3 Years of Stomach Pain and Treatment, Help Me.

Hi lance

Sorry u r suffering so much

I suffer acid reflux to point where very severe pain comes out tru my back between shoulder blades plus lots more symptoms

I am currently taking slippery elm and manuka honey in morning cereal vit b6 and b12 and vit e and probiotics every day I have raised my bed up six inches at the head and a avoid chocolate and acid and fat foods like the plaque my next thing is to start taking apple cider vinegar

I'm feeling a little better since starting all this but by no means back to normal

And yes stress will make things worse by 100per cent

I hope this will help u but unfortunately is all trial and error

I wish u well

Kate

You sound like a very mature 18-year old who has been through a lot already. I feel bad when young people have to endure medical issues that interrupt what should be a great time in your life. But that being said you seem to be handling this pretty well. One good thing is you got diagnosed right away, many of us didn't have that luxury.  As far as the anxiety issue goes, you know best if you have anxiety, I think that term gets used too much due to not having answers for our physical problems.  

From everything I have read there are a number of things that can be done for this illness, There are lifestyle changes that will help with the reflux such as diet changes, eating smaller meals more often, raising the head of your bed 6-8 inches so if you reflux at night acid doesn't get up into your esophagus, stay away from foods that are known to cause acid like tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine, sodas, mint, citrus, etc. These are on many websites along with other helpful tips.  I haven't had Helicobacter Pylori so I am no help here but if you have GERD/LPR then you have many of the same issues to deal with. Did the Omeprazole help you, are you still one It? Not sure if your HP is returning or is the GERD just showing up even without having HP?

I was diagnosed with LPR and put on Omeprazole until I saw my GI for an endoscopy on June 9. I have gastritis, Hiatal a hernia, and esophagitis. My GI changed my meds to Pantoprazole (stronger??), and added Sucralfate for a few weeks, but the reflux is still there at times.  I don't go back to my GI until Sept but if this doesn't work for me along with lifestyle changes then the next step or fix would be surgery if I am not willing to live like this.  I am waiting for biopsy diagnosis to know what to do next.  As far as your girlfriend goes I highly doubt you are causing her to have these symptoms if she has anxiety she will get symptoms no matter what and not only from you.  I wish you all the best and please keep us posted.

Hi Lance, I'm so sorry to hear of the pain you are going through and at such an early age. I have been suffering for 2 years now and know that doctors are no use and have found a lot of the answers to my pain by myself. 

Can I ask if you have been tested for coeliac disease. I haven't got this but have found through a lot of food elimination tests that I am intolerant to wheat and dairy products. I am in the process of testing myself with yeast foods as well as I think this is also a problem to me.

i may be barking up the wrong tree completely but it's worth a try cutting out all of these foods for a while to see what happens.

i hope you get some answers and relief from the pain soon.

Just a thought

Jennifer

Hi Lance:  Hang in there, these ditive issu can be delt with.  You need to be ery careful of how you describe your issues to your doctor.  If you mention the word 'acid' then they may misdiagnose.  You initially mentioned " i would wake up in the morning in sweats and have to go straight to the bathroom and i would have diarrhea and instant relief after".  To me, that is not acid reflux symptoms.  I know about trying to gain weight, I did the same thing in my teens.  I even took a steroid prescribed by my family doctor, because I was so desperate.  I had an instant bad reaction, swelling around my eyes till they almost shut.  Have you taken anything like that to gain weight or muscle? 

You symptoms are similar to an alergic reaction.  Most weight gaining products are milk based.  Some people can't digest milk proteins, the stomach sends it through to the small intestine where it turns to sugar and causes intestinal bloating and pain, then the small intestine sends it to the large intestine, undigested, where it causes diarrhea.  Sometimes we are our worst evemy.  You might try a week without any milk products and see if there is improvement.  You can also try this with wheat products. 

I think you doctor was wrong prescribing acid blockers and antibiotics for two weeks.  For h pylori, I think two weeks is not enough.  Plus, it should be triple drug treatment to actually work.  But, I am not convinced you even have h pylori..

You also mentioned a feeling of a knife in the stomach.  Usually, an ulcer would cause a burning sensation.  However, the small intestine and some organs can cause a stabbing pain.  Like the small intestine and pancreas.  Pancreatic pain can floor a person.  You need a FULL blood screening to test for and unusual numbers, diabetes, organ function.  You need this right away.  Let me know if I'm on the right track.  Jonathan

My heart goes out to you!! Suffering like this at such a young age. I dont have much time so I will abbreviate what I think you should do:

1: food allergy testing especially celiac disease (biopsy when you have endoscope is most accurate test for celiac). My friend suffered a lot of diahareeh and she got diagnosed celiac.

2: triple therapy for Heli P is most effective and taking manuka honey.

3: get a fixed stool test for parasites (have you been abroad?)

4: find out if you have a hiatus hernia as this can cause reflux. (Endoscope)

5: SIBO can cause reflux ( try going on low carb diet).

6: look into FODMAP diet

You must go on reflux friendly diet. No caffeine, no alchol, no choc, no citrus, no spicy, no high fats, avoid garlic and onion, avoid sugar.

Raising bed with bricks really helps if u get reflux at night. Leave 3-4 hrs before eating and lying down.

Dont give up on exercise. You need to do something low impact. Cycling ( not too hilly though), walking, yoga and pilates, badminton, swimming. You need to stay positive and try not to focus on it, as this can make it worse. You will find the answer. But dont stress looking for it.

Dgl licorice helps me. Slippery elm works but it constipates me? You could try Mastic gum. Also have you tried probiotics or small amounts of fermented foods? They might make u worse to begin with but then you should see improvements. If you dont stop them.

Find yourself a good doc who is willing to explore all of the above and dont stop till you find one. You are too young to be going through this.

Love dom

Hi Lance,

I know exactly what it feels like to be 18 and unable to eat out with friends and enjoy life normally. I was born with severe acid reflux and have been on and off of medicine my entire life for it. Nexium has to be one of the worst medicines I ever took for it. The side affects were worse than the benefits. It gave me stomach cramps and pain and reduces the ability for your body to absorb calcium. I was on it for a year and a half and then weened myself off of it. it sucks at first. There were days I wanted to rip my throat and stomach out but I quickly found gaviscon and it was a life saver. I had a medical emergency my senior year in high school that required me to take a lot of hard medicine and it really threw off the balance that I worked so long to get in my stomach. Antibiotics always throw off stomach acid. For me it makes me over produce it like crazy. So after taking more than 1500 mg a day twice a day for two and a half weeks my body was ready to quit. My acid reflux was so bad I could not eat at all and would throw up instantly if I did. I was put back on nexium to fix it. After about two months of being on nexium my doctor decided to switch me off of it. Nexium is great for quickly fixing a terribly imbalanced stomach but after prolonged use your stomach can actually have too little acid in it. Thats when my doctor decided to put me on Axid. Its a rather old medication for acid reflux but it has virtually no side affects and is working wonders. I personally don't mind taking medicine every day for it. I currently take it twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. I am trying to get down to just once a day. My stomach is just getting back to "normal" (I don't think I'll ever be completely normal) and it has been about two years since my severe flare up. I would say try your best to find your trigger foods and avoid eating too many of then in a couple day time frame. I love pizza but I know I can't have it multiple days in a row. I also love coffee so if I have coffee one day I can't have things like spaghetti or pizza later in the day. I find tracking what foods bother your stomach really help. Also NEVER eat anything right before bed. always try to stop eating about an hour before you're ready to lie down. Papaya tablets put good enzymes into your stomach that really help get the digestion process kick started and can even relieve a little bit of nausea. Ginger beer (ginger ale on steroids) is amazing for a sour stomach if you can handle the bite it has. If you're ever looking for something to eat in the morning apples are great to eat first thing in the mornign because it has good enzymes in it that can help you throughout the day. Bonus is that its super healthy and not super filling so if you're not really a breakfast person it's perfect.

Best of luck to you,

A 20 year old who feels your pain