Recommend me an online test for my stomach issues please!

[PanicAttax]

Before anyone says it, I have tried for weeks to get a GP appointment and it's simply impossible.

I haven't felt hungry for months and am struggling to eat much. It began with vomiting months and months ago, but the feeling of not being able to eat much has never gone away. This last month I've been getting pain after eating and have been nearly sick several times. The pain makes me feel cold and clammy but passes after about half an hour. I can't eat much at all, despite the odd and rare very sudden pains of hunger, once I start I feel full after 3 or 4 mouthfuls.

I initially panicked that it was stomach cancer, but no diarrhea/blood in stool etc and I had a ultrasound scan of my stomach a few months ago, so anything like cancer would presumably have been picked up. I think it might be coeliacs or a bug that I might need meds to get rid of but just want to get something done about it now, as the pain and being unable to eat is getting me down.

Is there a reliable online company anyone has used for anything similar?

Could it be gastroparesis @PanicAttax ? No online test available though.

It is difficult but you should definitely follow-up with your Dr.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gastroparesis/

https://gutscharity.org.uk/advice-and-information/conditions/gastroparesis/#section-4

Yes, it could be I suppose. I just don't have any way to get an appointment. I call and it goes to answerphone every day and we don't have the triage system on the NHS app - it just tells me to call.

Could I go to the pharmacy and ask maybe? I don't know when it is OK to do a walk in at A&E but I don't think this is life threatening!

I just bought a gluten allergy test from Amazon for about £10. They are excellent but sometimes won’t give a result if you haven’t been eating gluten (because it makes you ill) and there’s a difference between gluten allergy and gluten intolerance being recorded on the test.

@RicePuddingWithCinnamon I don't think it is an allergy because it happens regardless of what I eat (or drink). Saying that I did get bad pains after making myself eat a small slice of spelt bread as toast the other morning before a long walk. I really regretted that when I was doubled up holding my tummy in the woods alone! Although I had the same and nearly vomited yesterday after a single spoonful of yoghurt 😣 I think my small intestine is inflamed for sure, the pain is high up, not the large intestine.

I don’t mean to scare you, but I’m recovering from colon cancer. I had most of your symptoms. I had 2 ultrasounds, 2 stomach scans and ot wasn’t picked up until I had a ct and mmr. I didn’t have any bleeding either. I would go back to your doctors just to make sure.

Ok 😊 I have some tummy problems myself, if I think of anything useful I will be back.

I am so sorry to hear that @Shityshitybangbang.
Cancer was a fear a couple of months ago but I've been feeling sick since August (I had a very bad vomiting bug for about 3 weeks which I thought might be the latest covid). I did have an ultrasound on my abdomen in Feb and nothing was found - they did all the organs (private) because I had an embolism and I was worried if I had cancer it could have caused the clot. They wanted to rule out cancer and as I have lost over 2 stone they said the scan was to check that. I had to go privately because the NHS only put me on thinners for 3 months but wouldn't do any more blood tests to rule out a clotting disorder and the respiratory consultant was worried that I had no other triggers for the clot.

I think the only way I could get anything else is to do a walk in but I'd feel like a fraud.

Have you tried walking in to the surgery to talk to them about an appointment?
I know people who have got or changed appointments that way.

I haven't yet but I will drive over to do that this week. I have no idea if they allow that but I think it is all I have left, GP wise. I am worried even if I see the GP they won't test as I have anxiety and they seem to pass everything off as that (how I ended up with an embolism in A&E) and that they will shout at me for just turning up.

I was really hoping there was some kind of screening by mail but it doesn't seem so!

If I can't get an appointment, does this look legit?

https://www.selph.co.uk/tests/gut-health-tests?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw9IayBhBJEiwAVuc3fvA9gXIrfpk84o039-4tGiYuQ7Cpe4-vxVDAylGjsN2nyvAb_BqKZhoCdfAQAvD_BwE

I think a general wellbeing set of bloods wouldnt hurt, a company like blue horizon do a well woman and well man set of bloods that checks everything. You could also look at a FIT test to check if there are traces of blood which would highlight potential issues for cancer risk.

I think for stomach issues coupled with weight loss, they should surely be referring you to gastroenterology. What has your GP done?

If you cannot get through to your GP, I think your symptoms warrant checking and if you are having no help from your GP, I would be calling 111 and explaining your symptoms and explaining you cannot get a GP appointment and hopefully they can help.

Thank you @anothermnuser123 for the company name!
I did have bloods done when I had the embolism but I can't see them and the doctors won't send them to me, so I would also like another set of bloods. Someone else said they thought lack of appetite could be peri and I am mid 40's so it could be that a low FSH would show up too. The private respiratory consultant was worried about why I had developed the clot as well as weight loss and wrote to the GP but I never heard anything back.

If I can't see the GP this week I will do a well woman test with Horizon and I think a complete test for the Gut Health site.

I dont see how they can refuse to give you your blood test results, you are entitled to request them. It really sounds like you have a GP issue, do you have another option as I would really consider changing surgery if you can.

The local ones have all recently merged and moved and I think there is a larger client base and less GPs. I moved from the only other local option when I was pregnant years ago as I had similar issues with the other one being hard to contact.

I'll drive in and see if I can beg an appointment but it's good to have some other options in case they tell me to go home.

I had a very bad vomiting bug for about 3 weeks

It sounds like it might be a H-Pylori infection, the symptoms fit and it can be common after stomach bugs

It seems ridiculous the GP won’t see you for these serious symptoms. Could be a number of things but you will need proper tests - possibly endoscopy.

I had similar a couple of years ago, was worried it was gallstones but GP thought not and prescribed me omeprazole for 2 weeks, it actually did pass. GP thought it was a stomach bug as they can sometimes cause stomach issues for a few weeks after the initial illness.
You can buy omeprazole over the counter but really your symptoms sound like they need checking out. Online tests and self prescribing could lead you down the wrong path and delay you getting treatment if it's something serious.
Can you physically go to your GP surgery and ask? Can you ever get through on the phone? How do other people get appointments?
Call 111 if you're getting nowhere with the GP.
A pharmacist is likely to tell you to see your GP with the symptoms you describe.

Yes, I'm going to drive over there later today and see if I can get an appointment in person. Calls just tell you to ring 999 in an emergency and hang up and the NHS app doesn't do triage for my surgery. I think it's due to the merging of so many rural ones to one big surgery and they've been overwhelmed.

If I can't get one it's good to have some test I can do myself as it's been so long now with no answers I can at least rule some things out.

Hello - I have created a mumsnet account just to reply to your thread. Like a previous poster, I don’t want to scaremonger but I also had virtually identical symptoms and ended up being diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer at 32. I also had a full abdominal ultrasound in the month before my diagnosis and nothing was found. Please go and see a real, human doctor and don’t rely on online tests. I am sure it is nothing, but after my experience I really wouldn’t want you to go through the same as me.

OP if you can't get an appointment phone 111 and they will contact the doctor and arrange one for you.

Yes 111 will do this apparently. You really need a referral for the pain and weight loss, and lack of appetite. All of these together make a worrying set of symptoms. You might have to become “that pushy woman” but do it. Go there and demand an appointment.

Could you share the link please

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0CW1TDTYT?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

User164957261942629 · Yesterday 15:38
Yes I was the same, I didn’t want to scare op either but these symptoms need investigation. I had lots of scans and my tumor wasn’t picked up in my colon either, before it was investigated fully. All these people saying it’s gallstones, stomach bugs, allergies, yes it could be but I wish people wouldn’t just guess and give false information. You really need to push for an appointment. Good luck