Any Ideas?

[Stunny99]

I am a 23 year old Male. I am 5'5 and 110lbs. About 5 month ago I wokeup early in the morning with a terrible pain in my stomach area just below my ribcage above my bellybutton with a moderate feeling of nausea. There was no vomiting or diarrhea although I felt like i had to vomit to make myself feel better. The feeling was so bad I was unable to sleep and my wife ended up taking me to the hospital. At the hospital they gave me an IV and also gave me a drug through the IV that blocked my nausea. A few hours after being at the hospital I just felt better. At the hospital I had a xray done of my abdomen. No gallstones were found. They also took blood and everything pointed to healthy. They checked for h pylori which came back negative as well. So no ulcers. I had an endoscopy which was negative and a stool sample also came out negative. Later that night the discomfort and nausea returned. I was eating regularily during this time but not so healthy. Alot of boxed meals and soda pop. I rarely exercise.

I saw another doctor that told me I had gastroenteritis. Gave me a week of antibiotics that never worked. Came back to him feeling the same a week later and he sent me to a gastroenterologist. Before i saw the gastroenterologist I remained sick and stopped eating/ drinking unhealthy. I would sometimes force myself to vomit which gave me about 2 mintues of relief before the discomfort returned. When I met him finally, after hearing my symptoms he said I probably had acid reflux disease. He gave me like 20 bottles of sample Zegerid 40mg/1100mg omeprazole/sodium bicarbonate capsules. Took these for about 2 weeks and they did not help much at all. I rarely brought acid up my throat but I do on several occasions have food brought up. When I would go to sleep feeling sick I would always wake up the next day better until I ate. Then I would either get sick or not. This is the norm now. Any ideas on what might be effecting me? Thank you

[CrazyGoon]

I would not rule out gallstones. They do not always show up on x-rays. You should have an ultra sound of your abdomen. Two weeks ago I had an x-ray that looked normal(showed no gallstones).  Then I had an ultra sound and several gallstones were found.

[idkwia]

I have very similar symptoms to yours. I have also had lots of tests but so far nothing has been found or diagnosed. Please, please let me know if you get an answer to your prroblem and I will do the same. Good luck.
Steve

[Kevin Pho, MD]

I agree with the workup you have had, and it would have excluded the major GI causes for the symptoms.

You can also consider more specialized tests like a 24-hr pH study to exclude GERD, or a gastric emptying scan to look for gastroparesis.

Celiac disease can also present this way, and can be evaluated with serum antibody testing.

These options can be discussed with your GI specialist.

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.

Kevin Pho, M.D.
www.kevinmd.com
www.twitter.com/kevinmd