I’m very worried about DH who is in a lot of visible pain with what seems to be digestion issues. He is in pain within minutes of eating/swallowing anything – there’s no particular foods which are better or worse than any others and he is constantly burping – like all day, every 30 seconds or so. The pain is in his upper abdomen and seems to mainly sit around and under his ribs. His bowel movements are fine/unchanged so this seems to be an upwards rather than downwards thing.
He had a similar issue last year. It seemed bad then but nowhere near as bad as it is now. At that time, one of my colleagues suggested it might be H Pylori so we looked into that and the symptoms definitely fitted. He called the GP to ask about getting tested but was told that as it’s a breath test, they aren’t doing that type of thing due to covid and he should just wait for the flare up to die down, which it did after a few days.
This time though seems a lot worse. It started on Thursday evening, out of the blue with burping and discomfort. He had a sleepless night trying to get comfortable. He was still in discomfort all day on Friday and then it got a lot worse when he went to bed. I woke up at 1am to find him gone from our bed. He was on the kitchen floor, said that the cold, hard tiles were the only place he could find some semblance of relief but even with this he was still writhing around in pain. I wanted to call an ambulance at that point but he was insistent it would subside and he’s likely be okay by the morning. Throughout the day on Saturday though, he was clearly in discomfort as well as being utterly shattered from lack of sleep. He barely ate anything on Saturday – seemed scared to put anything in his mouth and we went to the pharmacy to ask for advice. He was given gaviscon but it didn’t seem to make any difference. He was hungry by dinnertime and the pain got immediately worse upon eating. Sunday was exactly the same and at times he was practically crying with it all.
He called the GP first thing on Monday morning but didn’t get any further than the receptionist who told him it was only indigestion and he needed to go back to the pharmacist for something stronger. Did the whole “there’s a pandemic, don’t you know?” and told him that he’d be wasting a GP’s time. He actually broke down when he came off the phone but he did go back to the pharmacy who gave him a stronger version of gaviscon plus some buscopan, even though the pharmacist said it didn’t sound like ibs, it might help with the discomfort. Told him to take these together for 72 hours and if he still had symptoms, to call the GP back and say that the pharmacist has advised he see a doctor. The gaviscon and buscopan still aren’t touching it so far though and he’s in a terrible state. Yesterday he only had one banana to eat and again hardly slept a wink. He looks awful, is in visible pain and the burping is horrible, although I know he can’t help that. I just don’t know how we can get through another 48 hours like this and what if the GP receptionist still refuses to make the appointment? What magic words to we have to say to get him seen?
DH’s best friend died four years ago from cancer after being fobbed off for over a year by doctors who told him at various points that he had indigestion and IBS. By the time the cancer was discovered it was too late and he died within 5 months. DH is terrified and has gotten himself worked up into a terrible state that the same thing might be happening to him. I’m trying to stay pragmatic and talk him down but I can’t deny that the same fears are playing out in the back of my mind right now. I know that all the signs point to this being H Pylori or something else treatable but I’d just love some peace of mind right now and above all, I’d like DH to not be in so much pain. It’s horrible to see and I feel so helpless.
For reference, DH is 42 - has always been in good general health and is very fit and active; plays tennis and cycles regularly and also works in a manual job involving heavy lifting etc.