What is going on with my stomach? SO scared!

[SaunteringDownwards]

I've felt like horrendous for weeks now (after having Covid at the end of January). I have had really disrupted sleep, incredibly vivid dreams every.single.night and I am completely exhausted all day.

These past two weeks my stomach has been acting up a lot. I am burping non-stop and have heartburn multiple times a day, even if I haven't eaten. It feels like food gets stuck more than it used to and I have to chew a lot more to make swallowing easier. Nothing I eat or don't eat seems to make a difference and I idiotically googled and I have convinced myself I have stomach cancer . I know it is very unlikely to be that but I am not someone who has ever had stomach issues before. The GP has said over the phone to take indigestion meds for a week or two and see what happens but I am really starting to worry something isn't right. I have just slept for three hours in the middle of the day and still can't keep my eyes open. I am 34 and feel like I am wasting away!

I have been under huge amounts of stress since around last October so I know it is probably just that but with the way the NHS is (and my GP) I am really worried I wouldn't get diagnosed in time if it was something serious - which I am becoming increasingly convinced it is.

Some ideas on how to feel better/reassurance would be really appreciated. Going out of my mind with worry about it.

Wait and see how the meds work . If still the same you may need to have a gastroscopy. You may have ulcers or gastritis . They can cause those symptoms.

IBS can be behind all sorts of digestive issues. Mine gives me diarrhoea, stabbing pains, dizziness and wind at various times. Stress and anxiety is also a big factor in how or when it flares up, so it's absolutely not out of the question that it could all be stress triggered IBS.
Always a stupid suggestion because if you could, you already would, but can you try to tackle the stress at all?

Just wanted to follow up and say now my DH had got the runs too and burping like crazy, so it looks like we've got an actual bug. No vomiting though.
Seems like there are a few wierd stomach bugs doing the rounds at the mo, so you might have picked one up and combined with IBS it's very messy.

Sorry your DH is poorly @chronictonic. I'm feeling pretty terrible today also. Was up a lot in the night with pain/indigestion type feelings and this morning the heartburn is back with nausea. Really don't know how I am going to wait two weeks if the tablets don't work.

Would cancer suddenly present itself in this way? The symptoms have come on so strong over the course of just a week and there were no issues before this. I did look up gastritis and it does sound a lot like what I have. The anxiety about it isn't helping really as I know that affects my stomach too.

If you want to get some blood tests sooner, look at MediChecks, they have a health and wellness test using a finger prick and its 89pounds.

Try elevating your mattress with towels under the head end, if it is reflux, that might help

Try eating a banana before bed. It has such a distinctive taste that if you are refluxy you may well notice the taste coming back in the middle of the night (which is useful info)

If two weeks of indigestion meds (Im assuming you are using something serious like omeprazole rather than just tums) dont help, insist you are seen in person. Someone needs to palpate your abdomen.

What tablets are you on? You sound like me. I have gallstones and get gastritis on and off. I get full very easily, feel bloated and stretched - the kind of bloating you get when pregnant up round the bottom of your ribs, not just the period style lower tummy bloat. I sleep loads and am very often tired. This is because I'm always deficient in iron and b12 and vitamin D. I go on and off those supplements on and off when I can't take any more I contact the doctor, get bloods taken, they write me a script for supplements, test me after 6 weeks and levels are back to normal, they tell me not to take the supplements anymore, after another while I'm back to square one. When my gallstones flare up I get niggling pains under my ribs, sometimes very painful sometimes not, tiredness, stiff joints and joint pain and can be irritable. And gastritis seems to go hand in hand with it too. Anyway I get lanzaprazole when I have gastritis and it clears it right up within a few days.

I've been given omeprazole but so far I haven't seen any difference. I do have a hsitory of low b12 where I needed injections for a while and have also had a couple of episodes in the past with my gall bladder (seems to run in the family as my grandmother needed hers removed). Pain is definitely towards the top of my stomach, can't feel any lump or anything but @MeinKraft it feels like you describe, tight and almost 'stretched'. I've been in tears this morning as I just feel awful and so full of worry about it.

There are all sorts of issues that could cause these symptoms. It's true it could be anxiety. The most likely reason is in fact indigestion. So I would take the meds for a few weeks, possibly consider asking your GP for a prescription for omeprazole. See what happens.

I had stomach issues a few years ago (not so much the burping, etc.) but pain and bowel issues. I was put on Omeprazole. It did help a little, but not that much. It turned out that I had an issue with my pancreas, which will need long-term treatment forever, but is in the grander scheme of things nothing too serious.

I do have a friend though about my age (early 40s), who was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer last year. She had about a year of indigestion, trouble swallowing, eventually just could no longer eat. That's not to say you should panic, but it does happen to younger people. I would do what your GP is saying, but then also push back for further investigations. I actually found that my GP was very responsive with my issues and I had an urgent referral and very good care.

Well if helps at all omeprazole doesn't do much for me but lanzaprazole works well. Please don't panic about cancer just yet, you probably need the GP to try some different meds and maybe refer you for an ultrasound to have a look at what's going on.

Just be careful with peppermint tea if you have acid relux as it is a trigger for it (also caffeine, chocolate, tomatoes, onion and garlic and others). These all relax the oesphageal sphincter. Me and DD have a lot of issues with this so avoid all foods that make it worse.

The covid thing is interesting. Both me and DD have had gastric issues in the past but in the last year since we both has covid these have been there almost constantly. Acid reflux/heartburn/bloating/constipation or diarrhoea. It's been quite miserable and we have had to change our diets a lot to ease the symptoms.

If I were you I'd push to see a gastroenterologist. I'm getting an endoscopy next week which is the best way for them to see what is going on. Didn't take too long to get an appt.

You say you have heartburn and burp a lot even if you haven’t eaten. I find not eating makes burping even worse. It’s like there’s nothing but air in your stomach so it has to come out.

I also agree that anxiety is a vicious cycle that can cause a lot of digestive distress.

Also, as I get older I find I am getting more and more intolerant when it comes to eating certain things. Sometimes the triggers are a mystery to me. I bought a pack of nice sounding protein bars but every time I ate them I was nauseous and burping so they went in the bin.

Try to eat regular meals and also keep a diary of what you’re eating and the symptoms you get afterwards.

Ask for a test for Helicobacter Pylori. If positive it can cause ulcers and is treated with antibiotics and PPIs (like Nexium).

If negative, ask for endoscopy.

I was similar and it was H Pylori, I did have an endoscopy also as docs wanted to see if there was any perforation and/or bleeding. It was NOT cancer. Similar symptoms especially the swallowing, nause and fatigue.

I get this and it is 100% stress related in my case. When you are stressed your body produces loads of cortisol and adrenaline, which increases production of stomach acid, which in turn leads to all the symptoms you are describing. Take the indigestion meds, they help a lot.

@Titsywoo

The covid thing is interesting. Both me and DD have had gastric issues in the past but in the last year since we both has covid these have been there almost constantly. Acid reflux/heartburn/bloating/constipation or diarrhoea. It's been quite miserable and we have had to change our diets a lot to ease the symptoms.

The same here. I had covid over the new year and my digestion has been all over the place since and I've never had issues eating anything before.

Well I'm not much better really though I'm not any worse. The anxiety about it is definitely the worse thing. Can heartburn/gerd attacks last two weeks?

I started with awful upper stomach problems a couple of weeks after I first had covid. It was so bad sometimes that it felt like food got stuck at the bit by the top of my ribs and couldn’t get past the diaphragm area. I was so sore and bloated and felt full after a small amount of food. It would take 10-12 hours to go down properly. It did eventually go but tools months to disappear. I’ve since heard of quite a few people having similar after covid.

Sounds like an ulcer

About 6 years ago I got symptoms out of nowhere. Lump in throat, fullness after eating very little, constant reflux and burning stomach. I was convinced something was very wrong. Tested negative for h.pylori and was put on lansoprazole. Asked for an endoscopy but was told by GP he’d never referred anyone under 45. I cut a lot of foods from my diet to see if it would help and slowly the pain at the top of my stomach and the lump in my throat went away and I could eat more. I’m still on lansoprazole and wouldn’t be able to sleep from the burning if I wasn’t. I have the odd flare up for a few weeks if I eat the wrong thing but it’s manageable.

All that to say, I know it can take such a toll on your anxiety with all the symptoms pointing towards a scarier diagnosis but it may well start to heal up for you soon.

One weird symptom is a warm surge type feeling in my stomach. Doesn't even feel like heartburn just a surge that spreads and then goes away. Really weird.

Will an ulcer go away on its own?

I have had issues with food getting stuck when I am very tired, as well as quite poor digestion.
I had an entirely separate issue with stomach pain the did turn out to be an ulcer, but I took the medication and it healed fine. Stomach cancer is not that common, take the meds and they'll go through it all in more detail at your next appointment.

@Cherryblossoms85 Do you mind telling me what medication you were given for a stomach ulcer. I've had one when I had Hpylori a couple of years ago and it cleared up when I took the "three pronged" treatment. However, I've recently had the same symptoms but tested negative for hpylori and am only taking Lansoprazole. I wondered if Lansoprazole alone is enough to clear up a stomach ulcer?

@Eightiesgirl initially given omeprazole before the h pylori test, then given 2 antibiotics and lansoprazole 30mg. PPIs should definitely be enough to heal a non infected ulcer, the antibiotics don't heal the ulcer at all, they only kill the h pylori. I do find I need to be more careful with citrus fruits, coffee and spirits but I stopped the PPIs after a few weeks as they also seem to cause a lot of indigestion for me.

@Cherryblossoms85 thank you so much for that information. I didn't realise that the antibiotics only killed the hpylori bacteria, I thought they healed the ulcer too, but of course, what you say makes perfect sense. That's reassured me as the GP only prescribed Lansoprazole, as she suspects a hiatus hernia and I was worried that if it was another ulcer then the lansoprazole wasn't enough to heal it, so that's good to know, thanks.

I have very similar symptoms @SaunteringDownwards and it's definitely indigestion/reflux for me. It gets a lot worse when I'm stressed and can last a good few weeks before it settles down.

Omeperazole isn't a magic wand but, taken consistently, it does help. I only take mine when I have a flare up these days.
Whilst stress is my biggest trigger, food like raw onion & pastry make it worse.

The "warm stomach" feeling and the "something stuck in your throat" feeling are quite common.
It can also help to sleep propped up a bit for a few days so that your oesophagus has chance to heal from all the stomach acid hitting it.

In all honesty, your GP has probably given you quite reasonable advice. Whilst it's hard not to worry the most likely cause of your issues is indigestion.