GERD, ulcer or something else?
Posted , 8 users are following.
Hey,
My life has taken an utter downturn over the past 3 months and I've never been so worried about my health. I'm only 30 but feel like the stomach issues I've been experiencing have ruined the quality of life I have, and I'm terrified I'm on my way out and slowly dying of something that's not been picked up.
3 months ago I was put on antibiotics for another health scare which ended up being ok. This all came out the blue after a routine smear. I was put on flucloxicillan for 9 days and instructed to take them on an empty stomach. I did - I was busy that week and possibly took the empty stomach thing too far.
On the Friday evening I didn't eat for 12 hours, had lots of caffeine and took the pills. I had pizza late at night.
The next day I had leftover pizza, coffee and a bit of a stressful day. When I sat down to my boyfriend cooking me dinner (a spicy curry), halfway through I got a sudden rush of nausea that I've never experienced before. It was like stomach acid coming up my throat. I didn't feel sick, it's hard to explain, but it made my heart beat funny. I felt I had to be sick and ended up throwing up all night. Thought it might have been a wee bug and that was the end of it but kind of had a feeling of dread about the whole thing because it felt so weird.
Since then I've had so many issues. For a week after this incident I couldn't stop retching in the morning or an hour after I ate something. I lost my appetite completely. I was nibbling at stuff and felt like my tongue was swollen. I went to the doctor who discovered oral thrush, ran loads of blood tests - blood count, diabetes, thyroid - all came back clear. My anxiety was growing since it took 3 weeks of Nystatin to treat the thrush.
The thrush disappearing eased the gagging, but for a while I felt like I had a dry, deep cough and something stuck in my lower throat. It felt like I couldn't swallow when I had it. That cleared up when I went to a herbalist and took marshmallow root in tea.
i then developed intermittent nausea with occasional gagging again. It would happen about an hour after I ate and I still get this several times a week, but not after every meal.
Things got better in October to mid November where I started to calm down, but on some bad days it feels like I've not digested food properly from the night before and I wake up feeling heavy in my throat.
2 weeks ago it took a sudden downturn again. I had a severe wave of nausea which resulted in a panic attack. Since then, I feel like i'm off food. I get hungry in my stomach but not in my head if that makes any sense. I also have a few bites and get full really quickly. I've lost weight I can't afford to lose and have developed severe heartburn from this.
I went back to the docs and he diagnosed me with GERD. He thinks it could either be an ulcer or a hernia, and I'm still waiting on h pylori results. If that comes back positive things will make sense, but if it's negative I have no idea what's going on. I feel like I get hungry and just can't cope with food. I'm not being sick but between the nausea, fullness and occasional odd feeling that my throat is tight I don't know what to do. I'm sleeping 4 hours a night since the last big nausea episode and am worried I'm dying. Please help, I'm so close to going to A & E and requesting tests. I have terrible health anxiety and this isn't like me but I can't live like this without knowing if this is my last Christmas. That might sound dramatic but I have no interest in food and that's not right.
1 like, 32 replies
emma81973 mj1986
Posted
Feeling your pain right now. I was on a course of antis for sinus infection then a week after a UTI. Since then I've been constipated, feeling full suddenly after eating a lil bit, bouts of nausea, but it Weight loss. Was put on anti nausea tabs but made it worse. I'm waiting on bloods tests results after ice just changed surgerys asbivenmoved city's so hot to start from scratch so annoying j know there going to be OK as so far at my old surgery I had bloods every week pretty much. It's making me so miserable don't want to be like this for Christmas. Family just think I'm making it up and being awkward so annoying
mj1986 emma81973
Posted
Hey Emma,
Aw, I'm in the same boat
When did you take the antibiotics? I took one for a UTI and then flucloxicillin for cervicitis. Since then I've not been the same. My symptoms keep changing and it's scary. Probiotics have helped me a little - I started back on really strong ones and I would say I feel less sick, although I ended up getting dianogsed with acid reflux and have been on omeprazole for under a week as well. I've not felt nausea since Thursday. What i'm most recently worried about is feeling full after not eating a lot and a burning pain across my stomach. That's a fairly new thing - and the omeprazole is meant to stop that!
I'm very stressed as I had said to the other posters so I've not helped my case. I feel like I can either feel the food in my stomach - and I've been like that before I started on the acid inhibitor drugs - but I wake up in the night worried and my stomach is like a washing machine. So i'm producing more acid. I'm just getting scared because like you I'm losing weight but the thoguht of eating is a bit of a chore at the moment. Even if I'm hungry, which I still am, I get full so easily and I'm starting to associate meal times with stress too.
Let me know how your blood tests are. Mine are all coming back normal but there's something going on. I never realised how horrible it was to have something worrying you internally, especially stomach and abdominal issues. I've been quite lucky till now. I've always worried about other stuff but not being able to eat properly affects everything. I can only eat small portions now. It's the worst period of my life. I try to stay positive and I'm making it into work but it's tough. I feel like a shadow of the person I was 3 months ago.
Get tested for h pylori btw - that's the blood test I'm waiting to hear back from!
emma81973 mj1986
Posted
I might try probiotics. Loads of people have mentioned it. And yes the fullness after eating is a worry I just want to eat but I don't even get the signal from my stomach to my brain anymore to tell me I'm hungry I could maybe go for days
I've always had a really good appetite even when ice been really ill in the past. I was on Lansoprazole me feel even more nausea 
I dread eating I feel Okish not eating but don't want to lose weight. It's like my digestive system has shut down almost.
I know how you feel, I don't feel myself anymore. Want to enjoy Christmas but I can't
have developed bad health anxiety aswell it's consuming me.
Sorry to ask but do you also get constipated aswell? It's like I just can't go.
I will do. I don't know why my doc didn't just do that in the first place tbh instead of back and fourth. Let me know if you get anymore tests and what you hear back.
mj1986 emma81973
Posted
Hey Emma,
I feel exactly the same! I get hungry but get full really easily, and sometimes feel like food is just sitting there not moving. It's very uncomfortable. Even on good days I'm still dreading the bad days.
How long have you had these symptoms? I've had them for 3 months. It's hellish. I get really bleak and I totally agree, I'm dreading Christmas! I periodically think I'm dying but I did CBT tonight and that helped!
They do a "test and treat" thing unless you have red flags. I think not digesting food is a red flag to be honest! The omeprazole as Paul said reduces acid in the stomach so food will digest more slowly and I'm being mindful of that. They've taken away my nausea for days and the choking feeling I was getting in my throat. I think the acid comes up my throat at night and makes my throat swell up. But with these symptoms abating the new ones of feeling full and less hungry have taken over. Every day is challenging at the moment. I just wish I knew what I was up against.
emma81973 mj1986
Posted
It's horrible isn't it
for about 2 months and it all started when I had a sinus infection and antibiotics. I haven't felt nausea for s few days which is good. I've got a bad cold at the moment which I've had past two days that not helping.
I haven't got the choking feeling in my throat. The closest thing I can come up with is gastroparesis. Maybe read up on it on doctor Google though I'm trying to stay away from that. Ha I know how you feel it's so frustrating it interferes with everything. Are you thinking of going back to your docs and asking them to do tests?
mj1986 emma81973
Posted
Hey Emma,
I don't know if I replied to this or private messaged you! I've been going to the doctors once a month, or once a fortnight just now to monitor my mood and how the medication I am on is going (I'm on omeprazole). It's working but I still get heatburn and indigestion, it's horrible. And yes, mine started after antibiotics too! My doctor said GERD (Or GORD in the UK) can lie dormant until something triggers it. Im my case stres is making it worse - though it's easy to de-stress when you get a few days without symptoms and start to feel normal again.
My doctor checked my kidneys, liver, full blood coutn, h pylori, thyroid and diabetes, all of which came back cleark. I'm going to ask him about appetite loss though I have had more of an appetite in the past few days for sure. Omeprazole calms down the burning in the pit of my stomach though I ate late on Friday night and snacked like I used to, felt like absolute hell on Saturday morning. I've been taking priobiotics which help a bit. Acidophilus and a bumber pack with high doses of different bacteria in them.
I'm starting to see a pattern between fatty food intake/dairy and nausea. If I eat fatty food or heavy meals late at night I can feel the food fermenting in my stomach (what a thought eh, it's horrible). Eating little and often gives me a better day but it's a new eating pattern for me since I usually leave it the whole day and eat a big meal at night - though that might be why I'm in the mess I'm in! I've had horrible eating patterns for 2 years due to work stress, and I moved around a lot of venues doing community work in my old job without a decent lunch break.
How are you getting on? Hope we get to the bottom of this! x
debbie75601 mj1986
Posted
mj1986 debbie75601
Posted
Hey Debbie,
Funnily enough someone sent me a message about this a couple of weeks ago. I took flucloxicillin. It's a penicillin antibiotic but unfortunately it does have fluoride in it.
Felt really good yesterday and woke up eith indigestion this morning - it's so relentless at the moment!
Peonygirl1 mj1986
Posted
mj1986 Peonygirl1
Posted
Hey! i've had my thyroid checked. My doctor thought it was contributing to my nerves as well but it was fine. Thoguh funny you should mention, on and off all year I've had intermittent episodes of indigestion (only for a day or 2) before this started full blast and it's correlated with my periods being out of sync. They have sorted themselves out now - I had cervicitis for a few months and got it treated. That was why I was on the antibiotics that started this whole stomach mess off.
Had full blood count, diabetes check (had to do a fasting check for that one as well but it came back fine), liver, kidneys, thyroid and inflammation markers - all were "perfect".
I would say for anyone perusing this forum or replying to me, drug induced hepatitis is listed as a rare side effect of antibiotic use (I was on flucloxicillan). My doctor is also going to check my gallbladder if things don't improve.
I called a cancer symptoms hotline yesterday because I had a bad day of feeling sick (calmed down a bit after I took omeprazole mind you). For anyone as intensely worried as me, the woman was very reassuring. She said within my age group and gender there are only 14 cases of stomach cancer in the UK getting treated this year. I know it's different depending on your gender and age but there are 7000 cases in the year. What she did say is she gets people phoning her a lot about acid reflux in a flap about it (myself included). She said that it's a pretty horrific condition but not a life threatening one. The thing that worries me about it is not being able to eat as much as I used to. I manage and get by but food is not a pleasurable experience at all at the moment. I need to persevere and try and heal my gut - trying to have foods which aren't too harsh on my system and get over my food aversion that's developed through all of this. It's very tough but the forums have been so supportive and helpful, so thank you!
mj1986
Posted
Update: I don't have h pylori. No idea what's going on since my symptoms seem to match up with having an ulcer! I don't know if I should be relieved or scared since I've heard h pylori is difficult to eradicate. Is it possible I have gastritis without this bacteria, an ulcer or even oesophageal thursh that's lingered? My tongue hasn't been the same since this happened 3 months ago either. Took thrush meds but it's still white and coated and on occasion tastes funny. Thanks, guys.
eddy11613 mj1986
Posted
I'm sure you don't have anything going on that is life threatening. The symptoms are scary, but try your best to RELAX! When you stress and panic, it makes it worst. Believe me, I know this from experience. I understand your pain and frustration. this thing is just really messed up, because the pain is so real, it's hard to believe that there's no serious underlying cause. My opinion is don't take any more meds, if you're on any acid meds or blockers already, slowly get off of them. DON'T STOP THEM ABRUPTLY!! Meds are not good for the human body, unless it's for something life threatening. (My opinion). I never got better on meds.
If anything, take supplements. Vitamins, minerals, probiotics etc...
Practice relaxation, strictly eating well and monitoring what your gut can tolerate. Do this for a while, strictly! And I believe you will improve, heal or at least it'll be manageable. Good luck dear
mj1986 eddy11613
Posted
Hey Eddy,
Thanks very much. I did try to de-stress last night. I got a better sleep and have had a better appetite and symptom free day today. It's just so random because sometimes I wake up choked up and burny, and then I can't eat. It's on those days I experience nausea after eating. But having no food in my stomach is not doing my any good at all.
The acid meds are helping for now but I will take your solid advice and ween off them when I'm feeling a bit better. My stomach is a lot calmer today actually. Hopefully if this continues it'll reduce my stress levels as well.
Thanks for all the advice, I'll keep you posted!
paul77828 mj1986
Posted
Eddy has given good advice. Try follow it. Acid blockers have their uses, but they are bad long term and you should look to get off them when you feel bit better. And ween off slowly. A few weeks at a time. Or else your acid will pour back in and you'll feel rubbish.
And yes you can get gastritis without h pylori. I would imagine your high stress/anxiety and poor diet/lifestyle may have caused it.
If you still get gastric symptoms then ask for endoscopy for a more thorough diagnosis.
mj1986 paul77828
Posted
Thanks, Paul. I guess it's a good thing I don't have h pylori, just like reasons for stuff. Though I agree and perhaps my drinking at the start of the year (regularly but not excessively), poor diet, lifestyle and the use of the anti b's kicked it all off. What's bizarre is I have really good days like today. Haven't felt sick, burpy, burny or anything at all today. Haven't felt choked up or gaggy and managed to eat. Long may it continue, I miss the me that I am without all this going on. But maybe I should accept it'll take a while. Thanks so much for all your advice on this forum!
paul77828 mj1986
Posted
Hi mj,
I note you've said today you've had little or no symptoms. That means the foods you ate today are fine. Make a note of all you've eaten and stick to it. It's boring I know but it means you'll heal.
I take it you're still on ppi?
Then after a couple of weeks introduce a new (healthy) food to see how you feel. Like eddy says you need to cut out the foods that irritate you, and they can be random foods.
Keep to the OK foods and reduce stress and you're on the right path