Please diagnose my stomach problems for me MNers. Getting desperate....

[shinybootsofleather]

I went to the doctors after what I suspected was two gallbladder attacks in June. I had pain under my ribcage on the right hand side, pain in the right shoulder blade and pain when I inhaled. He decided to refer me for an ultrasound to check for gallstones. The ultrasound showed absolutely nothing apart from a "folded gallbladder" and I am still none the wiser as to what is wrong.
I am obese. I am 5ft 2in and 14 and a half stone but have lost 2 and a half stone recently with a combination of Slimming World, walking, the gym and the 30 Day Shred. I had an emergency CS 13 months ago and have been feeling really crappy since then. I have been feeling really nauseous since June and I have had pain in the top of my stomach when I eat or drink anything (even water). I am also really bloated and my stomach protrudes at the top even though I am exercising a lot. Unsure if this is due to muscle tone being lost during pregnancy or general stomach problems.
Before pregnancy I suffered from IBS (apparently) and was in the stages of being tested for other things. I was being checked at the hospital as I had been having what I thought were constant stomach bugs as well as bouts of stomach pain for ages. Was checked for Crohns and coeliac disease with negative results. Ended up having a colonoscopy (which was "normal"), and was due to have a tube put down my throat before I got pregnant as I couldn't control the symptoms. I had so much time off work with it, I was in danger of being fired. I suffered from pain in the bottom of my stomach as well as the top. Pregnancy seemed to alleviate IBS symptoms however. The stomach problems are now back with a vengeance. The pain now is mostly at the top although I still get occasional cramps at the bottom of my stomach. This is much less frequent than before DS was born however. Stomach problems and stomach pain have been dragging on for around 4 years now. It seemed to kick off when I was completing my MA dissertation leading most doctors to decide that it was stress-related.
The doctor recently prescribed me Omeprazole followed by Lanzoprazole (when that stopped working) for the upper stomach pain as he felt I may have excess acid. I still have pain under my rib cage on the right hand side, in the middle of my back and in my right shoulder-blade. My chest feels really tight as well. Both of these pills made me feel dizzy with blurred vision, constipated and sick. I also felt completely weak and exhausted on Lanzoprazole, which for me was by far the worst of the two. He has since prescribed me Ranitidine (Zantac) which has done very little so far. At least I am not having the bizarre symptoms I had on the the other PPIs though. I have been on Ranitidine since Friday and I know that I may probably need to wait for it to work.

Feeling a bit miserable and sorry for myself at the moment. Any advice from any MNers who have had similar problems or anybody with some advice to alleviate the symptoms? I have to go to the hospital for gastro checks at the end of November.

I have only had the 2 attacks eilidhexmo. Nothing since apart from constant problems with bloating and the pain in stomach, shoulder blades and under my right rib. I have been quite careful not to eat fatty foods so I'm not sure if that's helped. Did they take your gallbladder out in the end and are you feeling better now?

sneezecakesmum - He hasn't done a test for h.pylori but I am going to the hospital at the end of November for tests. I'm not sure if they will do it. Is it normally done by your doctor?

sorry to hear you what you're experiencing shinyboots.

I think whoever said you may have a hiatal hernia is right: my DH has just been diagnosed with one and some of his symptoms match yours. He was convinced he had heart probs - dizziness, irregular heartbeats, panicky feelings - but had the all-clear from a cardiologist. Other symptoms included intermittent nausea, excess acid, feeling like he couldn't eat whenever he sat down at the table, and occasionally vomiting.

He's just had a gastroscopy (yes you do need sedation but it doesn't take long) and has a fairly large hiatal hernia. He is on medication and they've told him his symptoms should calm down in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime he has been told to avoid all legumes and pulses, cooked vegetables, alcohol, coffee, tea and fizzy drinks: these are all things that create gas in the stomach and make the symptoms worse. Also, at night try raising your pillows higher as this will prevent acid from coming up.

he also had chest/upper abdominal pains, as you describe.

GloomyTubeNosedBat Will he need to have an operation for that? Did he also experience the rib pain, back pain and shoulder pain?

Right chest pain radiating to the shoulder blade is a classic sign of pleurisy, as well as gallbladder.

Did the doctor do a chest X ray to exclude anything lung related? I assume he felt your gallbladder to see if it was tender?

People need carbs! In a healthy diet, 50-60% of calories should come from carbohydrates, so I would ignore the faddy dietary advice unless you have a true allergy (as opposed to an "intolerance"). Just eat healthily as defined by sensible portion sizes and not too much fat.

No he's been told he won't need an op.

OP if you're having pain in that many areas it's probably something else. Honestly I don't think internet diagnosis is the best way forward for you ... I think you should wait to hear what your medical professionals say otherwise you might just get more confused and worry about the wrong things. I hope your symptoms get better soon x

Thanks larrygrylls and GloomyTubeNosedBat. Don't worry, I am taking everything with a pinch of salt so I won't do anything drastic. I am just trying to narrow down the symptoms as the doc did not seem to know what was wrong with me. I will still be eating carbs. Just may cut out gluten for a week or so to see if I feel better. Anything is worth a try at this stage. Will still be having potatoes etc. so don't worry. I am a carb-junky so perhaps why overweight!

Shiny,

Sounds good. Somehow I doubt carbs (or at least complex carbs) are to blame for your weight. They get a bad press. It is normally the added fats like the butter on the potatoes, the oil on the pasta etc.

If you are well enough to exercise, it might help too. Even walking is a big plus.

I haven't exercised much for the last week as I have been so ill, but I am always quite active. Just eat too much [hblush]. I generally do Taebo, Davina and 30 Day Shred. There's a thread on the Big/Slim board that raves about it. Also walk to and from work (about 2 miles each way) 3 days a week. I am feeling slightly better today so will probably try and go for a long walk or do an exercise video later. I currently rarely use butter and oil. I use Flora Light (not quite as nice) and Fry light spray for eggs, home-made potato wedges etc.

Yeah, industry pushes complex carbs saying they are slow release - that means they are hard to digest so they sit in the gut, ferment and produce inflammation. They also feed yeast in the gut. Keep eating them larryg..

Good fats don't make you fat, check out anything omega, in fact they either contain or help absorption of fat soluble vits like A,D,E,K. They also help with constipation, eg flaxseeds (omega 3). Fats more readily convert to energy, whilst with carbs - burn them or wear them. Go easy on butter but olive oild etc is fine.

We haven't had marg in the house for many years, just butter plus a selection of oils, very occasionally olivio for baking.

Nightcat,

Why on earth would "industry" push some of the cheapest and most natural products in the world: pasta, rice and potatoes?

I totally agree that good fats are essential and they help you absorb fat soluble vitamins. I would never avoid them and personally probably eat rather too many. However, fats at 700 calories/100g are more likely to make you fat than carbs at around 400 calories/100g. That is just an undisputable fact.

My wife, who has a degree in nutrition and a masters in dietetics would coin your views about slow release cards "kooky nutrition". I.E no scientific basis.

I really enjoyed my 4.5 mile run this morning thanks and I will enjoy my carb rich lunch. Thanks.

Shiny- when I had h.pylori last year I was tested for all sorts of other stuff first, gallbladder, pancreas etc, for some reason my Gp here just didn't want to know about h.pylori even though I kept saying "I think I've got...." I paid for a private blood test in the end which was +ive, 2 courses of antibiotics and PPIs for a while later (the first course didn't work, I was still +ive) and apart from the odd bout of acid stomach (usually when I've eaten too many tomatoes, and peppermint oil capsules work on that) I'm back to normal.

I honestly thought I had the big C somewhere with the symptoms at the time.

My mum is always telling me to have small amounts of butter instead of marg nightcat and eat the French way. High fat food is fine in small quantities etc. The problem is that I could go through 7-8 slices of toast with butter on them (yum)! It's like a crack addict having crack in the house to use a crass analogy! I definitely would not have lost 2 and a half stone so far with regular access to butter. We did have a stage where DH would have it in the house and I was supposed to use Flora/nothing, but I invariably nicked it.
I definitely think using good fats is beneficial healthwise even if you are trying to lose weight. I think that nightcat was suggesting cutting out gluten but continuing to eat potatoes/rice etc larrygrylls. I agree however, that bread is often demonised and some people are too quick to assume that they have a wheat intolerence. I think I will try and cut gluten out for a short period of time to see how I do though as anything is worth a try. I will not be cutting carbs out however as that would make me very grumpy.
Bucharest Thanks for the information. I will ask my GP next time I see him (prob next week) about H. Pylori. I do have a hospital appointment at the end of Nov (long wait) but unsure if the procedure would be to test for it then. I feel OK-ish today but have been awful for the last week. Everytime I take a turn for the better, it kicks off again within a few hours so just waiting for it now .

Thanks everyone for all the information and keep it coming (also waving to alypaly and hoping she feels better soon).

Bucharest - sorry if personal, but did you find the PPIs made you constipated/ill/headachey/dizzy. This has been my experience so far with Omepazole and Lanzoprazole.

No, in all honesty, I can't say I noticed any side effects at all. I'm very headachey anyway (!) so wouldn't have picked up on that, and tbh, because I was eating such a bland boring diet (because everyone kept saying it might be gallbladder and in any case, I couldn't stomach (fnar) anything strong tasting) I didn't notice any extra digestive issues. I can't remember the name of the first one, it was a branded name so I didn't notice the generic medication, then I was on Omeprazole for about 5 months in total.

I did speak to a lot of people (mainly on here) who did have icky side effects with them though. In fact it was aly who recommended Gastrocote instead as a much kinder antacid. I now have a tub of them in the cupboard, but tbh, thanks to the peppermint oil, I'm almost drug free...Something I do notice, is that an acid stomach often comes along at period time, so may also be hormonal.

The h.pylori blood test is so easy, I'd go and have that done first and foremost, the first time, I was here and had it done in a private lab, results back next day, the second time I was in England the the nurse at the GPs did it, results in about 3 days.It would set your mind at rest, or at least confirm what it's not. It's so common - apparently 60% of the world's population have it, but most are symptomless.

Hope you feel better soon, I remember how lousy it is.

Shiny, I keeled over at work about six months into it, and had surgery the next day to remove the gallbladder. Oddly, there were no large stones, the surgeon told me that it was full of what he called 'gravel'- lots of very small stones and sludge.

Unfortunately after the surgery I went through a few bouts of acute pancreatitis, and have just been told by my doc that I have borderline chronic pancreatitis.

I stick to an ultra low fat diet (15g fat approx) a day, and don't eat things like onions, peppers, pork or drink alcohol. As long as I stick to it I'm ok, otherwise it's back to vomiting and severe pain.

Your symptoms sounds exactly the same as I had, I really hope you find an answer to it and soon.

Might be worth asking your doc to try you on Pantoprazole, it's a PPI obviously, and helped me.

shiney....

still no beter today.now lost 13 lbs. \have only eaten 1 bowl of ready brek and about 6 spoons of soup today.

alypaly - sorry to hear you're feeling so rough. Can you see if you can get an emergency appointment at the doctors?
Mine seems to come in waves. I am really not good today, but felt a little better yesterday. Garrggh.

shiny, sorry you are not well today
to inspire you on the weight front, have you seen Custardo's thread in Chat?

Shiney, sorry to hear you aren't doing so well today, I hope things are better for you tomorrow.

Thanks nightcat. I think that diet might kill me if the tummy problems don't. I love fruit and carbs in general. I could probably cut out bread with a little difficulty but milk would be very hard. I am steadily losing with Slimming World so will see how I do. It might be worth trying to speed things up however. Custardo looks like she has lost a lot. I think the weight loss will help me in other ways, but I'm not sure it's caused my problems as it seems to have got worse the more weight I've lost.

hi shiny.....how long did you say you have had these stomach pains for.

went to my caravan this weekend,to see if a bit of distraction would make me feel a bit better. but no. im a bit like yoy ,it comes in waqves. I seem a bit better til about 3 pm and then it becomes really painful. I am so fed up with it now after 10 days and im beginning to wonder if they have missed something with the blood tests.

I have had IBS for about 4-5 years. In hindsight I always had upper stomach pain as well as lower stomach cramps but not sure if it's related to what I have now. I first started feeling really ill after my emergency CS in Sept 09. I had a suspected gallbladder attack in June and have been feeling awful since then. I'm like you in that I have bad days and good days. Last night, I couldn't sleep. I had pain in the top of my stomach and chest pains as well. I don't know if this is general anxiety or if it's directly related to my stomach problems. I have an emergency appointment at the doctors today and I am off work again. I am getting really worried that I might lose my job. I had quite a lot of time off with IBS/stomach problems before I got pregnant and I am worried that this will be held against me now that I am having yet more stomach problems. I only work 3 days a week and have had 7.5 days off so far this year.
Hope today is a better day for you alypaly.

Have been to the doctor today. She signed me off till next Monday and prescribed me lactulose and fybogel to deal with the effects of randitidine. Feeling slightly better since having lactulose this morning, but still under the weather. She listened to my heart and didn't seem concerned about my chest pains and said they were most likely related to my stomach problems.