Mystery illness

[pbuxton]

I am trying to find information for my girlfriend's cousin. She is a 23 yr old white female who has regular exercise and has a balanced diet. For the past several months she has been experiencing crippling pain and vomiting. The pain starts as nausea and comes and goes throughout the day, and then suddenly it becomes unbearable and she cannot function, and she starts vomiting. The only relief she is able to get is when she is in the emergency room and given pain medication. This has left her stranded on the side of the road more than once, and she has endured nearly every thinkable test in medicine. Other than the obvious signs of illness, i.e. vomiting, her white blood cells triple. She has a left shift in her white blood cells which suggest a bacterial infection, but that could possibly be the body’s way of self preservation when she starts getting sick. At first the problem was thought to be her gallbladder, but she has since had that removed. The problem has persisted and she can tell a distinguishable difference between the pain of her gallbladder and the pain experienced now. She has had a colonoscopy, x-rays, MRI and more. She has been given some form of medication to be dissolved underneath her tongue whenever she feels the onset, but that has only been effective once. Any information or help is appreciated.  

[pbuxton]

Here is more information that she has given me. When the pain starts it is not localized in any one area. Also, when she has been examined during an episode they can press anywhere on her abdomen and it is not tender to the touch. She has had multiple blood tests. Other tests include Crohn’s disease, pancreatitis,  ultra sounds, x-rays, CT scanning, 24 hour urine analysis, colonoscopy, small bowl series, upper GI scope, Meckel scan, gastric stomach emptying, gallbladder nuclear medicine scan. We can rule out her gallbladder, as I have already stated she had it removed. She has been tested for ovarian cysts, and ectopic pregnancy is not an issue.

She is scheduling an appointment with a third gastroenterologist next week. I have look up CVS an it is interesting, and something she was unaware of so she is going to bring it up with her doctor. I am not sure but I think a Meckel scan would catch diverticulitis, but then again I am not a doctor.

Thank you for your quick response and the added insight.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Pls elaborate on the side of abdomen where she is having pain.First of all ectopic pregnancy and ovarian cysts have to be ruled out.

Then appendicitis,pancreatitis ,diverticulitis and GI malignancy can cause such kinds of pain.Other causes may include cyclic vomiting syndrome(unexplained disorder characterized by recurrent, prolonged attacks of sever nausea, vomiting and prostration with no apparent cause) and food allergy.

Ask your girlfriend’s cousin to discuss these possibilities with her gastroenterologist.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep us posted on how she isdoing.

[pbuxton]

Also, forgot to mention that this seems to happen about every six weeks like clockwork