

[desperate to eat]

Thanks so much for that information, I will write to your mom tonight.   I really appreciate the help.

[kgandas]

HELLO, I TALKED TO MY MOTHER AND SHE SAID SHE WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO DISCUSS HER SYMPTOMS SHE HAD WITH YOU. FEEL FREE TO EMAIL HER AT ***@**** HOPE THIS HELPS. GOOD LUCK

[desperate to eat]

Thanks for your note.  Just a quick question.  Did you have a CT Scan at any time to locate the blockage.  I am scheduled for a CT scan of the abdoman on Tuesday.  If I have blockage I am 90% sure I know what it is from.  I had two C-Sections, a year apart. During my second C-section there were complications due to what they identified as "Abnormal amounts of scar tissue".  I always had a feeling that statement would come back to haunt me and know I truly believe it has.  Also, could you tell me, were your only symptoms nausia and vomiting after eating.  I am having trouble finding people who do not have a whole lot other symptoms and these truly are my only symptoms.

[jerryh06238]

I know what it is like to have a blockage as I just had surgery to correct one caused by Crohn's disease (I had scar tissue build up from sores that formed in my colon). Although my medication helped, and the blockage eventually passed, I would always know when I had one since I would get the same syptoms as you. I can tell you that if you do have a blockage, and you need surgery, it can be quite an ordeal. They can do the surgery laparoscopicaly now, but that depends on some questions being answered to the doctor's satisfaction. He has to find the exact location of the blockage, the size of the blackage, and he should know the cause. If he can't find the exact location, the affected area is too large, or if it is caused by something that cannot be pulled through a 1" incision, he will have to open you up. This is how my surgery was supposed to go, but he couldn't find the exact location, and with another complication, had to open me up. If you can do it laparoscopicaly, do it! Talking to my surgeon, he mentioned that I could be feeling normal in just a few weeks. As it was, I am looking at an 8 weeks to get back to normal.
The surgery itself will take several hours and you can't go home right away. The hospitalization period can be anyhere from 4 to 7 days, depending on what they do. Just make sure that if it is a blockage, you find out what the cause is and have it treated properly. You don't want it to come back again. This was my second surgery in 8 years to correct this problem. However there is no cure for my condition, but I can do my best to prevent a relapse.   - Jerry    age 24

[desperate to eat]

Wow, thanks for writing that.  You are the first person I have talked to anywhere that knows someone with the same symptoms.  Everyone else, has pain or heartburn along with the naucia and vomiting and me, I only have the naucia and vomiting.  I would like to hear a little more about your mom's symptoms and surgery if you have the time.  I am very interested in how you said the complications were from a "Stomach Stapeling".  When I had my second son, and my second c-section there were major complications during the surgery due to scar tissue left over from my first c-section.  I am wondering if your mother's complications had anything to do with scar tissue.  Now that you have said this I would not be surprised if my ct scan next week does not find blockage of the intesitine due to scar tissue.  If that is the case and I have to have surgery, can you tell me if your mother's surgery was laproscopic or was it a complete cut surgery, just wondering what recovery would be like???  Thanks again for writing, I will look forward to hearing from you again.

[yoshi]

i went to bed early last nite and i managed to sleep well.
this morning i have some aching around my jaw area which is usually related to allergy.
so i wonder if this is an allergy problem or a flu as i also have muscles aches and tiredness and mild headache.
To answer you rquestion why i am on medication-please read my post on headache and stomach problem.

[kgandas]

My guess is they are probably going to check for a obstruction of the intestines. my mother had the same symptoms and it turned out to be a complete blockage of a intestine. she could not keep anything down, not even fluids. our local hospital did tests for a week and couldn't find the problem. she was badly dehydrated when admitted. finally a trip to a hospital in a major city, and within 4 hours they had her scheduled for surgery(doing the same tests as the local hospital)hers turned out to be a complication of a "stomach stapling" surgery. good luck and best wishes

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Hello - thanks for asking your question.

You note extreme nausea and vomiting after eating.  A cholecystectomy was performed after a low gall bladder ejection fraction.  

The next test I would consider would be a gastric emptying scan.  Gastroparesis is associated with a variety of neurological and systemic diseases (i.e. diabetes), and can certainly cause nausea and vomiting after eating.  

I would also consider a barium swallow or upper endoscopy to make sure there are no strictures, motility disorders or anatomical masses in the esophagus that may be causing the nausea.

The CT scan would show whether there are any kinds of obstruction that can cause the nausea.  

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Thanks,
Kevin, M.D.

[desperate to eat]

Thanks for your input.  I was wondering what your symptoms were that caused you to be put on these medications.  My newest (3rd) doctor just put me on Protonix, He said to keep taking it even if it did not seem to be helping, which it has not.  But other than that I have been on no medications.  I don't have any heartburn associated with my symptoms at all, so I think most of the doctors are skipping over the drugs for "reflex" type stuff.  I am interested in your symptoms!!!

[yoshi]

i dont want to sound gross,but i have been on  prevacid for over 10 days.
i woke up fine this morning,then later i felt dizzy.
i ate in the afternoon ,then i felt nauseating and dizzy and i finally vomitted what i ate and i feel much better.
i was on prilosev before.
i am just wondering if all these medication shut down too much of our capacity to produce stomach acid that (1) we dont have enough to digest food(2) low acid level invites the growth of bacteria.

[nadia]

I'm wondering if they have checked you for parasites.  They can cause alot of nasty symptoms.  After a major bout with urgency, loss of appetite and nausea they finally did a stool test and I was diagnosed with Dientamoeba Fragilis.  After taking 1 large dose of vermox the nausea, loss of appetite and loose stools completely subsided. It is worth looking into and there are very distinctive features to this problem, so it shouldn't be too difficult to diagnose.

[desperate to eat]

Thanks for you input. I know that they did a stool test and said it was normal and then went on from there, so I think a parasite thing is probably out.  Also, I never really had a problem with diareah at all, its completely a Naucia and vommiting thing.  It seems to have a lot of people, including my doctors, puzzled...but time marches on.