any ideas what this could be?

[pegasi]

Since mid april, I've lost 20 pounds, and have had the following symptoms:
- Lack of appetite
- intermittent nausea, will occur on an empty stomach or even a couple hours after eating, it's totally random
- stomach pain after eating a normal meal that persists for 2-3 hours, sometimes longer
- abdomenal pain in the upper left quadrant, just below the left ribs, it's there most of the time, not severe, but persistent, occasionally goes away for short periods, but returns.
- chronic constipation, can go 2-5 days w/o bm, feeling no need to go until abdomenal pain forces attention to the issue and medication is required. I am having to use lactulose or miralax daily to keep system functioning.

- EGD shows irritation to the lining of the stomach of unknown origin, no ulcers or other pathology.
- Colonoscopy shows tortuous colon and diverticulosis (hereditary - family history of it). Never had any colon/bm issues prior to april, so I haven't a clue why I can't keep the pipes working now.
GI doc says CT scans and labs normal, but it's hard to discount that there's something going on with these symptoms and upper left quadrant pain upon exam.

I had an "attack" of some kind yesterday that scared me, I had dull hard pain just to left of midline in the upper left abdomen just below my ribs, so strong it had me cross-eyed, I was sweating sitting in an air-conditioned van, and just about wanted to curl up in a ball to escape the feeling. Drinking some gatorade did nothing to change the pain. It subsided to about half the original level after about 5 minutes, then nausea kicked in about 15 minutes later, which was not originally present. The nausea lasted about 6hrs, along with the secondary pain lasting about 16 hrs more. Things have subsided back to my original symptoms, thankfully, but this is just plain freaky.

I've lost my insurance, I got laid off 3 weeks ago and can't afford cobra, so I can't do the laparoscopy my GI doc wants to do, which I think would get to the bottom of matters. I would appreciate any input that might help me deal with things until I can get insurance again, and get things dealt with properly. Grr... I'm frustrated, such a crappy time to get laid off.

Thanks for the input!

[crambone]

chrohns or compacted colon with mal absorbtion
your loosing weight alot....sounds like your not getting the food absorbed
have they checked for various forms of cancer?
chronic pain,weight loss,,,,,major symptoms of cancer

[coughting]

It could very well be IBS, chrons and uc are autoimmune problems.  You said that you are seldom sick, that means your immune system is great.  The problem is sometimes your body thinks it is sick and that is when chrons and uc happen.

Hope u find an answer sooon

[Twinstacey]

I would really love an update of what your GI specialist come up with. Your symtoms sounds just like mine and my GI doctor has done alot of test with no answers yet but keeps saying that it may just be IBS. But I feel that that is just a label saying I have no idea so I am just going to call it IBS so that I can give you a diagnosis.  I truely feel that there is something serious going on since I have chronic diarrhea (3 months now) Upper left and right abdomen pain, nausea, loss of appetite, lost 20 lbs, and I really want to be able to get better since I am uaually never sick.  I also Had my gallbladder removed but It did not stop the pain that I was having it just gave me more diarrhea and it is now always bright yellow in color. Not sure why... If you could please keep me posted on your diagnosis since it may help me also.

[betty_on_a_journey]

Read the thread in this forum about the Vagus Nerve - all of it because there is lots of good info. there. You might also try a competent, knowledgeable chiropractor to help get you straightened out.

[kwm2007]

Well, you can ignore my posting - - - I didn't read far enough down to see that you had your gallbladder removed - sorry -

[kwm2007]

Did you get your gallbladder checked.  This sounds like what I went through when I had mine.  It acted up for months and I just ignored it because eventually it would subside enough that I could function.  I would literally lay in bed at night during an attack and try not to breathe because if I moved my toes or took a breath it shot the pain right threw me.   We left for HIlton Head Island for vacation and for our wedding and I still wasn't feeling the greatest but heck, I was getting married and not missing it.  Needless to say, Monday night (two days before the wedding) I ended up in the hosptial with a serious, life threatening case of pancreatitis - because I had ignored the gallbladder for so long it turned into that.  Doctor told me I was days away from organ failure.  Get your gallbladder check and I would insist on bloodwork, ultrasound/ct scan or MRI and a HIDA scan- Good luck

[pegasi]

I still have symptoms flaring up on an intermittent basis, but almost daily. Random attacks of nausea, persistent appetite loss, abdomenal pain, stomach pain if I eat more than a smallish meal, chronic constipation, occasional diarrhea, intermittent abdomenal cramping and spasms.

They've run a gamut of tests aside from the pill-cam, and wanted me to have a laparoscopy before I lost my insurance when I got laid off.

I've managed to stabilize my weight loss, and that only because I've been bad and let myself have more sugary food than usual, to get my calorie intake up with a crappy appetite.

Last night my stomach was seizing up so bad I just wanted to pass out and be done with it, but thankfully the meds worked and it stopped. I hate that.

[coughting]

when chorn and uc crop flare up it seems to come on all of a sudden.  With weight loss, pain and sweating, often fever you really need to get this checked out.  Your GI dr might just give you meds to see if it helps without testing.

best of luck

[orangeblossoms]

Have your doctors figured out what's wrong with you? I have the same symptoms, except my pain started on the right side and is now, at times, on the left side. I have lost 15 lbs since mid-February, most of that coming off in July when I first started feeling ill. I'm finally in the care of a specialist and am now being given many tests but the doctor and specialist still say that IBS is a problem I could be suffering from. The specialist is looking at other issues though.

I hope you are feeling a bit better!

[pegasi]

The galbladder isn't in the equation anymore, that was taken out due to a couple huge gallstones and reduced ejection fraction in 2006, without complications of any kind, no bm problems, no stomach pains of any kind, I never felt as if I had the surgery after I'd healed up from it. I don't see any reason for the lack of it to suddenly be having an impact 3 years later, out of nowhere.

I've been pretty fortunate, I've always been a strong healer from accidents etc, but I've got a couple of permanent conditions, and this seems to be turning into another, yet we don't know what it is.

How does IBS just crop up out of the blue? I was fine until mid-april of this year... To me to call my problems IBS at this point would be giving up and just slapping a label on it to call it something, because they haven't found anything else.

So, the hunt is still on...

[clns]

I can imagine it is very frustrating I have been going through stomach issues for two years and now know that I have Crohn's disease, enteritis, and IBS however with the initial appointments I found out I had a bad gallbladder that was removed and then the issues continued. Best wishes

GOD bless you

[clns]

It sounds like you could have IBS or something similar...you could also be having a gallbladder attack...I had my gallbladder taken out and that sounds like a lot of the symptoms...it could also be both