Aa
huge variety of stomach issues for eight months now
Okay....I've seen five doctors for this and no one is able to help me. I'm a 23 y/o female.
In April I came down with what doctors think was just a stomach bug. It took me a few weeks to get over the worst of the bug but since then, I have been dealing with stomach problems every single day. I am a vegetarian and I don't eat much dairy anyway, I don't drink coffee, I don't drink alcohol...
During the eight plus months this has been going on I go back and forth between diarrhea and constipation. I get really bad gas pains but not a lot of gas, really. Cramping is rare but does happen occasionally. Lately I've been having this uncomfortable full feeling all the way up to my throat...no actual heartburn pain but....I don't know what else that would be.
I have had a colonoscopy and an upper endoscopy and the doctor didn't find much except for a lot of acid.
I have tried antacids, probiotics, three different antispasmodics, accupuncture, energy healing, therapy for stress, antianxiety medication, and bottles and bottles of pepto bismol. I am curently taking protonix and it's also not helping. NOTHING helps.
I am just...at my wits end. I feel sick every single day, I don't even know what to do anymore. I'm starting a new job Monday in a new city and....I don't know how I am supposed to go to work every day feeling like this.
Please someone help me!
In April I came down with what doctors think was just a stomach bug. It took me a few weeks to get over the worst of the bug but since then, I have been dealing with stomach problems every single day. I am a vegetarian and I don't eat much dairy anyway, I don't drink coffee, I don't drink alcohol...
During the eight plus months this has been going on I go back and forth between diarrhea and constipation. I get really bad gas pains but not a lot of gas, really. Cramping is rare but does happen occasionally. Lately I've been having this uncomfortable full feeling all the way up to my throat...no actual heartburn pain but....I don't know what else that would be.
I have had a colonoscopy and an upper endoscopy and the doctor didn't find much except for a lot of acid.
I have tried antacids, probiotics, three different antispasmodics, accupuncture, energy healing, therapy for stress, antianxiety medication, and bottles and bottles of pepto bismol. I am curently taking protonix and it's also not helping. NOTHING helps.
I am just...at my wits end. I feel sick every single day, I don't even know what to do anymore. I'm starting a new job Monday in a new city and....I don't know how I am supposed to go to work every day feeling like this.
Please someone help me!
Intestinal parasite/worms. Pick up a dewormer in Whole Foods. Make sure to throughly wash hands and look up online about whether to use payaya seeds or clove for killing eggs.
Intestinal parasite/worms. Pick up a dewormer in Whole Foods. Make sure to throughly wash hands and look up online about whether to use payaya seeds or clove for killing eggs.
It would help, if you can tell what bug excatly was found in April (virus, bacteria, and maybe which one?), what was your symptoms then (diarrhea, nausea?), and what treatment you've received.
My thoughts:
1. I DON't think it's IBS. IBS never goes with weight loss, pale stools and pain behind the sternum.
2. PALE STOOLS are from unabsorbed fat (in this case stool would be foamy, sticky, foul smelling), or from lack of bile. Together with WEIGHT LOSS, this suggests malabsorption. Malabsorption may be from chronic intestinal infection, IBD, lack of bile (stone in common hepatobiliary duct, this would cause you colic pain), celiac disease, or maybe gastric hiperacidity.
3. Pain BEHIND the lower part of STERNUM (right?), especially when you are lying, is most probably from GERD - acid reflux, which irritates lower part of esophagus. This would almost always go with HEARTBURN (?). It may help, if you place a pillow or two, so, your upper part of the body will be raised, when you sleep. This is not a permanent solution, but if it helps, it speaks for acid reflux. This all may come from hiatal hernia or from chronic gastritis from Helicobacter pylori.
4. NAUSEA may be from what is happening in your stomach, and from irregular eating, and maybe from DEHYDRATION (?!!).
Suggestion:
1. BREATH TEST to confirm/exclude H.pylori infection of stomach. If confirmed, 7 days (I think) of ANTIBIOTIC treatment follows (it is often successfull).
2. GASTROSCOPY will be needed to check for changes in your stomach and lower esophagus.
3. I think you should start with these upper GI investigations, and only then, if needed, go with colonoscopy.
Arrange investigations AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Nausea and weight loss go also with cancer, especially gastric cancer. This was not my first thougth, anyway, even chronic gastritis increases the risk for cancer, so you have to solve this.
My thoughts:
1. I DON't think it's IBS. IBS never goes with weight loss, pale stools and pain behind the sternum.
2. PALE STOOLS are from unabsorbed fat (in this case stool would be foamy, sticky, foul smelling), or from lack of bile. Together with WEIGHT LOSS, this suggests malabsorption. Malabsorption may be from chronic intestinal infection, IBD, lack of bile (stone in common hepatobiliary duct, this would cause you colic pain), celiac disease, or maybe gastric hiperacidity.
3. Pain BEHIND the lower part of STERNUM (right?), especially when you are lying, is most probably from GERD - acid reflux, which irritates lower part of esophagus. This would almost always go with HEARTBURN (?). It may help, if you place a pillow or two, so, your upper part of the body will be raised, when you sleep. This is not a permanent solution, but if it helps, it speaks for acid reflux. This all may come from hiatal hernia or from chronic gastritis from Helicobacter pylori.
4. NAUSEA may be from what is happening in your stomach, and from irregular eating, and maybe from DEHYDRATION (?!!).
Suggestion:
1. BREATH TEST to confirm/exclude H.pylori infection of stomach. If confirmed, 7 days (I think) of ANTIBIOTIC treatment follows (it is often successfull).
2. GASTROSCOPY will be needed to check for changes in your stomach and lower esophagus.
3. I think you should start with these upper GI investigations, and only then, if needed, go with colonoscopy.
Arrange investigations AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Nausea and weight loss go also with cancer, especially gastric cancer. This was not my first thougth, anyway, even chronic gastritis increases the risk for cancer, so you have to solve this.
Find a new PCP and GI doctor asap. Seeing you are moving I would get to know some people around there rather quickly and see what doctor is recommended around that area. My SIL recently moved and she met her neighbors rather quickly and got some excellent recommendations from them - now she has a new doctor. This all took place in only a month after she moved to this new area.
Please let us know how everything goes with you. I wish you well :-)
Please let us know how everything goes with you. I wish you well :-)
Hey Marie - Hey I like that! LOL!
Anyway, I have been having the same symptoms and I had my gallbladder out almost 2 years ago. I don't know what it is myself, but I see my doctor on Tuesday and I will bring this up to him.
Anyway, I have been having the same symptoms and I had my gallbladder out almost 2 years ago. I don't know what it is myself, but I see my doctor on Tuesday and I will bring this up to him.
I have had horrible gas/bloating/sharp pains for an entire week and don't know what to do. It huerts if I lie on my back, or sit up, or lie on my side, etc. I am not passing any gas: it is just staying in there causing pain. I have taken Gas-X for the past few days, but it doesn't help. I haven't changed any eating habits, so I can't think of anything that has "changed" last week to give me such discomfort. I had my gallbladder removed in 1999. Any thought?
I have had horrible gas/bloating/sharp pains for an entire week and don't know what to do. It huerts if I lie on my back, or sit up, or lie on my side, etc. I am not passing any gas: it is just staying in there causing pain. I have taken Gas-X for the past few days, but it doesn't help. I haven't changed any eating habits, so I can't think of anything that has "changed" last week to give me such discomfort. I had my gallbladder removed in 1999. Any thought?
-symptoms don't really change much with eating....i'm nauseated with or without food.
-symptoms are better with bowel movement occasionally....i'll have "purging" days when my body just...wants to get everything out. the nausea is usually at its worse on those days and is better w/ bowel movement, but on normal (normal = average amt of nausea) days bowel movements don't help much.
-hmmm...now that i think about it, the diarrhea is often pale. i hope your suggestion isn't influencing my answer here, haha. its not REALLY pale but definitely not the normal brown.
- i dont know of any changes seen on gastroscopy....sorry.
it has been suggested that it is IBS as a result of whatever bug i had in may....but the antispasmodics aren't working. and i don't usually have pain that most people with IBS complain of....its just this nonstop nausea. my purse is full of anything that can get rid of nausea....ginger, peppermint tea...
i also have lost about....20-25 pounds during this ordeal. mostly because i have absolutely no appetite....i rarely want to eat. sometimes i have to force myself to eat something. and then out of the blue i'll be hit with an intense hunger that leaves me frantic and shakey. this used to happen occasionally before the whole stomach ordeal but it happens more often now, so i always have to carry an apple and clif bar with me...if i dont eat right away when this happens, i feel very sick afterwards.
also...this could be completely unrelated....but my sternum has been hurting for a few weeks now too...the base of it. and for my whole life i've slept on my side but now it hurts my ribs, sternum, and basically whole chest area to sleep on my side....i have no idea what this is about but it started about a month ago. just one more thing to add to the list of issues.
thank you for the breath test suggestions. unfortunately i'm moving 300 miles today and i have to find a new PCP and GI so it may be awhile before i can get that taken care of.
-symptoms are better with bowel movement occasionally....i'll have "purging" days when my body just...wants to get everything out. the nausea is usually at its worse on those days and is better w/ bowel movement, but on normal (normal = average amt of nausea) days bowel movements don't help much.
-hmmm...now that i think about it, the diarrhea is often pale. i hope your suggestion isn't influencing my answer here, haha. its not REALLY pale but definitely not the normal brown.
- i dont know of any changes seen on gastroscopy....sorry.
it has been suggested that it is IBS as a result of whatever bug i had in may....but the antispasmodics aren't working. and i don't usually have pain that most people with IBS complain of....its just this nonstop nausea. my purse is full of anything that can get rid of nausea....ginger, peppermint tea...
i also have lost about....20-25 pounds during this ordeal. mostly because i have absolutely no appetite....i rarely want to eat. sometimes i have to force myself to eat something. and then out of the blue i'll be hit with an intense hunger that leaves me frantic and shakey. this used to happen occasionally before the whole stomach ordeal but it happens more often now, so i always have to carry an apple and clif bar with me...if i dont eat right away when this happens, i feel very sick afterwards.
also...this could be completely unrelated....but my sternum has been hurting for a few weeks now too...the base of it. and for my whole life i've slept on my side but now it hurts my ribs, sternum, and basically whole chest area to sleep on my side....i have no idea what this is about but it started about a month ago. just one more thing to add to the list of issues.
thank you for the breath test suggestions. unfortunately i'm moving 300 miles today and i have to find a new PCP and GI so it may be awhile before i can get that taken care of.
It is known that abdominal problems may be triggered by an investigation or treatment of some other abdominal issue. It doesn't mean you should blame those procedures, it means that something showed up, what was "silent". Besides, antibiotics sometimes may make a real mess in the bowel.
It would help, if you can tell this:
- are your symptoms better or worse with eating?
- are your symptoms better with bowel movement?
- when you have diarrhea, is the stool PALE (yellow)
- on basis of what, your doctor said, you have more acid? Were there any changes seen on gastroscopy?
Sudden onset, stress, "nothing found", alternating diarrhea and constipation, "nothing helps" - these are characteristic "events" in IBS. Other characteristics of IBS: symptoms worse shortly after eating and releaved by bowel movement; particular foods irritate your bowel, if you remove them from diet, it helps; no weight loss. I'm not saying it is IBS. IBS is when nothing ORGANIC is found, but symptoms persist.
What to do?
- I would drop all medicines you are taking, except protonix. (Pepto-bismol also can't do nothing here - it's used for acute diarrhea).
- A LOT OF ACID, this may come from chronic infection of stomach by Helycobacter pylori bacteria - it is known that gastritis can't be healed if those bacteria are not eradicated. Did you already have BREATH TEST for H.pylori? If not, take it. Acid is only organic issue, you mentioned, you have to start somewhere. The same (or maybe another) breath test should show, if you have "small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). So, ask for H.pylori and SIBO test.
It would help, if you can tell this:
- are your symptoms better or worse with eating?
- are your symptoms better with bowel movement?
- when you have diarrhea, is the stool PALE (yellow)
- on basis of what, your doctor said, you have more acid? Were there any changes seen on gastroscopy?
Sudden onset, stress, "nothing found", alternating diarrhea and constipation, "nothing helps" - these are characteristic "events" in IBS. Other characteristics of IBS: symptoms worse shortly after eating and releaved by bowel movement; particular foods irritate your bowel, if you remove them from diet, it helps; no weight loss. I'm not saying it is IBS. IBS is when nothing ORGANIC is found, but symptoms persist.
What to do?
- I would drop all medicines you are taking, except protonix. (Pepto-bismol also can't do nothing here - it's used for acute diarrhea).
- A LOT OF ACID, this may come from chronic infection of stomach by Helycobacter pylori bacteria - it is known that gastritis can't be healed if those bacteria are not eradicated. Did you already have BREATH TEST for H.pylori? If not, take it. Acid is only organic issue, you mentioned, you have to start somewhere. The same (or maybe another) breath test should show, if you have "small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). So, ask for H.pylori and SIBO test.
Hi! I am a 27 yr old female with the same problems. I litterally felt like I had the flu all year last year. I had the colonoscopy, enough blood work to last a life time - all came back normal. I am sick EVERY morning and almost after every meal followed by chronic fatigue. A ultra sound finally revealed that I have gallstones. They have finally passed and I feel 100 times better. I am not sure if this has anything to do with the bowel issues which I too have but I can deal with since all of the other sickness is gone.
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