Stomach problems and axiety or something else?

[Curly03]

Well to start off I’m only 22 but back in 2006 I would get these really bad stomach pains in the upper center part of my abdomen sometimes it would even go to my back. It would just happen like once every 4 to 6 months and it would happen at night. The pain would get real severe, nothing would help and the pain would keep me awake all night then as soon as the morning came it just went away. As time went on during the night it seems like the pain would get worse and sometimes I would even throw up from feeling so bad and sometimes that would help the stomach pains, sometimes it wouldn’t make a difference. My mom and I always thought it was probably my gallbladder, but since it didn’t happen very often and only at night I knew the doctors probably wouldn’t be able to diagnose me correctly. As time went on the stomach pains would happen more frequently more like every 2 to 3 months.
Last year in August 2009 I started getting real sick. I would feel real nauseated, with no appetite, vomiting, belching with no relief, when I have that constant belching I also have a feeling of fullness, and pressure from all the air, acid indigestion. Some nights I would get so sick I would constantly feel nauseated and stay awake vomiting several times during the night. It was miserable. I had no health insurance, but I got so sick one day I went to an urgent care clinic and told the doctor all of my symptoms. He did a blood test, urine test, and an X ray and couldn’t find anything so he diagnosed me with gastritis. I don’t drink and I tested negative for H. Pylori so he figured it could be caused from stress since I just started going back to college and taking care of my at the time 2 year old son. He gave me some Prylosec which I stayed on for a few months, but it didn’t help. The symptoms continued with the nausea, constant belching, vomiting, and those same stomach pains every few months.
Since then I have been to a total of 6 different doctors and have had my gallbladder looked at on an ultrasound and everything looked ok. They have all done numerous blood tests and everything shows up fine. I have been on several different acid reducers but I still never feel good. During the day I might feel ok then get real sick throughout the night. Sometimes the acid build up gets so bad I feel like I can’t breathe and it puts pressure on my chest. I have been diagnosed with IBS which I don’t think I have and some doctors think I have gastritis but if that was the case why hasn’t it went away and I honestly don’t know what could have caused it.
A little over a month ago I went and donated Plasma for the second time and I wasn’t feeling right I felt kind of nervous and my arm kept feeling numb. Then all of a sudden I got this hot flash, started losing my hearing and my eyes started going black. I was trying to black out so I told the nurse they stopped my machine, fanned me down, and gave me an ice pack. After about 5 to 10 minutes I was fine and they let me leave. Ever since then I will have these dizzy spells and where I will feel like I’m going to black out, my heart will start beating fast and it feels hard for me to breath. Sometimes I feel real weak but that could be due to me not eating proper since my stomach has been giving me a lot of problems. Since these extra symptoms started it’s hard for me to concentrate and I always feel nervous or worried because I don’t know whats causing me all of these problems. It got so bad one night I went to the ER. I suddenly got real hot, felt dizzy, my heart started beating real fast and started skipping beats and it was hard for me to breath. The doctor just thought I was having anxiety but she put an EKG on me to make sure my heart was ok it was so, they just gave me a shot of Adavan. Nerve problems do run on my father’s side of the family but I was always fine until after the day I nearly blacked out from donating Plasma. I don’t know if there really is something else wrong or if it could just be anxiety. Some doctors think it could be related to my stomach but in the way I think some of it is anxiety because I just feel nervous and like I’m going to die or go crazy plus all of my stomach problems. Some nights I will feel out of it and my eyes will feel real heavy like I just took a lot of sleep medicine and I will feel real dizzy so I can’t really sleep because of it and my eyes seem sensitive to light and like I have to strain them to read something online. This only happens sometimes but I have no idea why I’m suddenly having all of these other symptoms.
I finally got health insurance a week ago so now I have an appointment made to see a Gasterologist and I’m going to see a new doctor right before to see if she can figure out what’s causing me all of these other symptoms. I have also gone to another ER last weekend because I have been feeling so sick for so long. He just gave me an IV, did some blood work, and prescribed me Carafate 4 times a day right before I eat and then he told me that I needed to see a Gasterologist so they can figure out what’s wrong with my stomach. So now I’m just waiting and suffering. This is really scaring me and I have lost a lot of weight over it because I can’t eat very much or just don’t feel like eating. Does anyone know what could cause the occasional sensitive heavy eyes, hard to concentrate, dizziness, heart racing, shortness of breath, and feeling of fainting could be caused from? How do I know if it’s really just anxiety or if they’re really is something else wrong? I also feel off balance sometimes and my body feels heavy like an inner ear problem. This is really scaring me so any help or advice is greatly appreciated I’m so tired of suffering. I’m too young to be having all of these problems and I hate not being able to take care of my 3 year old son like I would if I wasn’t so sick all the time. I just have a huge fear that it’s something serious like stomach cancer or maybe even a brain tumor with my dizziness and eye sight changing but I don’t have headaches and the doctors don’t seem to concerned  I know I have to stop worrying and let the doctors figure it out. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this a lot has happen this past year plus the other 4 years old occasional stomach pain.

[Curly03]

Hey thanks for the reply. Im hopeing the GI doctor will really figure something out because Im tired of suffereing. I didnt see how me donating Plasma had anything to do with it either but Im wondering if it didnt trigger off some kind of anxiety for me over nearly blacking out from it. Anxiety does ruin in my family and I am very stressed because I worry about whats wrong with me or what if Im stuck like this. Im hopeing that maybe after they figure out whats wrong with me I will be more at peace. I will write back after I get back from my Gasterologist appointment and let you know how it goes. Fingers crossed and I hope you get to feeling better this is no fun and not a good way to live a life.

[patient915]

Welcome to the gastroenterology community!  First off about the plasma donation.  I worked at the blood bank over the summer and I would watch over the people after the donated blood/platelets/plasma.  You'd be surprised at how many people have funny reactions to it.  People are passing out, having trouble breathing, sweating, getting dizzy, and just overall not feeling well.  Personally, I don't think you donating plasma has anything to do with your continuing problems.

Secondly, seeing a gastroenterologist is a good idea.  It sounds like you need some testing done like an endoscopy, more blood tests, or a gastric emptying scan.  This hopefully will help you to figure out what is going on.

Third, stress makes everything worse.  Feeling sick and not having a diagnosis is so stressful and makes your body even more messed up.  I'm not really sure what you have right now but if you reply with what the GI doctor says and what some of the tests show, then I might have some ideas.

I have many of the symptoms you describe (both GI and non-GI) and for me they found my problems to be POTS (a problem with the autonomic nervous system) and gastroparesis (stomach doesn't empty properly).  I'm not saying you have those though.

Good luck and keep us updated.