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
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,