I was recently diagnosed with Acid Reflux otherwise known as GERD or Gastoesophegeal Reflux Disorder. I didn't really believe it because I've heard of 'heartburn' and I would never ever categorize the pain I have as that. All my life I called them 'food-aggravated stomachaches' or something like that. Food intolerances... allergies, what have you. The pain was SEVERE and brought on by various foods.. never the same thing twice. Well, I had a few 'off limits' foods -- bell peppers, bananas... they were SURE to cause the attacks.
The pain was in my stomach, not up in the esophagus, and NOTHING would make it go away. Eventually I discovered narcotic painkillers such as Perc, and usually a half a perc would knock me out and at least I could sleep through the pain.
After this car accident, I've become 'tolerant' to Percocets, and now it takes two or three to accomplish what half used to do, and sometimes not even.
Last night, I had another 'attack'. It was a nightmare. The pain went on for about 10 hours like it does... I took 3 Percocets over the course of those 10 hours (one every four or so) and it did NOT kill the pain. I rolled around in sheer agony trying to think of the cause and the solution and was coming up blank. I didn't eat much yesterday at all... but I did eat some chocolate on an empty stomach, although that is not usually a problem. I do know chocolate is one of the supposed GERD trigger foods. It's never bothered me in the past, but it's all I can think of that I ate.
Anyhow, something weird happened last night that has never happened before. I felt completely nauseated for several hours. Then I THREW UP. Several times. I never throw up. That is always something I associate with being drunk. LOL! Not just for no good reason.
After I threw up the first time, I felt 10 times better. The stomachache was all but gone, but within about half an hour, it was back with a vengeance. It was around that time I took the final painkiller (which, btw, was not helping me sleep like it usually does). I eventually did fall asleep but woke up in the middle of the night with more pain. I would say the pain went from about 4 pm to about 2 am. It was horrible.
Anyone here with GERD that actually THROWS UP from it? That really rattled me. Seriously. I have heard it's not uncommon, but it's uncommon for me. According to what I'm reading, things like coffee, chocolate, tomatoes, mac and cheese, cottage cheese... in other words... the STAPLES of my diet! -- are causes.
Ugh Ugh ugh. It's so upsetting.
I woke up with a very tender stomach... like I was one bite of dry toast away from another stomachache, so I called in sick. I just had tea and toast, and I feel okay at the moment, but I know with these stomachaches, the next day can be touch and go.
Maybe you have an ulcer as well which is aggravating the situation? Eating or vomiting usually makes the pain of an ulcer dissipate.
Are you sure this is the same condition you've had before? Maybe you just caught a flu bug or some kind of food poisoning. Now that you're out in the sticks, are you drinking water from a well? Sometimes there can be extra minerals or contamination in there. A friend of mine's water tasted like sulfur. I couldn't drink it.
Forgot to ask, when did you eat the chocolate? When I get my nasty heartburn it's usually after I lie down in bed with food in my stomach.
I tested negative for H.pylori, the ulcer bug. I have been going to a gastroenterologist, who ruled that out.
I don't think its a bug, because other than feeling sick this morning when I woke up (a 'tender stomach'... like anything could set it off) and sleeping until noon, I feel good right now. No other symptoms.
I am thinking it's POSSIBLE that it's from the sunburn I got on Saturday afternoon. I usually get sick from a sunburn, and yeah, now that I think about it, I usually throw up from it. It's been years since I had one. And usually the first day is the worst... this was the second day, but it's all I can think of.
The water out here is cistern water, and I tend not to drink it. I typically fill a big jug when I'm in the city with city water, but I do have two Britas that I fill with tap/cistern water and use it for coffee and my pop machine and stuff. I'm not one to just drink water... I usually flavour it. It's possible it's a bug or food poisoning. I have no idea.
Sorry Jo. How horrible.
Percs can cause severe stomach pain, nausea and vomiting. It may be temporarily helping your GERD pain and getting you to sleep, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is contributing to the GERD, too.
And it almost sounds as though you might have a hernia.
Get well soon Jo.
Interesting... I do have a hiatal hernia. I had several tests done, and yeah, hernia was one of them
I have just never experienced the vomiting before. I have heard some people with GERD vomit, but I am not usually one of them.
BTW, as the day wore on, I felt worse and worse. So far I've eaten toast and a croissant. Hardly nutritious, but nothing appeals.
I'm puzzled as to why you are having such bad pain - are you still on the PPI's? PPI's block about 90% of the acid going in to your stomach. You should not have DAILY pain when you are taking them as directed - every morning, 30-60 minutes before eating. To have pain so bad on a daily basis that you need percocet while on PPIs seems like you might have a misdiagnosis.
That said, occasionally you may have some break-through difficulties even on the PPI's. When that occurs my GI guy says to take an OTC acid reducer like Pepcid. You can take about 40mg or so dosage and see if it helps. This is on top of the PPI's - it offers more immediate relief. About a year after I was diagnosed I had very severe pain in the middle of the night - it was during a stressful time - I took a second PPI and about 80mgs of Pepcid but nothing helped - I went to the ER and they were helpful although they gave me a painkiller that actually causes stomach bleeding, but it helped with the pain... you can't win sometimes with this disease.
It sounds also like you are only just reading about the causes of GERD - your doctor is somewhat remiss not to have given you some materials about what can trigger GERD - caffeine is a BIG no-no for anyone with a hernia and/or GERD. Caffeine causes the sphincter muscle at the top of your stomach to spasm which releases acid up to your esophagus. Carbonated beverages are another huge no-no, but I'm sure you must know all this.
GERD can definitely cause nausea. I had terrible nausea before I was first diagnosed. But never vomiting. I wonder if you have an unrelated stomach bug.
CNK I'm glad you replied... I remembered you had it and had it bad, and figured you'd be a FOAK on this one...
I am not having daily pain, btw. The painkillers I take are for a hand and nerve injury from a car accident.
My GP put me on the PPI several months before I got the consultation with the specialist. I have been on them for months... one in the morning and one in the evening. My pain was NEVER daily, only ever very sporadic (like once every 3-6 months), but 10/10 on my pain scale, and lasting 8-10 hours. The specialist did several tests, and confirmed I have a hiatal hernia, GERD and gastroparesis. When I was diagnosed, he told me it was not severe and did not require surgery. He said just stay on the PPIs and monitor the pain. I told him that in the last six or eight months or however long I've been on them, I have had about three or four stomachaches. I reminded him that I had them BEFORE the diagnosis, and that's why I was skeptical of the diagnosis, because yeah, I thought the PPI would nip it in the bud, but it hasn't. The stomachaches are hit and miss and come around out of the blue and are not triggered by things like coffee, tomatoes, chocolate, cheese, etc. Historically, they've been triggered by bell peppers, MSG (possibly) bananas, and raisins.
I don't know... I just know that getting one of those stomachaches last night out of the blue was a bit disconcerting, but I'm used to them at this point in my life, even on the PPIs. It was the vomiting that freaked me out. I have had nausea in the past, too, mild, but this was severe and resulted in vomiting, probably 4 -5 hours after I'd eaten anything... so it was right out of the blue.
I think GERD might be a misdiagnosis... or at the very least not the reason behind these particular pains.
Have you been checked for gallstones?
Nausea, severe pain, back pain, vomiting, reactions to food (trust me...not just fatty or spicy foods)-can be caused by a GB attack.
I was blown off by the MD I saw. Told me to, lose weight (even though I was not over weight), strengthen core muscles, placed me on PPI, etc...all the usual BS that many MDs say to get rid of you because they can't pinpoint the exact cause of abdominal pain..... until I begged for an ultrasound.
Gallbladder was FILLED w/ stones. Had my gallbladder out a couple weeks later.
My most severe pain was in the evenings, too.
Great call, BB! Jo has several indicators of gall bladder disease. Really common in white women around the age of 40.
GERD can be a catch-all diagnosis - like "we don't really know what's wrong but it's probably GERD so we'll treat for that." Sounds like your symptoms don't really match it. I wonder what would happen if you went off the PPIs. They are not good to be on for long periods of time due to a bounce-back effect, unfortunately.
It does appear that gastroparesis can cause vomiting. From just what I've read about it, gastroparesis seems like a difficult disease to manage. Do you have a really great gastroenterologist?
Yes, find out if it's the gallbladder acting up. (maybe you're doing that now?)
I was diagnosed with GERD several years ago. My diet was crap then, so the prescription managed it until I changed my diet. Now I only get small mild attacks a couple of times a month that OTC antacids can easily take care of.
I never vomited back in the day when my symptoms were bad. Never. I never had severe pain that lasted for 10 hours, it usually lasted for a few hours, but never all night. I never had to take something as hardcore narcotic druggie as Percocet to get through the pain, even when the pain was awful. What you're describing to me sounds nothing like GERD, but more like a gallbladder problem as Beachbum pointed out. Even if it's not the gallbladder, it's something else serious, and I honestly don't think it has anything to do with GERD.
I appreciate all the feedback. I didn't think it was GERD either. That's why I was skeptical when the specialist told me that's what it was.
These stomachaches have been plaguing me all my adult life, the pain is severe and unmanageable and I have begged doctors for help, but they usually hand me a pregnancy test and tell me to take a tums. I shit you not. ERs have been particularly unhelpful, that's when I started self-medicating and passing out rather than wince and cry in a chair in an Emergency Room for 8 hours.
I will talk to the guy again. Thanks again for all the input. I had an ultrasound recently that ruled out gallbladder. It's a big mystery.
Ugh, Western medicine is so limited. If they can't see it on a scan, if they can't drug it away or cut it out, then all they've got left is to mask the symptoms with narcotics or some other drug. And then they're tapped out, no more options, end of knowledge. I have a friend who recently finished med school and she was telling me that she pretty much has a very limited scope of understanding for many medical issues. Her education in fibromyalgia was a brief mention in a textbook and being told there was nothing that can be done for it. Can't see it on a scan, can't cut it out, can't drug it away--so forget it. And nutrition? Just a few hours of lecture, and no real understanding of supplements.
Have you considered seeking out an alternative? A holistic doctor that specializes in Eastern medicine? Honestly, it can't hurt since you've exhausted the Western route, and relying on Percoset to mask stomach pain is off the charts. I understand you also have chronic pain from your accident, I have chronic pain from several car accidents and a full skeletal unbalance from a childhood broken leg, too. I have daily pain in varying degrees. But Percoset can only make things worse in the long run, some day you'll have to find some kind of other treatment in order to maintain your whole health and well being.
Years ago, I tried a naturopathic route. I was apparently 'adrenally fatigued' and low on Omega 3s. I take supplements. Years prior to that, I read a book about chinese medince, and figured out I had 'stagnant chi' and took Xiao Yao Wan for months. Again, nothing. Recently I underwent three acupuncture sessions for the car accident nerve damage, and I did not like that AT ALL. It was awful. I am very open minded about Eastern remedies, naturopathic ones... anything, anything, Beuller, Beuller... but it's really a curse.
Like I said, the pain comes around every few months and I have lived with it most of my life. I was so excited when I got to see the specialist recently and undergo all those tests, because it seemed like HOPE, but you are right... if they can't see it, drug it or cut it out, they totally ignore it. You are so right about that.
I'm thinking the next logical step is diet related. Who knows. I don't like taking painkillers anymore than the next guy, but at least they've historically worked, whereas this time they didn't and that scared the crap out of me. If painkillers don't work for that level of pain, I don't know what I will do. As I said, ER has been historically useless. I just moved, though, and the nearest hospital to me is teensy and apparently there are not long wait times there. We shall see.
Maybe a trip to a nutritionist. Perhaps also dumping the PPIs for a while and seeing what happens.
Bananas are probably the least likely food to cause GERD. They are generally easy on the stomach - soft and easy to digest. Here's a quickie list I just found online:
Foods that can relax the LES:
* Fried (greasy) foods
* High-fat meats
* Butter and margarine
* Mayonnaise
* Creamy sauces
* Salad dressings
* Whole-milk dairy products
* Chocolate
* Peppermint
* Caffeinated beverages (e.g., soft drinks, coffee, tea, cocoa)
Foods that may stimulate acid production and increase heartburn:
* Caffeinated beverages
* Carbonated beverages
* Alcohol
* Spicy foods
* Black pepper
* Citrus fruit and juices (e.g., orange, grapefruit)
* Tomato juice
I have DEFINITELY found the above foods to be triggers, some worse than others. That none of them are trigger foods for you would seem to indicate that GERD is not your main issue.
I'm lucky x100 in that the PPIs do the trick for me 95% of the time - I eat what I want, when I want, including all the foods on the lists above. If I have break-through problems I down the Pepcid. It's been 5 years now since I had a severe attack. But it's also a curse - PPIs are physically addictive - they used to hand them out like candy but now some MDs are backing off a bit due to long-term dependence. When you try to go off them your stomach then over-produces acid. It's a real bummer.
Good luck - I hope you find someone who can help you. The gastroparesis sounds like a relatively uncommon and hard to manage disease. Maybe there's an "expert" gastroenterologist who can help you.
Maybe you should try keeping a food diary for a while to see if you see any patterns. It might even be a reaction to some chemical preservative or sweetner in your food or even residual pesticides in/on produce.
What kind of workup has your gastro guy done on you? I think I'd ask for a gallbladder ultrasound and a HIDA scan at minimum. Those two tests can determine whether you have stones or issues with ejection fraction. Sometimes the gallbladder needs to come out because it's not working properly even if stones are not present.
What is a workup? I don't understand that word.
My gastroenterologist sent me for several tests... an endoscope (mild sedative, tube down throat, samples acquired), a pH test where I had a tube down my nose for 24 hours to detect acid levels, an esophogeal test where they put tubes down my nose and had me swallow to see if it was pushing food down properly, one where I had to eat radioactive food and they watched while it digested under a [xray? type] machine... The ultrasound was before all that.
(06-12-2010 06:57 PM)Jo Wrote: [ -> ]What is a workup? I don't understand that word.
My gastroenterologist sent me for several tests... an endoscope (mild sedative, tube down throat, samples acquired), a pH test where I had a tube down my nose for 24 hours to detect acid levels, an esophogeal test where they put tubes down my nose and had me swallow to see if it was pushing food down properly, one where I had to eat radioactive food and they watched while it digested under a [xray? type] machine... The ultrasound was before all that.
What you just described sounds like a workup to me.
Sounds like a gallbladder problem, even without stones.