Stomach disorder diagnosis required?

Question

Hi friends,

I have been diagnosed with a suspected duodenal ulcer. Camera test endoscopy showed only gastric erosions on stomach wall. However, I get no acid reflux, no burning sensation,

just a slight pounding and pain in my lower stomach. H.Pylori test was initially lost then found, and they said it was negative, so I'm not sure what to believe on this one.

2 years I've been on and off Omeprazole. My stomach/intestines will be fine for 6 weeks, eating anything I like. Then over a period of 2 weeks my appetite will slowly decrease to

the point where my stomach pain is too much that I can't risk eating for 2/3 weeks approx. During this last Only the last 3 weeks of an episode do I get very bad IBS type

symptoms, trapped wind, but no diorreaha or bloating. Guessing this could be a result of the ulcer causing food to not be digested properly and being pushed through the

intestine/bowels and causing constipation and things to lock up. But...........

unlike IBS it doesn't matter what I eat, everything causes the pain from my lower stomach to my lower bowels,

wh. The Omeprazole does reduce the pain in my stomach, but not in the intestines, etc. I think!

When my stomach gets back to normal eventually, I don't get any IBS type symptoms, I go to toilet properly every day, and I can eat what I like.

I'm a fit person, attend the gym, don't get colds/flus, don't smoke, only drink on a Saturday night (2 glasses of wine, 3 pints, 2/3 shots over a period of 6 hours however). I'm a

healthly weight with 9% bodyfat, a stone of extra muscle due to the gym and feel very strong and healthy normally. My diet is usually better than the average person. Salads,

fibre, protein, lower carbs and lower fat than the norm diet. I take multi-vitamins, cod liver oil capsules every other day. Only other medication is Nasonex Nose Spray from

dust/dustmite allergy, which I carefully administer as to not sniff it past my nose. Helps me.....

sleep better.

I'm seeing my GP (who is sympathetic and friendly) to see if I can get a triple pill combination (omep, amoxycillin, etc) to go with my Omeprazole to ensure that H.Pylori is

eradicated.

I had admit myself to hospital (emergency assessment unit) as the pain was getting me down too much and stopped in over night and have some IV painkillers and Buscopan. The

specialist then saw me the next day as he was on general unit duty luckily. However, he told me to come back in 6 weeks to have another camera test! Why not do it then when I have

the worst symptoms???

Just trying to get a more definitive answer on this one, and have made this as detailed as possible. My current specialist is very unsympathetic and can't wait to get me out the

door when I have an appointment with him. Even though I have weeks of misery waiting to be seen due to NHS waiting lists. I'm taking too much time off work and will lose my job

shortly. Quality of life is very poor...

when I'm ill like this.

Thanks in advance,

Lee.

********************************************
Steve, I wouldn't say I'm stressed really. I'm not a particulary happy person in general.

Trouble is with this condition is that it could be so many things :-(

Ta,

Lee.

Answer 1

I know the problem.

Have had last 20 years up and down with stomach/digestive issues. I went too and fro to the hospitals over 2 extended periods, this that the other test...did show either I had an ulcer forming, or had had ulcers! Otherwise the generalized 'non-diagnosis' that it was IBS. Not too helpful.

The typical Western medicine approach of treating the symptom rather than the cause is why you take acid-suppressants and your gut walls heal for a while...but then you go through the cycle agiain...because after all you have not cured or treated the major cause if the problem. True treatment of the underlying problem usually requires a certain change of lifestyle. This is because as someone mentions a major causative trigger can relate to lifestyle based stress...But the other major 'kind of stress' the gut in particular endures, is through the diet...Digesting food is one of the most traumatic and testing (and AGING!) things the body goes through and has to cope with daily.

Constantly, or at least regularly, assaulting your delicate digestive system with a wide array of chemicals and additives used in foods today - it is becoming apparent - is a major cause of ongoing digestive problems for more and more people...AND...The 'indigestion' cures market is a multi-million dollar industry in itself for pharmaceutical companies...they are happy enough to encourage us to 'pop a pill' to 'cure' indigestion...because they know we will soon come back for more!!! Beacuse it DOES NOT cure the problem behind the indigestion! (Its a great cash cow for them!)

The reality seems to be that there is a combination of factors that are affecting many of us in the way our diets have been 'perverted' by today's big food manufacturers. In general (in the West - US/UK and much of Europe, at least) we eat far too much chemically laden, highly procesed foods that also include synthetics that our bodies were never evolved to handle.

On top of this there is an underlying yet widespread low level sensitivity to certain natural ingredients for many people. We just keep eating the foods because we have been brought up to think of them as 'good for you'... or OK at the very least. The BIG culprits here are lactose (in milk and dairy) and gluten (in wheat based products liek bread).

But maybe more important - well at least this is what I found having had many similar 'symptoms' to yourself over the years - is the acknowledgment in recent time that maybe 80% - 90% of people on a typical Western diet have severely impaired digetstive/gut environments.

This means that the balance of gut bacteria has been upset by various negative influences - e.g coffee and alcohol both kill good bacteria! Or maybe you have had to take anti-biotics sometime which completely devastates the gut bacteria good and bad! - and we end up with a ratio of say 80% bad -20% good acteria instead of the opposite as it should be. This does not get right by itself - and it does mean that conditions for ulceration to occur can persist.

The nett result is that without some serious support the 'good bacteria' cannot get back into a dominant position. This is why more doctors are getting to think that one of the ONLY real supplements we might need is a good quality 'probiotic'.

Probiotics (if they are of a good quality) should contain the spectrum of Lactobacillus bacteria as these are the ones that can make it through the stomach acid to get to the intestines where they need to thrive. A good probiotic also needs to have the basic foodstuff in its mix for the good bacteria to get the recolonization off to a good start.

There is an useful extended article here:
http://www.gonando.com/probiotics.html

I have not only experienced the benefits myself (in fact I have been pretty amazed at the difference after 20 years of digestive chaos) but have several friends and contacts who have had the same positive experience using a particularly good certified organic brand of probiotic - which means there are NO chemicals or synthetics used even in growing the ingredients that support the bacteria!

With the symptoms you have described - I would also recommend - that when as you say you have a period that 'you can eat what you want'...you DO NOT do this - but remain conscious of the type, amount and range of things you consume. For example:
(1) Do not overload your system by eating to large meals
(2) Avoid highly spiced foods
(3) Avoid anything but very moderate intake of alcohol
(4) DO eat plenty of green vegetables especially things like broccolli and leafy vegetable
(5) Consume plenty of salad and raw vegetable when possible
(6) Try to avoid processed foods of any kind as far as possible (this include all raedy made meals, all fast food, all frozen meals, all jars of sauces...etc etc...yes...basically stick to fresh foods only..and freshly prepared foods, and as much organic as possible..
hope this helps.

Answer 2

Sorry to read about your troubles. You've given a very detailed account of your condition and related circumstances. It seems that nothing is really wrong with you though you still get these problems. I believe it's got an emotional underlying cause. Perhaps you literally 'can't stomach things'. Things that happened to you some time ago. You might be a very sensitive but proud person and you deal with emotional trauma by bottling it up and it attacks your digestive system. Maybe you need to try counseling. Good luck, hope you get better!

Answer 3

have you heard of Xango? This is a wonderfully tasting juice made from the fruit, rind and pericarp of the Mangosteen. It has been used for various stomach and intestinal disordes for centuries in the Far East ( the only place the Mangosteen is grown). Xango (tm) is the category creator and supplier of this amazing natural health drink. Many people are reported to have been given reflief of their symptoms by drinking only a few ounces per day over a 90 day period. It is a purely natural formula.You may contact me through this site for any more information required.

Answer 4

i think it is better for you to follow your doctor and have an endoscopy again or the camera which you call it. you might really have an H. pylori, the bacteria which worsens your condition. And if it turns out to be positive of H. pylori, the doctor will prescribe you with triple therapy as what he say which includes not only omeprazole but antibiotics to kill the bacteria. but if it's negative, he might just have to do more work ups to evaluate your condition. hope you get well.

and another thing Steve P. can also be right. it could also be stress related.

Answer 5

They're starting to recommend that people with IBS, or IBS-like symptoms be tested for celiac disease, which is an intolerance to gluten (wheat, rye, barley and oats). A lot of people with celiac were misdiagnosed as having IBS for years. (18 years for me). It takes an average of 11 years for a person with celiac to be diagnosed.

You also mentioned sleep problems. I had a lot of problems with sleep and it ended up being related to gluten. Which my doctor was surprised by. I remember having sleep problems since being a very young child, all the way up through my diagnosis. Now, a year after going gluten-free the only time I have problems with sleep is if I get exposed to gluten. It's a very common discovery for people with celiac that their sleep improves. It's just one of those odd things that gluten can do to someone who has gluten issues.

Here's a webpage by the National Institutes of Health on celiac -
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases...

If that starts sounding familiar here are a couple of message boards for people with celiac and other gluten intolerances.

http://www.glutenfreeforum.com
http://www.celiacforums.com

You can also be intolerant to other common foods and get the symptoms you are describing. Soy, corn, eggs, yeast, dairy, etc. You may want to think about keeping a food/symptoms journal and see if you can identify the culprit(s).

Nancy

Answer 6

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Answer 7

When Nothing Works Unani works my father had also same problem before few months later he is now perfect he s taking regular unani medicine

http://goo.gl/nQS94K

Answer 8

I would trust the ulcer diagnosis.

Might some of it be the result of stress? Do you have high stress?

Answer 9

hmm gud question, but i dont think you will find the answer on yahoo open up and look elswere look places you wouldnt usually good luck x