Worried about stomach issues/bloating

[Moppincraxy]

First of all, I have health anxiety which is pretty under control but rears it's ugly head when I have unresolved health issues like now. In case its relevant I had breast cancer last year (DCIS), had a mastectomy and no need for further treatment.

I'm currently experiencing bloating, a full feeling (wake up feeling as though I've just had a three course meal), nausea, gurgling stomach, small amount of burping. I've had this for 3 weeks now. A few days before I started feeling like this I had one bout of totally unexplained diarrhoea, I didn't feel ill or even any cramping or anything at the time, just had it once and it went away. The bloaty/nausea feeling started a few days after this so not sure if it is related at all.

Last week it got worse amd i had a horrible burning feeling in my stomach so I called GP who thought it was gastritis and gave me Omeprazole. The burning feeling has now gone but I'm still left with all the other symptoms.

I am eating small, plain meals such as oat cakes, drinking just water and taking probiotic supplements and I still feel the heavy bloated feeling. Bowels are normal. I've had a private pelvic scan and ovaries look normal, nothing else obvious on the scan except for a small uterine polyp that I need to go back for a repeat scan for in a few weeks.

I'm also feeling really tired but that could just be the normal tiredness of a busy working mum.

I've done two at home H Pylori faecal tests and both are negative.

I'm seeing the GP again later this week but would like to have some idea of what this could be and e.g. whether I need to press for a referral. I don't trust doctors due to bad past experiences (including my breast cancer not being diagnosed for a year despite me raising my concerns 3/4 times, appendicitis being misdiagnosed etc).

Could this just be something fairly simple like gastritis? I'm obviously worried about cancer due to my history. Any advice appreciated.

Just wondering if you recently had covid. I had some of these symptoms for about a week after. Nausea, bloated tummy.

No I haven't had covid (that I know of) since March 2020!

Gallstone check?

I looked up gallstones but the NHS website says it is a severe and episodic pain. Mine is more mild/bloating/nausea and there all the time. Thanks for the suggestion though.

@Moppincraxy it may be gallstones/sludge. Not everyone with gallbladder issues presents in the way the nhs suggest. My gallbladder issues started similar to your symptoms for about a year or so before getting progressively worse. Do you have pale/yellowish stools? As that is another symptom.

Interesting...no, stool colour is normal.

The centre of the pain feeling is right in the middle about 2 inches above my belly button. Aren't gallbladder issues on the right side under the ribs?

Is it diagnosed by ultrasound?

I would put money on it being gastritis. I have it and its so hard to shift. Omprazole may or may not get rid of some or all of the symptoms. It will help with flare up but only changing your diet will really help to settle you. Some people have to change their diets for years for it to go. It could be a hiatus hernia. I have both. An endoscopy will diagnose you. Google the gastritis diet but you need to cut out caffeine, alcohol, chocolate, tomatoes and spicy food as well as other things but these are the worst culprits.

Oh dear, that sounds very sad 😔. Also don't fancy having an endoscopy but I think I will need one!

I already don't have caffeine but no alcohol or chocolate will be difficult! Saying that, I've mainly been eating oatcakes for the past week.

Does gastritis cause bloating and the heavy feeling? As that is the worst symptom.

I did a barium swallow two years ago due to LPR and no sign of a hiatus hernia then, can it develop over time? It seems odd that it came on so suddenly.

In December I suddenly started feeling sick one day. Very sick. It went on for a couple of weeks and then I noticed burning in my stomach, particularly if I had something spicy. I was also heavily fatigued falling asleep on the sofa at 6.30pm age 37, unable to stay awake. I had a pressure under my ribs too and an aching all around my back like a band and I was being squeezed. Christmas Eve I started getting awful stomach pain that was debilitating. The doctor thought it might be an ulcer and gave me antibiotics just in case. They didn't work and a few days later I was so bloated that I looked pregnant. I was hardly able to eat and even a few sips of water had me horrifically bloated. I felt like I was going to explode. The doctor gave me pantoprazole and mercifully it releaved my symptoms. They were still noticeable but just significantly lessened. Luckily I had an endoscopy booked by coincidence for a weeks time. They diagnosed mild gastritis and a slight hiatus hernia (the symptoms can be the same). The doctor told me to take the pantoprazole for 6 weeks. When I stopped the symptoms briefly returned (acid rebound) and then went altogether. However I'm not cured. I eat very carefully and none of my favourite things. I think I'm healing as I'm able to tolerate a glass of wine occasionally and I had some chocolate over Easter. If I do these things I tame gaviscon advance beforehand to protect my stomach. I need to read the Gastritis Diet book properly and read give the diet a proper go. It's very restrictive but it has cured gastritis for a lot of people. Lots of people are told just to take ppis (omeprazole etc) and that will fix it but unfortunately I just masks it and for lots of people they stop working. Gastritis can also be caused by stress which my doctors thinks happened with me. Camomile tea is very healing and soothing as is aloe vera and the book also says go cut out dairy and gluten while healing. I've cut out dairy but not gluten completely and I do sometimes feel uncomfortable after eating it.

It might not be gastritis but what you're describing sounds identical to me. Make some adjustments to your diet and if you notice a difference within the next couple of weeks it will give you a better indication. I hope you feel better soon. I've never felt so low as when I had a flare up, it really was awful. There are lots of gastritis Facebook groups so I'd recommend joining one and seeing if it relates.

@moppincraxy try not to worry about an endoscopy. I was semi knocked out for mine. I was so gleeful afterwards and felt great! It was also such a relief to know what was going on.

Thank you so much for this. I've also been feeling really tired. I had a few days off over Easter and slept in until 9am then had a 3 hour afternoon nap and still went to bed at 11am and slept until 9am the next day and had another 3 hour nap that afternoon!

Also interesting that it can be caused by stress. I have my one year breast cancer check up soon and have been feeling anxious about it, I've also had lots of other small issues that have piled up a bit so have been feeling a bit overwhelmed.

My symptoms sound fairly similar to you. At the moment if I eat even something small I look about 5 months pregnant. I don't have the rib squeezing feeling but otherwise sounds very similar.

I've also found I feel worse in the morning. A bit uncomfortable lying down but when I stand up it gets much worse. Slowly improves a bit over the morning. Has it been anything like that for you?

That's exactly like what I was like during my flare up. Getting up felt a bit like I was sea sick when sitting up, as if my stomach contents was moving. I believe it's something to do with the stomach acid. Try lying on your left hand side to sleep. It helps due to where your stomach is and your stomach contents will stay in your stomach this way, rather than sloshing out of it. Then as the day went on it would improve, but as I ate bloating would return.

Not everyone gets the exact same symptoms and some people don't get any symptoms at all. I think my symptoms were so bad because it was a good 3 or 4 weeks before I knew how to manage it and about 5 weeks before I had a diagnosis. At first I thought the feeling under my ribs and the exhaustion was constipation and so ended up taking medication for that and still eating trigger foods. I realise now I wasn't really eating much as it wasn't constipation at all, I just made a massive assumption because I couldn't work out what it was.

People who have gastritis also tend to have a vitamin deficiency- for me it's vitamin d which also causes fatigue, so it might be worth getting your levels checked.

It could of course be gallstones - I had an ultrasound which ruled it out for me. Try cutting out the foods I mentioned, limit your portions and drink camomile tea and if it is gastritis then you should soon feel some relief. It honestly sucks but the relief is so immense it feels worth it!

I would definitely speak to the doctor and ask for an endoscopy- explain the omeprazole hasn't brought relief.

Oh and doctors are awful at dealing with this. They only know to prescribe medicine which doesn't actually deal with the issue. There's a lot of information out there that will help you but it takes research.

Thank you so much for all your advice, I really appreciate it! It's also reassuring to know that you had similar symptoms as with health anxiety my mind immediately goes to cancer.

I'm not surprised. I've had health anxiety too and that's without cancer. I have to focus really hard on not listening to it but if I flare up its so much harder. Meditation and exercise are supposed to help with both gastritis and health anxiety. I hope you manage to find a solution that works for you.

Hi @Moppincraxy ,
How are you getting on? Your symptoms seem to match mine. Have had US scan which ruled out gallstones. A & E, where I've gone as symptoms have been so uncomfortable with palpitations, have said possibly an ulcer. Have GP in the morning to go over more symptoms and to get referrals, hopefully. Apparently my liver is fatty now though :(

I'm feeling a bit better thanks. The GP gave me 20mg Omeprazole which helped a bit but not much. So he doubled it to 40mg and I'm feeling significantly better now. I can almost eat a proper meal now and less bloated. He said to take them for 4 weeks and hopefully the stomach will be healed by then. If I come off them and symptoms don't return then great. If they do return he will refer me for an endoscopy. He's also done a blood test for ovarian cancer and FIT test for bowel cancer, not because he has any suspicions that it's that but having had cancer recently it is sensible just to be extra cautious.

I am still avoiding alcohol and chocolate and eating plain foods.

How did they diagnose fatty liver, was that via US?

Hi, yes, US last week, just double checked the posted results on the app and saw the fatty liver. That's interesting, A & E gave me 20mg on Friday which isn't doing much so hopefully increase it tomorrow. Just hope it's not something more serious with the liver issues. Hope yours carries on improving for you. Yes, no more alcohol, chocolate for me either :(

I have similar issues which started in dec 2020. Bloating and excessive burping are my main problems. I've had an ultrasound, a failed endoscopy (I couldn't tolerate it), barium swallow and meal plus lots of bloods taken. Apart from a fatty liver (which gastro told me is just because I'm overweight and theres nothing wrong with my liver function) and folic acid anaemia everything has come back fine. I take lansoprazole 30mg every day and I've cut out gluten and dairy which has made a big difference to me. I also find my symptoms get worse if I have spicy food, citrus and tomatoes so I try to avoid them too. My GP just seems to think its reflux.

Have your been assessed for SIBO/ Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth