Mallory Weiss tear

Question

Hi
Mid July I had a dreadful vomiting session - c. one and a half hours. Lots of blood. My husband took me to A&E. I could hardly stand, didn't really know what day it was. Got there, more vomiting blood. Dealt with immediately and taken to a ward by about 2.30am. Put on a drip with additives to prevent more sickness and help stomach lining, also intravenous insulin as have T2 diabetes. Kept on drip a couple of days then had endoscopy which revealed the mallory weiss tears but, luckily, no ulcer. Haemoglobin count was 128 when admitted and I was told that was lower than it should be but whilst there dropped to 71, so was given 2 units of blood. Obs were taken every 15 minutes for 24 hours after admission then every hour. Admitted Wednesday night, allowed home Monday late afternoon. However, I've felt so very tired since then, slept a lot but today which is Sunday 12 August, I feel really queasy again and feel as if I'm shaking inside. Is this normal. Thought I should be feeling better by now. I'm 65, do not have a problem with alcohol - don't drink ' or an eating disorder which is what this seems to be put down to in everything I've read. I'm never normally sick, they put it down to the heaving.
Not sure what I'm asking but has anyone else had anything like this and if so, what happened?

CWattersMD · Accepted Answer

Your physician is correct. MW tears don't just happen. They result from forceful vomiting where the lining of the stomach at the esophagogastric junction splits and bleeds. The majority of these are self limited and merely observed. Some require injecting epinephrine (adrenaline) into the laceration to make it stop bleeding. A very small number won't stop and require surgery to oversew the area. Rebleeding is possible but not  that common without further vomiting. Your fatigue and weakness is consistent with the anemia but one must be certain that you have not had another bleed. In the absence of bloody emesis or dark, melanotic stools this would be unlikely. It would certainly be indicated to repeat your hemaglobin at intervals to confirm that it is being rebuilt appropriately. Ultimately, without any additional bleeding, it can take a month or two to replace the lost blood.

jayeskaycee · Answer

Thank you for this information Dr Walters.  I'm now a bit easier in my mind although still feeling rather light-headed and a bit nauseous today, but knowing it could take that long to recover and with no blood symptoms, I'll see how it goes for a couple of days.  If no improvement I'll visit my GP again.  Thank you.
Janet

Steph_MHModerator · Answer

Hi there,

We advise that if you are still feeling ill that you seek immediate professional medical care.  Please do not wait for an answer here.  We hope you are feeling better and please update us on how you are doing.

Thanks!
Steph
Moderator

Dawn703 · Answer

Do you have hep C and are you cirrhotic? Are you in treatment for hepatitis C? What do you mean by, is this normal? Normal for what? If you are feeling ill as before with the bleeding, perhaps you should go to the emergency room again.

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