Help! Nausea/Bowels/GERD

[CRNick]

Hi, I am a 24yr old male,  since two months now I have been suffering from problems with my stomach and bowels. It is very embarrasing to talk about.

The trigger I think is stress, and I had a extremely stressful situation three months ago, which led to severe anxiety and nausea/vomitting for a period of a week.

A few weeks later I had a nasty case of acid reflux, my throat and chest were very painful with a burning sensation. I also have a horrible metallic taste in the mouth for a few hours. During sleep I once woke up gasping for air because my mouth/throat was completely covered with mucus.

I have been taking Omeprazole (20mg) which eliminates the acid reflux. The reflux goes away for a few days then comes back. I do not take the medication every day, instead only when I get an "attack".

Now this is only half the problem. I also have problems with my bowels. Again since two months ago I have been suffering from bloating around the bellybutton (it looks like im a few months pregnant!). It feels like gas and it is very uncomfortable. The bloating is more prominant after Dinner (bigger meals).

I have somewhat normal bowel movements (once per day), however often I find my stools are very soft and break apart easily, sometimes they are very pale color (slightly yellow), one time my stools starting fizzing and breaking apart (must be due to gas?)

After a bowel movement I get nauseous and that lasts for a few hours, it ruins my lunch and I end up eating very litttle.

I have not yet seen a doctor about the bowel problems, I have made changes to diet since a month ago such as cutting out fizzy drinks/alcohol, eating less fatty foods and so on but even still the bowel problems persist. The acid reflux like I said happens on occasions but is handled with the Omeprazole.

I suspect I may have IBS however I do not get constipation or diarrhea. But is the acid reflux related?

I don't know how much a doctor can help me, I am embarrased to talk about it in person. I've read that IBS cannot be cured but can be dealt with lifestyle changes. Am I stuck with this bowel problem for life?

Please if anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.

[mammo]

You truly need to see a Gastroenterologist for an evaluation.  Trust me you have no reason to be embarrassed talking to them, this is their specialty and they hear this every day, all day long.  I worked for 2 GI doctors and it was just common to talk about this, and nobody thought anything of it.  So please don't allow this to stop you from getting help, plus the doctor will ask you questions so all you have to do is answer.  Never try treating yourself, because if it is something serious you want to act quickly.
You need a diagnosis before we can offer advice, so please see a GI and find out what is going on and go from there.  You won't regret it and you always want to catch things early, so don't wait on this. Take care and good luck to you.

[lori115]

wow! i have a hiatus hernia and barretts esophagus. i also had the H plori virus and needed to be on antibiotics. they wanted to do the stomach  surgery on me because of all the acid in my stomach. anyways i did so much research and i went and paid good money to see a naturopath  anyways, i take a multi enzyme which helps my food digest 1 with each meal. i also take the powder acidophilus 3 times a day from the health food store. i also drink 1/4 cup of aloe vera  a day. and make sure you try to eat small snack stuff between meals such as crackers and apples , and basic salads which helps the digestion.  i also don't sit and eat i stand  as  this helps the digestion better. as well i take b12 for stress and b6 and a multi complex b vitamin. aswell i take a multi vitamin from the health food store that has milk thistle in it which is a mild detox. so that it is not hard on my stomach. i feel for you and i am not a dr.but i do wish you all the best and these are the things that work for me. i hope this helps a bit. oh yah needless to say after i followed all of this i did not need the surgery and i have it all under control now. take care, Lori