Aa
Could it be GERD?
Hi everyone in the GERD community!
Thank god for medhelp I wouldn't know where else to turn.
So, I recently posted my case actually a couple times in different forums, thinking my condition was something else, though still GI related.
Here's the story/case:
So, just over a month ago now, one evening, I developed severe stomach bloating and gas with a sharp stomach pain but the pain subsided pretty quickly. I have experienced this before a couple times in recent years and have associated it with acidic or bad food, such as pasta sauce which may have been old even which was one time. However, this reaction may last for a day or I did notice that last time it lasted two days so i figured the sause was bad! But this time it went on for well over a week which made me think that it was more than just the food, as I began to develop other symptoms as well!
I felt like I have the "stomack flue" as I became weak and actually soar and fatigued/drained of energy. After about a week and a half I noticed that it wasn't very contagious as to this day no-one else got it from me and I've been in close quarters with many! So when my mom mentioned to me that it might be from the spring water that I get directly from the surface of the earth at the mountains here in VT (many people do this), it made sense that maybe I got infected by the water, which I have been drinking for years. So I stopped drinking that water and by this point I went to the doctors office as well.
The doctors did stool tests which all came back negative, as well as a blood test, but by the second week dealing with this condition I started feeling worse with the same symptoms but other symptoms as well that were more debilitating, such as it got to the point where I was waking up every other hour needing to drink something or pee; my stool/bowels were soft with some diareah, and there was even blood in my stool once, also, my tongue began to get white I noticed; all which are clear symptoms of a parasite. So it made sense and I was pretty convinced, as one of the doctors said it is possible I contracted a parasite.
But all the tests came back negative, and it was only because of my persistence and increased symptoms that the doctor decided to prescribe me 500 mg 3x a day of Flagyl, for 12 days! Which btw is a high dose!
I just finished that course of meds 2 days ago, and while I felt they were working, ever since the day I stopped taking the my symptoms seemed to have come back. But all throughout taking that drug Flagyl I noticed since day one that it made my stomach growl, which was a different sound than the gas from the bug or whatever it is.
So, it's only been two days off the meds but as I write this my stomack is groweling and I am burping from gas! And my stomach is cramping a little too. I slept worse last night than any of the nights and I do not feel any better. I am not sure if Flagyl causes such side effects or withdrawl symptoms; or if my stomach is just trying to recooperate, but something tells me that the gas activity is still related to the symptoms I was having before taking the meds.
So, I am sick, and am needing to figure out the correct diagnosis. I would be surprised if the meds did the trick! There is still a possibility it could be a parasite!! But to any of your-guys's knowledge, does this sound like GERd to you? or do you have any other ideas?
I should include that throughout the latter part of my life anyway, at leas for 10 maybe 15 years, I have this odd burping condition where I forcefully burp to release gas from my stomach. I mean it happens involuntarily but I have to made a conscious effort to make it happens and and it doesn't sound like a normal burp. I know this because other people have observed it in me, and I have certainly recognized it as a issue within my self. And while it is worse sometimes than others, and I am ok with it (meaning it doesn't seem to bother me), I am now wondering could that be what has progressed into my most recent bout of severe gi issues and these flue like symptoms and all these other debilitation symptoms I am now having. It just seems so acute and severe that I am surprized if could be related to my burping issue!
Either way it's debilitating and I can barely sleep so any help would be great!!!
Sorry for all the typos but I just got called into work so I don't have time to re-read. Thank you very much and all the best!
Ash
Thank god for medhelp I wouldn't know where else to turn.
So, I recently posted my case actually a couple times in different forums, thinking my condition was something else, though still GI related.
Here's the story/case:
So, just over a month ago now, one evening, I developed severe stomach bloating and gas with a sharp stomach pain but the pain subsided pretty quickly. I have experienced this before a couple times in recent years and have associated it with acidic or bad food, such as pasta sauce which may have been old even which was one time. However, this reaction may last for a day or I did notice that last time it lasted two days so i figured the sause was bad! But this time it went on for well over a week which made me think that it was more than just the food, as I began to develop other symptoms as well!
I felt like I have the "stomack flue" as I became weak and actually soar and fatigued/drained of energy. After about a week and a half I noticed that it wasn't very contagious as to this day no-one else got it from me and I've been in close quarters with many! So when my mom mentioned to me that it might be from the spring water that I get directly from the surface of the earth at the mountains here in VT (many people do this), it made sense that maybe I got infected by the water, which I have been drinking for years. So I stopped drinking that water and by this point I went to the doctors office as well.
The doctors did stool tests which all came back negative, as well as a blood test, but by the second week dealing with this condition I started feeling worse with the same symptoms but other symptoms as well that were more debilitating, such as it got to the point where I was waking up every other hour needing to drink something or pee; my stool/bowels were soft with some diareah, and there was even blood in my stool once, also, my tongue began to get white I noticed; all which are clear symptoms of a parasite. So it made sense and I was pretty convinced, as one of the doctors said it is possible I contracted a parasite.
But all the tests came back negative, and it was only because of my persistence and increased symptoms that the doctor decided to prescribe me 500 mg 3x a day of Flagyl, for 12 days! Which btw is a high dose!
I just finished that course of meds 2 days ago, and while I felt they were working, ever since the day I stopped taking the my symptoms seemed to have come back. But all throughout taking that drug Flagyl I noticed since day one that it made my stomach growl, which was a different sound than the gas from the bug or whatever it is.
So, it's only been two days off the meds but as I write this my stomack is groweling and I am burping from gas! And my stomach is cramping a little too. I slept worse last night than any of the nights and I do not feel any better. I am not sure if Flagyl causes such side effects or withdrawl symptoms; or if my stomach is just trying to recooperate, but something tells me that the gas activity is still related to the symptoms I was having before taking the meds.
So, I am sick, and am needing to figure out the correct diagnosis. I would be surprised if the meds did the trick! There is still a possibility it could be a parasite!! But to any of your-guys's knowledge, does this sound like GERd to you? or do you have any other ideas?
I should include that throughout the latter part of my life anyway, at leas for 10 maybe 15 years, I have this odd burping condition where I forcefully burp to release gas from my stomach. I mean it happens involuntarily but I have to made a conscious effort to make it happens and and it doesn't sound like a normal burp. I know this because other people have observed it in me, and I have certainly recognized it as a issue within my self. And while it is worse sometimes than others, and I am ok with it (meaning it doesn't seem to bother me), I am now wondering could that be what has progressed into my most recent bout of severe gi issues and these flue like symptoms and all these other debilitation symptoms I am now having. It just seems so acute and severe that I am surprized if could be related to my burping issue!
Either way it's debilitating and I can barely sleep so any help would be great!!!
Sorry for all the typos but I just got called into work so I don't have time to re-read. Thank you very much and all the best!
Ash
I did not get the water tested. I'm sure it is usually good, but I drank it during a time that it was contaninated with a parasite of somekind, somehow (maybe from an animal?), and my assumption is that it was only contaminated for a short period of time, and that it's now parasite free and safe to drink. Of course I can't be certain of any of this as my tests came back negative, but this is what I suspect and there is no need to test the water for it. Water from a natural spring that touches the earths surface always has the potential to be parasitic, and I am no longer going to drink from these open springs! Maybe it would be wise/sufficient to isolate a spring by putting a pipe in the ground (to tap the spring before it touches the earth). I have yet to investigate it. But open springs come with a risk, and and being debilitated for 2 months makes it worth not drinking!
Thank you selmaS ! :)
That all makes a lot of sense and was very reassuring information to me!!
I do however believe I did catch a parasite from the natural spring I get my water from, and I am no longer drinking from natural springs anymore!
I appreciate your help!! :)
Ash
That all makes a lot of sense and was very reassuring information to me!!
I do however believe I did catch a parasite from the natural spring I get my water from, and I am no longer drinking from natural springs anymore!
I appreciate your help!! :)
Ash
Hi, thank you for your response!
Good questions! No, no, no and no. haha They did not do PH testing, actually the last doctor I saw barely examined my month long case and assumed I had GERD. And he wanted to prescribe me pills for it without further examination.
I though his assessment was pathetic, and I refused his treatment.
Second, it's good that you asked if the doctors advised me to avoid certain foods and lifestyle activities. No, they didn't tell me anything!! I just picked up the meds and followed the instructions.
On a related note, I suspect that my gi/stomach responded poorly to acidic foods because of all the ware on my stomach from both the parasite and then the meds. I suspect this because I was having similarly bad gas and acid issues in my gi after stopping the meds. But though I am still recuperating I believe that the after med stomach issues were due to eating the pasta sauce I ate, and not due to a persisting parasite! Does this make sense? that my stomach would be so messed up after a month long period of a parasite and antibiotics, that I would have gas and acid problems from certain foods? And would it make sense that my stomach would take a wjile to recover and get back to normal, casuing me to still feel sick and continue to have some stomach issues?
I am pretty certain that the parasite is dead, and that's what it was, but I still feel like my stomach is healing and I think I have more gas than usual. I mean, I also gained a little weight and feel my stomach is still recovering, as well as my whole body and it's been about a week off the meds (almost a week).
Also, I believe what set my healing back was that I worked hard doing physical labor (tree work and farming) the three days after taking my last pill. It was freezing out and I believe I caught a body cold of some sort as my immune system was weak. Is this also possible?
The body cold initially felt like I was coming down with the flu, and though I am still a little soar and not exactly back to normal health, I do feel a lot better and am not having any concerning gi issues, and I am sleeping pretty well now. So I feel good about things and am grateful about the fact that I believe the parasite is gone, but I'm still recuperating.
So I guess my question is, does this make sense that I am still recuperating? Does it take time? and can ones stomach have additional issues after taking a course of antibiotics and having a parasite? Or should I be better by now? Oh, and might I have caught a cold due to low immunity out working in the cold. Does my message here make sense?
Anyway I am not very concerned right now, I am feeling better and believe it's just a matter of a few more days :) :p It's been a month and a half!!
And no the last doctor who examined me did so because the other doctor wasn't in. A am not even sure he is a actual doctor phd.
Anyway thanks for your response and you don't need to get back to me unless you want to. I'll update here in a number of days :)
Thanks again!! :)
Ash
Good questions! No, no, no and no. haha They did not do PH testing, actually the last doctor I saw barely examined my month long case and assumed I had GERD. And he wanted to prescribe me pills for it without further examination.
I though his assessment was pathetic, and I refused his treatment.
Second, it's good that you asked if the doctors advised me to avoid certain foods and lifestyle activities. No, they didn't tell me anything!! I just picked up the meds and followed the instructions.
On a related note, I suspect that my gi/stomach responded poorly to acidic foods because of all the ware on my stomach from both the parasite and then the meds. I suspect this because I was having similarly bad gas and acid issues in my gi after stopping the meds. But though I am still recuperating I believe that the after med stomach issues were due to eating the pasta sauce I ate, and not due to a persisting parasite! Does this make sense? that my stomach would be so messed up after a month long period of a parasite and antibiotics, that I would have gas and acid problems from certain foods? And would it make sense that my stomach would take a wjile to recover and get back to normal, casuing me to still feel sick and continue to have some stomach issues?
I am pretty certain that the parasite is dead, and that's what it was, but I still feel like my stomach is healing and I think I have more gas than usual. I mean, I also gained a little weight and feel my stomach is still recovering, as well as my whole body and it's been about a week off the meds (almost a week).
Also, I believe what set my healing back was that I worked hard doing physical labor (tree work and farming) the three days after taking my last pill. It was freezing out and I believe I caught a body cold of some sort as my immune system was weak. Is this also possible?
The body cold initially felt like I was coming down with the flu, and though I am still a little soar and not exactly back to normal health, I do feel a lot better and am not having any concerning gi issues, and I am sleeping pretty well now. So I feel good about things and am grateful about the fact that I believe the parasite is gone, but I'm still recuperating.
So I guess my question is, does this make sense that I am still recuperating? Does it take time? and can ones stomach have additional issues after taking a course of antibiotics and having a parasite? Or should I be better by now? Oh, and might I have caught a cold due to low immunity out working in the cold. Does my message here make sense?
Anyway I am not very concerned right now, I am feeling better and believe it's just a matter of a few more days :) :p It's been a month and a half!!
And no the last doctor who examined me did so because the other doctor wasn't in. A am not even sure he is a actual doctor phd.
Anyway thanks for your response and you don't need to get back to me unless you want to. I'll update here in a number of days :)
Thanks again!! :)
Ash
Hi and welcome to the GERD forum.
May I ask, did ur Drs do a PH level test to see if ur issues were from high or low levels of acids? Both will cause similar symptoms so without the test it is difficult to DX just by symptoms.
Once on a med, were u advised to avoid certain foods and lifestyle activities as they can trigger the symptoms?
And last is this Dr a GI specialist?
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Antibiotics will cause stomach issues like GERD as it kills off ALL bacteria the good along with the bad...and the GOOD bacteria is there to break down our food, without it we will only have more stomach issues, bloating etc....
After taking antibiotics u will want a probiotic to replace all the GOOD bacteria's...
I can not say about parasites as I have not had to deal with those, but with antibiotics and reflux meds both will affect u once u stop them, the antibiotics since u no longer have the Good bacteria and with reflux meds it stops ur body from producing acids and if u stop them too soon ur body will again over produce acids and u r right back where u started, with reflux meds u have to step off slowly.....
It is possible u had some sort of cold or flu that affected u, and it can take time for some of us to bounce back after issues like these,