Unexplained Diarrhea/Vomiting/Pain

[DbG2004]

Hello-

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the hospital 2 times, with some strange symptoms that no one around here can help me with.  For starters, for about 4 months now, I have had a dull ache in my upper right side, in the back....it is pretty much constant, and very annoying.  I ended up in the hospital because I had diarrhea and vomiting.....lasting for about 8 days.  I was extremely nauseated for a long time, and could not eat, or keep anything down.  The nausea lasted for about 2 weeks total.  I lost 30 pounds in a little over a month.  My bloodwork was normal, neutrophils were elevated, but everything else okay.  I had an ultrasound, CT Scan, colonoscopy, and the scope down my throat (sp?).  CT, ultrasound, and colonoscopy showed nothing.  The only thing that was found was a hiatal hernia, and esophigitis....I am assuming that this was a result of all the vomiting????!  I have been feeling better, but the pain in the upper right side is still there.  Some of the other symptoms that I experience frequently are severe headaches, leg pain, mood swings, abdominal cramping/pain, restlessness/anxiety, pain in lower right side of abdomen......

after doing some research, I feel that some of my symptoms are similar to porphyria....I dread calling my doctor to find anything out about this, because he thinks I am perfectly fine, and that this is all in my head.....when I am positive that it is not!  Is porphyria a possibility???  What else could cause all of these pains????    

[boron]

H. pylori infection usually doesn't go away by its own. Infection may last for years, many people even don't have any symptoms. Breath test and antibiotic treatment is only reasonable approach.

If you have gallbladder removed, you still have bile duct, which may be inflammed, infected, has stones in it or it doesn't function properly. Diagnosis is with HIDA scan, ERCP or manometry (pressure measurement of sphincter of Oddi). These problems are common after gallbladder removal, this forum is full of post-gallbladder-removal-pain-nausea posts.

If you think, it's porphyria, you will of course propose testing to your dictor. It will be him who will decide which test to do first though.
Porphyria symptoms may be triggered by:
Drugs (barbiturates and sulfonamide antibiotics are most often cited, but others such as tranquilizers, birth control pills and sedatives also may cause symptoms)
Fasting
Smoking
Infections
Surgery
Stress
Alcohol use
Menstrual hormones
Sun exposure
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/porphyria/DS00955/DSECTION=3

[DbG2004]

The stools were mostly yellowish-normal brown....sometimes almost clear, because I was unable to eat for so many days, and was only drinking water.  They did test my stools, but I did not take a breath test for H.Pylori.....would that go away on it's own, or would symptoms still be present????  Also, I should have mentioned that I had my gallbladder removed in 2005......

and also, when I was admitted to the hospital, I had a pulse of 130+.....which I had read that tachycardia can also be a symptom of prophyria.

[boron]

Dry mouth may be from candida which has not healed completely. There is anti-fungal drug Nystatine, which should help. You may also try with low-sugar diet.
http://www.allhealthsite.com/40/intestinal-candida-overgrowth/

[aak001]

I agree with the upper comment you should get tested for h pylori I had had the same symptoms a month and a half ago and after two weeks of suffering my GP transfer me to a specialist and she preformed for me blood and stool test and I was +ve for h pylori. If you test +ve for h pylori they will put you on two week triple antibiotic therapy, I had some problems with the side effects of the antibiotic like oral thrush that went away alone after I finished the course without any medication but I still suffer from a dry mouth at night when I sleep.

[boron]

What was the stool color during diarrhea and now (normal brown or pale yellow, grey...)?
Upper rigt abdominal pain speaks for gallbladder or bile duct disease. If it is gallbladder, pain would be worse after a fatty meal. If it is biliary tree, pain could be more constant. "Biliary dyskinesia" and "sphincter of Oddi dysfunction" can't be detected ba ultrasound or CT. I believe, your first investigation should be HIDA scan, which shows function of gallbladder and bile ducts.

Esophagitis may be from vomiting, yes, but if you have hiatus hernia, it's more likely from gastric reflux. This goes with heartburn.

Porphyria may be diagnosed by blood or urine test.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/porphyria.html

You should consider this:
1. BREATH TEST for H. pylori infection of stomach. One or more of the following symptoms are present: stomach burning, heartburn, nausea, bloating, burping. If positive, treatment is with antibiotics
2. HIDA scan to evaluate gallbladder and bile duct function. You can expect, doctor will refuse this, since "CT showed nothing". But this is the whole point of HIDA - it is much more accurate than CT and ultrasound.
3. You might want to do above tests, and then, if needed have blood/urine test for porphyria.