upper abdominal pain, indigestion & reflux, nausea & headaches following virus

[lsakwal1]

Hi,

Sorry about the long post but this is a long story and I'm hoping someone can help.  About 3 months ago I returned from a short holiday in Egypt with what my doctor attributed to a stomach virus.  It lasted for about 2 weeks and obviously I was quite relieved once it subsided but I have not felt right since.  I started to feel like my food wasn't going down properly and it would sit at the top of stomach.  This got worse and was accompanied by a general feeling of malaise - tiredness, dizziness, palpitations, insomnia, headaches and an inability to focus.  I would also suffer from the sudden onset of anxiety and panic for no apparent reason and would go extremely tense and be unable to relax for several hours.  It was on one such occassion that I ended up in A&E as I felt so unwell.  I had high blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat but once they had ruled out pancreatitis and gallstones as the cause of my abdominal pain they sent me home with "indigestion."  
I saw my doctor afterwards who tested my blood for numerous things including hormones, anaemia, thyroid and H Pylori which all came back negative.  It was then suggested my original virus may have irritated my stomach and i was prescribed omeprazole which helped a little but not entirely.  However, I am still left with pains in my stomach (just below my ribcage) which are there constantly but worsen after eating.  I am constantly bloated, even in the mornings and since finishing the course of omeprazole symptoms have worsened once more and I now have acid reflux and a sensation of something being stuck in my throat all the time.  I have just started with vague nausea and headaches too and am now utterly miserable.  Bowels seem ok, little irregular with quite loose movements (which float but have attributed this to the excess air that is constantly present in my stomach), but no bleeding or anything drastic.  
I do have a tendency towards stress and anxiety and wondered if the orginal stomach issues have set off the other symptoms which seem more unrelated as I am constantly worrying about it - my doctor has prescribed very mild antidepressants which I thought helped a little until I started with this nausea.  I also feel very dehydrated all the time - dry skin and sore throat but I am drinking plenty of water and eating fairly well even though I seem to get full a lot more quickly.  
Either way I am certain of an underlying problem with my stomach as I have never experienced anything like this before - never even had indigestion or panic attacks or anything which would imply some of these symptoms.  I am 23, female and essentially healthy - don't smoke, drink in moderation and am a healthy weight.  
I am due an upper abdominal ultrasound this weekend (which I have waited a month for and my doctor says probably won't show anything anyway) but have no other tests planned at this time.  I just don't know what to do at the moment, I feel like I am back and forth to the doctor constantly which is affecting my studies and my social life.  The only thing which seems to help is omeprazole as I have noticed the symptoms worsening again now I've run out but I am not enjoying the prospect of a lifetime prescription to something like that as it obviously doesn't solve the underlying problem and I am still quite young.
The only other thought I had was having developed an intolerance to some foods but I don't even know where to start testing that theory.  I attmepted giving up dairy for a while but that didn't seem to help.    
Does anyone have any ideas as to what this may be or has experienced anything similar following a virus?  I'm going through cycles of feeling better and then terrible again but the constant factor always seems to be the aches in my upper abdominal region.  Please help!

[margypops]

google Gall bladder, as some of your pain could be from that , and that is diet related , you can get a list of foods that trigger Gall bladder cholic and you should avoid, Dairy is one of them, also a list of foods that are okay.

[mindme]

All I can say is " I feel ya ". I have almost indetical problems except I cant breath beacause of all the gas and burning filling up my body. I am going for a colonoscopy and Lactulose breath test to see if there is something going on. I have Hoshimotos but it is newly diagnosed and Im not sure if this is all from that or not. You should make sure they test your Thyroid.All my doctors think Im nuts because nobody can find anything wrong in my blood tests, etc. It has been a year now of some days better and some worse. If I find anything out I will let you know, and please do the same.