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Gastro problems with daughter
My daughter is seventeen, we have been fighting a battle with gastrointestinal issues for a year. We have had all blood work completed, endoscopy with biopsies, barium swallow to see how her stomach empties, gallbladder scan, and ultrasound. All NORMAL. Her symptoms are the following: nausea, fatigue, weakness, lower left quadrant abdominal pain, vomiting, and headaches. I have looked up gastro endometriosis and she fits many of the symptoms. She is unable to attend school and complete extracurricular activities because of the pain and vomiting. It comes and goes and seems to be worse in the morning and thirty minutes to an hour after eating. Any info would be great.
PLEASE READ - I am going to share with you what changed my life for the good.
I'm a 22 year old female and spent over a year and a half of suffering. Weekly.
Sum up of symptoms:
1.) Always started with sulfur burps aka egg burps. Disgusting.
2.) Within an hour I would need to go to the bathroom, literally, every 10-15 min and would sit on the toilet for up to 30min-45min at a time. Straight liquid diareah. Never.. ending..
3.) Shortly after that is when the worst part began: unbearable abdominal pain. It was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life - fetal position worthy on the bathroom floor. I would cry for hours. I usually have a very high pain tolerance but this was just too much.
4.) Then vomiting would begin. I would throw up constantly and often at the same time as diareah - as in sitting on the toilet with a bucket on my lap.
5.) This would all last between 8-12 hours before finally slowing down, and even then it would take days to fully recover.
**let me say this: I spent months and months with a food diary and changing my diet. I went gluten free for two months, lactose/dairy free for several months and then both gluten and lactose free for a long time. NOTHING WORKED. I wasn't drinking caffeine, alcohol, never smoked to begin with, etc. Relatively healthy my entire life aside from this nightmare.
I've had many doctors visits and no one could help. Finally got to a Gastrointestinal office where they performed almost 30 different tests through stool testing, blood work, x-rays, endoscopy and a colonoscopy. Everything came back clear and fine! From celiac, chrones, thyroid, parasites, acid reflux, you name it!! It was all fine. How. How was this possible??
Well. Since I couldn't rely on my doctors I had to rely on myself - learn about my own body and listen to it. I've had almost two years to learn and the result have been amazing.
Here are some tips:
**everyone is different, as you have probably read throughout your desperate searches for answers and cures, but the following changed my life**
When you are currently sick I found these couple things to make it a tiny bit easier:
1.) First of all: Vaseline. As soon as you know your being hit with an "episode" start applying it to your bum. Don't wait till its strained. I don't know about all of you, but within two hours its quite painful down there to go.
2.) I brought a heating pad with me EVERYWHERE. This worked wonders for the abdominal pain and cramping. It didn't always go away entirely but it certainly improved.
3.) DON'T EAT. of course drink water to stay hydrated but if you feel even just "a little off" then stop your food intake. I discovered that this helped with nausea among other things, a lot. As hungry as I may be. Just don't. Trust me.
4.) Sit up! As much as you want, as tired as you are, don't lie down. I would prop myself up with pillows and sleep sitting up with my heating pad and this helped soooo much. It helps to reduce pressure on your insides and between the bathroom trips, nausea and pain it is all reduce by quite a bit by simply staying upright.
NOW THE SECRET WEAPON!!!
This is what saved me: APPLE CIDER VINEGAR.
Yes. This disgusting little gem was my hero.
The above tips were for if you still get sick. But Apple Cider Vinegar, for me at least, stops all symptoms in their tracks and before you know it your back to normal.
Basically, I would get an egg burp or if I felt funny before any burps, I would IMMEDIATELY grab ORGANIC AND UNFILTERED apple cider vinegar. Mix 2 table spoons with a glass of apple juice or water and drink it. Literally within 20min the burps are gone and I don't get sick at all. I repeat that maybe two or three more times throughout the day and it would totally prevent an episode of feeling like death.
Soon enough I added it to my nightly routine instead of waiting to feel kinda sick. I wanted to see if I could prevent it all together rather than starting to feel sick and stopping it in its tracks.
Every night for about a month I would have my ACV mix before going to bed. That was when I stopped getting sick. I was eating like a normal person and loving life. I slowly stopped taking it every night and maybe do it twice a week and I have still been fine for about 5 months. I went from getting my "attacks" about 3-5 times a month to not at all. Amazing.
Please try this. And be patient with it. Like I said, it took me some time to get the hang of how much worked and how often, but the results were beyond amazing. I am so thankful to have found my personal answer.
I hope more than anything that this helps you guys too.
I'm a 22 year old female and spent over a year and a half of suffering. Weekly.
Sum up of symptoms:
1.) Always started with sulfur burps aka egg burps. Disgusting.
2.) Within an hour I would need to go to the bathroom, literally, every 10-15 min and would sit on the toilet for up to 30min-45min at a time. Straight liquid diareah. Never.. ending..
3.) Shortly after that is when the worst part began: unbearable abdominal pain. It was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life - fetal position worthy on the bathroom floor. I would cry for hours. I usually have a very high pain tolerance but this was just too much.
4.) Then vomiting would begin. I would throw up constantly and often at the same time as diareah - as in sitting on the toilet with a bucket on my lap.
5.) This would all last between 8-12 hours before finally slowing down, and even then it would take days to fully recover.
**let me say this: I spent months and months with a food diary and changing my diet. I went gluten free for two months, lactose/dairy free for several months and then both gluten and lactose free for a long time. NOTHING WORKED. I wasn't drinking caffeine, alcohol, never smoked to begin with, etc. Relatively healthy my entire life aside from this nightmare.
I've had many doctors visits and no one could help. Finally got to a Gastrointestinal office where they performed almost 30 different tests through stool testing, blood work, x-rays, endoscopy and a colonoscopy. Everything came back clear and fine! From celiac, chrones, thyroid, parasites, acid reflux, you name it!! It was all fine. How. How was this possible??
Well. Since I couldn't rely on my doctors I had to rely on myself - learn about my own body and listen to it. I've had almost two years to learn and the result have been amazing.
Here are some tips:
**everyone is different, as you have probably read throughout your desperate searches for answers and cures, but the following changed my life**
When you are currently sick I found these couple things to make it a tiny bit easier:
1.) First of all: Vaseline. As soon as you know your being hit with an "episode" start applying it to your bum. Don't wait till its strained. I don't know about all of you, but within two hours its quite painful down there to go.
2.) I brought a heating pad with me EVERYWHERE. This worked wonders for the abdominal pain and cramping. It didn't always go away entirely but it certainly improved.
3.) DON'T EAT. of course drink water to stay hydrated but if you feel even just "a little off" then stop your food intake. I discovered that this helped with nausea among other things, a lot. As hungry as I may be. Just don't. Trust me.
4.) Sit up! As much as you want, as tired as you are, don't lie down. I would prop myself up with pillows and sleep sitting up with my heating pad and this helped soooo much. It helps to reduce pressure on your insides and between the bathroom trips, nausea and pain it is all reduce by quite a bit by simply staying upright.
NOW THE SECRET WEAPON!!!
This is what saved me: APPLE CIDER VINEGAR.
Yes. This disgusting little gem was my hero.
The above tips were for if you still get sick. But Apple Cider Vinegar, for me at least, stops all symptoms in their tracks and before you know it your back to normal.
Basically, I would get an egg burp or if I felt funny before any burps, I would IMMEDIATELY grab ORGANIC AND UNFILTERED apple cider vinegar. Mix 2 table spoons with a glass of apple juice or water and drink it. Literally within 20min the burps are gone and I don't get sick at all. I repeat that maybe two or three more times throughout the day and it would totally prevent an episode of feeling like death.
Soon enough I added it to my nightly routine instead of waiting to feel kinda sick. I wanted to see if I could prevent it all together rather than starting to feel sick and stopping it in its tracks.
Every night for about a month I would have my ACV mix before going to bed. That was when I stopped getting sick. I was eating like a normal person and loving life. I slowly stopped taking it every night and maybe do it twice a week and I have still been fine for about 5 months. I went from getting my "attacks" about 3-5 times a month to not at all. Amazing.
Please try this. And be patient with it. Like I said, it took me some time to get the hang of how much worked and how often, but the results were beyond amazing. I am so thankful to have found my personal answer.
I hope more than anything that this helps you guys too.
Has she been tested negative for Helicobacter pylori infection? Doctors usually ignore it if they dont actually see ulcers on the endoscopy. She may be very sensitive to it without necessarily getting any findings on the endoscopy. It sounds as something that has to do with her stomach. Pyloric stenosis ( narrowing of the pyloric passage ) or H pylori infection. Consult a good gastroenterologist that is willing to get to the bottom of this and dont get no for an answer. There is definitely something wrong going on there. Get a second or a third opinion if possible. Keep us updated
Take her to an allergy specialist and have her tested for all food allergies. Another test t get run is a colonoscopy to check for things like celiac, crohs, colitis, etc.
What I would suggest is to try an elimination diet. Eat very bland foods for a couple weeks and see if that helps at all. By bland, I mean grilled or steamed chicken or fish (no seasoning. light sea salt) and steamed veggies (brocolli, spinach, carrots, potatoes, etc) also just use sea salt. Stay away from things like fried food, fast foods, highly processed foods, gluten, and dairy. You want whole, raw foods. Lots of fruits and veggies.
Also, keep a food journal. track everything that is eaten and drank, as well as how she feels during the day. This may help you narow down what foods are causing a problem and which ones arent.
What I would suggest is to try an elimination diet. Eat very bland foods for a couple weeks and see if that helps at all. By bland, I mean grilled or steamed chicken or fish (no seasoning. light sea salt) and steamed veggies (brocolli, spinach, carrots, potatoes, etc) also just use sea salt. Stay away from things like fried food, fast foods, highly processed foods, gluten, and dairy. You want whole, raw foods. Lots of fruits and veggies.
Also, keep a food journal. track everything that is eaten and drank, as well as how she feels during the day. This may help you narow down what foods are causing a problem and which ones arent.
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