Daignosis by group consensus

[LBTC]

Hi, ladies!

Yes, I have been absent a lot. Both from the forum and from the bike.

For the last 2 months-ish, I have been experiencing digestive problems unlike anything I've had before. I am often nauseous in a kind of overwhelming, but not urgent way. This can sometimes just not go away for days, although it does peak and valley a bit. I also often have what feels like pinching in the area that that several medical professionals say is my gallbladder.

I have had a full abdominal ultrasound and all of my organs appear normal.

My diet is quite balanced, with a lot of emphasis on vegetables and fruit, protein chicken, eggs, sometimes beef, pb on multigrain, canned tuna, and occassionally salmon or other sea foods.

Although I do enjoy butter on toast, I don't eat a lot of fatty foods. When cooking with oil, I always use olive oil. The cheese I buy is always low fat. I can't remember the last time I ate a deep fried food.

I could probably eat more whole grains and nuts, although every bread product is always multi grain and I do snack on cereal bars and the like.

My dairy is fairly limited as I do find a bit of lower abdominal discomfort if I eat a lot of dairy.

As I go day to day with this strange new condition, I do not sense a pattern at all with which foods make me feel worse or better. I do find that I can't handle going more than about 2 hours without eating something. This week I am trying to limit the something I eat to very very small portions, just to try something different. My snacks throughout the day will vary from vegetables, to fruit, to cereal bars, to sometimes nuts, to high cocoa chocolate, to whatever I brought for lunch (veggie lasagna today), to a boiled egg, etc, and several cups of tea - either earl grey or green, usually.

During this stint, I admit I have bought 2 small bags of chips here at work. They did fulfill the craving and I did not notice a particularly bad effect from them.

The strangest part of the symptoms is that it is all so high in my abdomen. I used to have several foods that made my lower abdomen bloated and uncomfortable, but this is all much higher than that, making me think it is stomach/liver/gallbladder area, as it seems more focussed on the right than the left.

I walk about 5 km per day, to and from work. On days when my belly is a bit more intense, that walk home takes a lot out of me and I need to rest when I get there.

Intense rides, core work, weights, all seem to be out of the question as I am so wiped out, and they seem to make my belly even more bloated and uncomfortable.

None of this is what I would actually call pain, so I have been a bit in denial about how serious it is. However, I realize now that it is keeping me from doing the things that I love and that keep me in shape: mountain biking, weights, kickboxing, power yoga, etc. So now I am intent on solving the mystery instead of pushing through it.

My doctor has me on a prescription antacid for the next 4 months. He said that I may start feeling better well before then, but to take the antacid throughout to ensure that I heal properly. We tried this instead of pursuing a diagnosis, because the next thing to do would be a scope which really kind of freaks me out. I have, though, decided that I will puruse the scope if the antacid does not show marked relief within 3 weeks.

Other facts:
This spring I changed jobs and cities, and spent four months camping at other people's houses, away from my husband, 2 dogs and 2 cats. During that time, I did not exercise enough, nor eat the way I prefer to. I gained about 10 pounds - not excessive, but not great.

Currently I am about 6 pounds heavier than I would like to be if I have strong muscles....considering the muscle loss I am bound to have experienced in this time, I'm proably 8-10 pounts above where I should be.

In my opinion this has not been dangerously fast weight gain, and by generous and realistic charts, I am still in the healthy range of weight for my height. Most people still think I look pretty good. They are not me, though. heh

I feel better when I burp a lot.

My taste buds have changed. Suddenly I enjoy earl grey tea. And scallops. I never used to.

That's what I can think of at the moment that seems odd and strange and/or could provide some insight into what I am experiencing.

I have made a decision to keep to very gentle exercise, but to try to be consistant and do something every day, in addition to the walk. All of thought of so far is gentle road rides (I went for 1/2 hour yesterday), and restorative, relaxation yoga (not the power and strength yoga I was doing). This is difficult for me as I have to dig deep to find or invent the me that still loves my body when it is not powerful and strong!

Sorry for such a long post, but I'm hoping that some of you may have some ideas about what I should look at, be tested for, consider to try to find out what the problem is.

If you have any ideas for me, let me know!

By the way, the new city and new job and new house are all really good and the whole family is happy about it all. I don't miss my old house, city or job at all!!

Thank you once again for your help and support! Have a great day!
~Teresa~

[limewave]

Just a thought, have you had a gallbladder scan? A non-functioning gall bladder can have symptoms of side pains, nauseousness, and can affect your taste buds.

[Kitsune06]

That sounds a LOT like what I went through last year...
Ultrasound proved normal, walking seemed to help but took a lot out of me. Long periods of nausea, that got better or worse, all the pain being *very* high up... bloating etc, burping helped when I felt nauseous, to the point where I bothered my *Husband* by burping so much. He said I sounded horrible...
I was given a nexium prescription for a little while, but because it was getting pricy, I went to Prilosec until after awhile, I didn't need it anymore...
(in the meantime, I moved and left my husband) either way, the symptoms eventually went away. I guess this wouldn't help much except to say "I've been there". It still comes back occasionally, but not as bad anymore.

[LBTC]

Just a thought, have you had a gallbladder scan? A non-functioning gall bladder can have symptoms of side pains, nauseousness, and can affect your taste buds.

What is the difference between a scan and an ultrasound? The ultrasound came back normal...

Thanks!
~T~

[LBTC]

I guess this wouldn't help much except to say "I've been there". It still comes back occasionally, but not as bad anymore.

Kitsune, did you make any changes to your diet? Did it go away after you moved and left your husband, or while you were still there? What do you think it was and what do you think helped it go away?

~T~

[Bikingmomof3]

I am sorry you are going through this.

When they scanned your abdomin, did they do an ultrasound of your gallbladder?

What you are describing sounds like what I went through before I had emergency surgery to remove my gall bladder. Oh, previously all doctors told me to take antacids and I would be fine. They did ultrasound once and said everything was fine. It just kept worsening until the surgery.

[CorsairMac]

LBBBBBBBBBBBBB - it Has been awhile.....and weren't you the one with the ginger allergy??


The digestive system is so persnickety. My first thought would be to cut out all your gluten grains: no wheat, rye, barley or oats.........see how you feel after that. Just remember - it can take up to 2 weeks for your body to fully dispel something you've eaten. You might also try giving up your dairy for a few days and see if that helps any. You could have a dairy allergy (which is Not the same thing as lactose intolerent) which could cause some of those symptoms.

Some of the symptoms you are describing were the ones I had several years ago including the starving sensation within just a few hours of eating. The doctor put me on a diet that was a protein, a veggie (non-starch) and a fruit every meal to get my blood sugars back in balance. For grain carbs you could try rice or potatoes - just be careful with either as the starchs could throw your blood sugars back out of balance.

you might try checking out gluton intolerance and/or celiac spru (probably spelled that wrong) on the web and see what hits you get.

[LBTC]

LBBBBBBBBBBBBB - it Has been awhile.....and weren't you the one with the ginger allergy??

Yes, CM, 'tis me. And I have been a good girl and avoided ginger quite dilligently!

I do like potatoes and I do like rice somewhat, but I can't imagine what I'd eat for breakfast without grains!! I'll try to come up with a strategy for trying that out, but it will take until our next grocery shopping next weekend before I can possibly do so.

Oh, right, and I probably forgot to mention that we are having to budget much more carefully than ever before because the move has caused my husband to be retrained. While he will end up making loads o' money when he's a plumber, right now he's got EI coming in at about half his previous income. If I have to get too creative with food, it may break the bank! Just one more thing to think about....

Thanks for the tips. I'll try them out!
~T~

[limewave]

Here is a link about gall bladder scans:
http://www.webmd.com/hw/lab_tests/hw215119.asp

I was sick for awhile after my scan because I had a bad reaction to the tracer they inject.

I do believe excessive burping was another symptom of non-functioning gall bladder.

[LBTC]

I am sorry you are going through this.

When they scanned your abdomin, did they do an ultrasound of your gallbladder?

What you are describing sounds like what I went through before I had emergency surgery to remove my gall bladder. Oh, previously all doctors told me to take antacids and I would be fine. They did ultrasound once and said everything was fine. It just kept worsening until the surgery.

Thanks, Mom!

I mean, compared to so many other ailments that people I know, and ladies on this board have gone through, it seems so insignificant.....

Yes, they did US my GB. They said it was normal. But you had a US of your GB that was normal, too? What happened between then and the need for surgery? How long did it take to get that bad? How bad was that bad??

Just trying to understand what I could be looking for.

Thanks for the support!
~T~

[Bikingmomof3]

Thanks, Mom!

I mean, compared to so many other ailments that people I know, and ladies on this board have gone through, it seems so insignificant.....

Yes, they did US my GB. They said it was normal. But you had a US of your GB that was normal, too? What happened between then and the need for surgery? How long did it take to get that bad? How bad was that bad??

Just trying to understand what I could be looking for.

Thanks for the support!
~T~

First, I have a high pain threshold. It took about 2 years, but between really bad to surgery, about 6 months. The only reason I ended up in emergency surgery was because I thought I was having a heart attack. I seriously could not think of what else would heart so high up and so badly, so DH took me to the ER. Sure enough my gll bladder was filled with stones and had they not removed it then, the stone would have "traveled" to other organs causing more serious complications. The doctors who saw me previously werre all great doctors and just did not listen and chalked it up to heart burn, yet I *knew* it was not heart burn, yet noone would listen and when the ultrasound came back "normal" I was basically written off.

We moved to a completely different state and DH began a new job 2 months before my surgery. Whether or not this increased the problem, I do not know. I am just glad it is out and I do not feel that way anymore.

[mimitabby]

my husband's job changed tremendously because of the intensity of the last two hurricane seasons; he was gone A LOT.
On his first stint, it was very very stressful for him and being the good wife, I was in a dither about him.. so i had a lot of abdominal pain. The dr put me on some sort of antiacid for 1 month and i got better.

So plain old stress can do a lot of damage!

[Surlygirl]

Could you be lactose intolerant? Did anyone test you for Celiac disease? Just a couple that come to mind.

[KnottedYet]

I went through the whole gallbladder shenanigan before my trouble was narrowed down to gluten intolerance/celiac sprue.

I don't know which it is, cuz I don't want an intestinal biopsy. There is s'posed to be a blood test now, but the biopsy is best.

Well, the treatement for gluten intolerance and for celiac sprue are the same, so I'm not fussing.

Mine goes from 0 to misery, and stress has a lot to do with it. (Even when I don't eat wheat, oats, barley, or rye, i can get symptoms, which my doc says sounds more like celiac sprue.) It's not just increased acid production, it's the immune system going into over drive.

google gluten intolerance and celiac disease/sprue and see what you come up with.

Some of the symptoms of gluten/celiac are pretty bizzarre.

(I even have the bald smooth patches on my tongue and the eczema on the skin sometimes. Icky. )

[silver]

Please check into Celiac Disease. My MIL has is and your symptoms sound very similar. Doctors here don't know that much about it. Ask for a blood test to confirm.