If all tests are ok then why am I experiencing such horrible digestive issues?

[MuddyDogWalk]

I've just came back from the hospital today following my 2nd gastroscope (last one in 2019).

Although I have suffered with IBS for 30 years I didn't start experiencing upper digestive issues until around 8 years ago. It started off as nausea, excessive burping, bloating, acid, stomach pain and very gassy but it was mainly around mid cycle. For the last couple of years though I have been experiencing these symptoms daily and they appear to be getting worse, some days much worse than others but in general I get very little let up from the symptoms.

During these last 8 years I have had 2 colonscopies, a pill camera endoscopy, a Bile Acid Malabsorption scan, US scans and the gastroscopes including the one today (I never, ever want to go through one of those again, ever!).

As with all the other tests nothing major was found during today's scope. The endoscopist said all looked fine (no ulcers, inflammation, redness etc), he took biopsies for h pylori and Coeliac disease although I have been checked for these several times before. He noted a very small (1cm) hiatus hernia but said it was unlikely to cause any major symptoms.

My symptoms are often so bad and so very similar to those described as GERD that I was convinced they would come back with this. I have been prescribed PPI's in the past but being an IBS-D sufferer they always upset my lower gut so I have been using Gaviscon with little relief.

Obviously I am relieved nothing was noted but feel that I am back to square one. Honestly, I feel so nauseated most days, get stomach pains when I eat (especially after breakfast), feel acid coming up my throat, regularly experience a raw/raspy throat with mucus and coughing, burping so much, I can't understand what is causing such uncomfortable issues if nothing can be seen as a possible cause.

I am very careful with my diet and avoid anything which is gas forming or acid aggravating.

Has anyone else experienced GERD type symptoms yet all tests are clear? Did you ever find out the cause and did you find anything which helped elevate the issues which wasn't a PPI or Gaviscon?

Could it be your posture when eating? Do you slouch, eat at a table, on the sofa, with your legs curled up under you, standing or on the go?

It's really is most frustrating.

Of course I hope for it to never have a serious cause but I often wish it's something that could be very easily managed with a medication or simple lifestyle change but when, time and time again the tests come back clear my family will say 'See, it's nothing serious so it must be all stress/anxiety/in your head or a functional issue' etc. They say this as though it's all so easy, they have no idea how very difficult it is to manage something which is functional. I don't have a switch on the side of my head that I can simply flip over to 'normal' mode.

I've tried so many ways to manage this and yet here I am many many years later still struggling but I do live in hope something will come along and help.... eventually.

Thank you. I do have chronic stress and do acknowledge it although easier to admit than control. My lovely mum has advanced Alzheimer's and it's been a long long journey, it kills me daily to see her suffer although I did have gut issues way before she was diagnosed in 2018.

I do suffer from gynae issues too, I have endometriosis and adenomyosis. My gynae (endo specialist) says my gut issues are not connected, he won't even entertain the idea. I do know many endo/adeno sufferers have gut issues so I often question how he comes to this conclusion. I'm due a hysterectomy this year so I suppose I'll only know for sure once I have the op. It's reassuring to hear you felt better after your hysterectomy because tbh I'm so anxious about the op that I'm close to chickening out and asking to come off the waiting list. I went I to a bad panic attack just having the gastroscope yesterday. I have a terrible hospital phobia which is strange as I worked for the NHS for 15 years (probably why I have the phobia!).

I don't think so, we always eat at the dining table and I don't slouch.

I came across this today, in a piece about Dr Ranjan Chatterjee's upcoming tv series. He was talking about a woman who has suffered chronic pain for years following a childhood injury, even though doctor could find nothing physically wrong with her.Although the symptoms are real it is just the brain conveying the wrong signals.
^^
Then she came across pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) online, a psychological treatment for chronic pain built on the premise that while pain is generated by the brain to protect against further injury, this system can malfunction and continue to generate pain when the body has healed.
^^
While “of course there may be a physical cause”, Chatterjee says, there’s also “a huge link between childhood trauma, highly stressful lives, anxiety and chronic pain, because your nervous system doesn’t feel safe. So one way your brain deals with that is to generate pain.”

It might be worth looking at the Dr Chatterjee website and podcast to see if there is something that might be of help.

This is a link to the article
https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/article/rangan-chatterjee-gp-interview-advice-037pdrtnx?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqdHY2xEnJWeNsyLKWUzWyV8NxhBv7S83qzQqCh6rb92XMbfmSb1fBggvQUNdRg%3D&gaa_ts=69597280&gaa_sig=FYtnmtQWVdyWG77OmSLPG-dnSco1uj3G-kn3fqymvROUoOfv1YYuc6imLSce-VVXLhPYW14vSlpnm14kMV4-KA%3D%3D

My stomach problems mostly went away when my food allergies got bad enough to cause worse symptoms. Once I got visual and immediate symptoms from
eating something seemingly innocuous like tomatoes, it became clear why I was sick so often.

Now I know to watch the signs more carefully as foods move from not great to actual anaphylaxis.

Do you take magnesium op?

I know it seems silly that a supplement could help but a proper dose of magnesium every day is worth trying.

Yes it was extremely helpful and a good acupuncturist will also give you dietary advice about what may help you.

Yes, much worse the last couple of years, I will be 50 this year and in the thick of peri. My stomach always used to be more unsettled the week before my period and feel more settled after it has finished but since my periods have become irregular my stomach feels off most days. When I say I have tried everything I really have. I cut out spicy foods, tomato’s, citrus fruit, garlic and onions years ago. I’ve tried cutting out gluten and dairy, oats, nuts, vegetables that aren’t root, nothing seems to make much difference. I basically have a 5 hour eating window a day which I’ve got used to. Another strange thing I’ve noticed since peri began is I feel dizzy, anxious and nauseous before a bowel movement.

Sorry no, I haven’t tried HRT, I have been prescribed and have 2 months worth of gel and progesterone tablets, I’m waiting for my period before I start as advised by my GP.

I had a hysterectomy due to very large fibroid, grapefruit size, which had pressed on everything in the general area, so as well as my intolerance, this made my supposed IBS and my health so much better, as I'd had no idea that the lack of space had meant the fibroid had pressed on my bowel for years and I'd been overcompensating and dealing with symptoms I had no idea were connected! I was back at work in a month, having felt better than I had in a decade.

Yes - perimenopause plus H pylori. Got rid of the latter with antibiotics but peri still ruining my digestive system. Also had all the tests

Functional does NOT mean all in the mind. It means that for reasons as yet unknown you are unlucky enough to have a body system that does not function properly.
The gut has its own brain - and we understand as little about that brain as we do about the one in our skulls. So much yet to learn.
Medics like to make people better and are frustrated when they cannot. They also want to be sure that someone does not have something life-threatening too.
I lost count of the times I was told - "Everything is fine; it is just IBS" - it is not JUST anything - crapping watery diarrhoea 10 times a day, acute gut pain, unable to eat a meal without triggering gastrointestinal chaos, unable to book holidays or days out because of lack of public toilets - oh no, that is not JUST anything - it is misery. What they mean when they say this is that you are not going to die of it.
Mine was cured by being pregnant - worked like a charm, but I could not spend my whole life with a bun in the oven.

I also have massive fibroids and have been offered the hysterectomy, but I’m terrified of surgeries so I keep suffering. Nice to read a success story x

Are you on or have you taken anti depressants? Digestive issues can be a side effect especially in withdrawal.

Thank you. I'm a big fan of Dr Chatterjee, I've not seen this.

I don't currently take magnesium. I really want to as I've read such good things about it and know it's a great calming mineral but I'm frightened incase it makes my IBS-D worse. I've considered the spray but not sure if I'd get the same effects?

So much like me. I get 2-3 'good' days per month and they are always straight after my period. I'm am certain hormones are fueling everything and making a crap situation even crappier.

I hope the HRT gives you some relief, fingers crossed for you.

That gives me some hope. My uterus is very retroverted and with the adenomyosis I can't help but wonder if it's sitting there putting pressure on my lower bowel area, a bit like standing on a hose pipe!

My IBS completely disappeared when I was pregnant the first time 20 years ago. It's was the most blissful and peaceful 9 months of my adult life.

I'm the same. Petrified of surgery, I keep putting off my hysterectomy.

I've tried various antidepressants but not recently.

I am sorry to hear about everything you and your mum are going through op.

I would urge you to go ahead with the hysterectomy if possible. Talk to the anaesthetist and tell them about your worries. They are usually very sympathetic. Also, to reassure you, techniques have improved since our mother’s generation, especially with keyhole surgery. My operation didn’t take place in uk but my recovery was very straightforward.

Good luck.

Progesterone affects gut motility. When you are pregnant it's high, but during a period it's low (hence period poos). So it makes sense that you felt better when pregnant and straight after your period when levels were higher and it was suppressing gut motility.

If you can find a type of yoga that suits you, that could well help as IBS is a gut-brain condition when all physical issues have been ruled out. Haven't rtft, but low Fodmap under the supervision of an NHS dietitian should be helpful too.

Randomised clinical trial: yoga vs a low-FODMAP diet in patients with irritable bowel syndrome - PubMed https://share.google/uMJ7hm8QeXAuzJNfp