Chronic Nausea and Pain

[LynnSnow]

I'm a 19 year-old female, 5'8", 110lbs. On March 21st of this year, I came down with what I thought was food poisoning from Taco Bell. I got diarrhea, the feeling of a brick in my stomach, and flushing/fever. After a few days, I seemed to be back up on my feet. A week later, the same symptoms came back after eating a piece of pizza.

I went to see my doctor and he told me thought that I did have food poisoning from the first night and that maybe my intestines hadn't recovered entirely from it, so he recommended the "BRAT" diet and sent me on my way home.

I stayed on that diet for two weeks, constantly nauseous and having bad bouts of diarrhea. When it became clear that my body wasn't recouping, I went back to my doctor. He ran a panel of stool tests to check for parasites and similar things and found nothing. He decided to put me on Flagyl, just in case, and told me that if I didn't get better, he'd refer me to a Gastro doctor.

I couldn't finish the Flagyl; the side-effects were too much for me and it just made me sicker than I already was.

I went to the gastro doctor and he put me on Protonix and a probiotic and told me to come back in a few weeks to see how I was doing. A few days were tolerable and almost normal, but most of them were just the same. I didn't get any better and I ended up going back to see him.

He ordered a small bowel follow through (series of xrays after drinking barium) and the results showed nothing unusual. He told me to go back to my normal diet and that I should start feeling better. This was in May, two months after I began feeling sick.

I dealt with the nausea myself with Pepto Bismol and the chronic diarrhea with Imodium. But within the last month, I began having random pain on both sides of my lower abdomen. Last Thursday, I woke up to excruciating pain and nausea and was rushed to Urgent Care. The pain was on my left and right sides, but more intensely on the left. I can only explain it as sharp and burning, and the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. It also traveled to my left shoulder blade a few times and into the fleshy part of my palms where the thumbs connect.

There, they did some blood tests (that I was never told what they were, only that they were "normal". The doctor ran four) and gave me a shot of Phenergan and another shot for the pain (I don't remember what it was). After that, they wanted to do an emergency CAT scan and brought me barium to drink. I got one cup of it down before vomiting. The pain got worse (which I didn't think was possible. I was howling at the top of my lungs) and they gave me a shot of demerol, which lessened the pain, but it was definitely there and still pretty bad.

They prescribed me Hydrocodone for the pain, but I only took it a few times because it ended up making me very dizzy and made my nausea worse. The initial pain lessened after the first three days and I only feel occasional twinges here and there.

They rescheduled the CAT scan for Monday and scheduled an ultrasound for Tuesday.

The CAT scan showed nothing but a 2cm cyst on my right ovary.

When I went in for my ultrasound, the tech said she got conflicting orders on her instructions that asked for an abdominal look and then mentioned pelvic area. She decided to check my gall bladder for stones and found nothing.

Since then, I have been plagued with watery stool and that brick-in-the-stomach feeling. Last night, I got so light-headed and flushed that I felt like I was going to pass out. I can't eat anything without feeling like I need to get sick, although I haven't vomited since Thursday. I am sleeping all the time and it feels worse when I stand.

I'm seeing my regular healthcare provider tomorrow to see what he thinks we should do, but quite honestly, I'm really, REALLY tired of being sick, and this last week has made me ponder...am I closer to death's door than I think? I've lost seven pounds in a week (I was previously 117 lbs) and have incessant heart burn and acid in my throat when I lay down. I can barely get to sleep and when I do, I sleep forever it seems like. When I feel flushed and hot/cold, I always take my temp. and I seem to be at least a degree over my usual 97.1 every time. I also get weak very easily, but that could be from the inability to eat or have my body process anything.

I need help. Any ideas would help. Any.

[CalGal]

Lynn, if it's celiac, you'll see a lot of changes over time. My husband is celiac and it took him several months of making sure he weeded out all sources of gluten. It's hidden everywhere so be very cautious and read ALL labels. Also make sure you're not cross-reacting to casein - the major protein in dairy. Some people do cross-react.

There's a good test for gluten put out by enterolab.com that will also show you whether or not your carrying the genes, and which genes are present (major, minor). Depending on your age, and/or if you have children, siblings, etc., you may want to talk to others in your family, or have your children, siblings tested. It's an autoimmune disease that is inherited and passed along. It can also have some rather serious consequences if the diet isn't followed, so do your best.

When you're gluten free, brain fog and all sorts of other side-effects will fade away.

[LynnSnow]

It seems I may have a gluten intolerance, though a food allergy blood test didn't show anything. After 15 days of being gluten free, I'm sick again, but only today. I've been having residual pain attacks, but nothing like before.

[LynnSnow]

Thank you very much. I'll talk to my doctor about that tomorrow.

[CalGal]

You may want to inquire about the possibility of gallbladder issues. An ultrasound can be done to look at the structural state of the organ and a HIDA scan with CCK injection can be done to see what your ejection fraction is. Also make sure that your liver and pancreatic enzyme levels are checked via a blood test.