Stomach, Chest, Mind Fog, Diarrhea...

[simeverything]

Hello everyone. I'm dealing with an ailment that I'm not quite sure what it is. It all started in May where I would notice dull chest pains while sitting and laying on the couch in the evening. By the end of May, my stomach started bloating as well, causing somewhat of a mind fog which took away my focus. Symptoms were better if I kept moving, kept food in my belly, and helped when I slept upright. The clinic dismissed it as a virus and a low-grade fever. I felt better after a week so I dismissed as a one-time occurrence.

A month later (the start of July) my stomach started acting up again. I would be trying to sleep when it flared up, causing chest and abdominal pressure, loads of gas, lack of focus and disorientation, numbness and tingling in the extremities while my heart was pounding to keep up. I felt a literal sickness to my stomach and a sort of malaise. An ibuprofen and/or an antihistamine would curb the discomfort so I could sleep. During the day I was fatigued, flare-ups would occur seemingly randomly with no apparent response to food or drink. It seemed to worsen when I relaxed after work or lie down.

I'm still not diagnosed on what it could be. Some days I would feel fine with minimal symptoms (thinking oh I'm getting better), just to have another flare-up 1 to 2 days later. I've been to an internal medicine doctor twice, putting me on Prilosec thinking I had too much acid in my stomach causing all that gas. He couldn't put a finger on my illness, possibly linking it to my diet. At first I lost my appetite but for the most part I can eat fine. I've been a vegetarian for 7 1/2 years (still eating eggs and dairy), thinking that might have something to do with it. Although there seemed to be not immediate response after consuming food, my long-term diet may have left me with a deficiency of some sort, even though both blood tests and both stool tests turned out fine (abc, metabolic, culture stool, ova/parasites, shiga toxin, celiac disease response, fat fecal, fecal white blood cell, and HIV). My heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature are all great too. I've lost about 10 pounds enduring this mystery (that's concerning because I'm not a very big man to begin with, 5'9" and normally around 140 lbs.). I'm a 30 year old male who takes great pride in his health.

When the first doc couldn't diagnose me, he sent me to a recommended GI specialist. There I made sure I constructed a list of symptoms so that when he finally walked through the door, I read the list off to him as he listened. He deduced that it most likely seemed to be some sort of bacterial infection and he prescribed me with a two-week antibiotic course (metronidazole). I started to feel better a few days into taking them, the first time I thought relief was obtainable.

I went to a third doctor, recommended by my mother, who's perspective was not of the medical side. He's listed as a chiropractor, but also prescribes natural medicine and supplements. He gave me an exam, performing various cognitive tests, concluding that my right brain and left side were less responsive (the side attached to the stomach). He also explained that I had an 80% chance of having LOW stomach acid or a 20% chance of having an ulcer. He gave me betaine hydrochloric acid pills, a gut restore liquid, and a pre-phase supplement regime targeted towards the stomach and digestive tract (the pills didn't burn or anything, so I must be in the 80%). He seemed pretty confident in what was going on, confident in his diagnosis. Knowing me, I'm not easily convinced. I took his supplements and skipped the next 3 antibiotics (he said there's no danger in stopping them). When I skipped the first antibiotic that night, I started feeling a flare-up, feeling feverish. I didn't sleep well that night and it still persisted the next day so I continued with the antibiotics along with the supplements (making sure I alternated every 3 hours so that they wouldn't interfere with each other). I started feeling better every day, thinking this was the way out.

However, the last two evenings I've been experiencing flare-ups again, noticing my left rib cage sticking out more than my right. While taking the antibiotics, I haven't had any flare-ups until now. I didn't sleep very well last night and all of the original symptoms are back to some degree. I have a CT scan scheduled for Friday.

I need some concrete answers here, reaching out in every direction for advice. I'm honestly baffled. I don't remember the last time I've been sick before this summer, boasting about my health to my peers, getting nothing I couldn't remedy or sleep off. I'm a musician and have been pretty active up until the summer. I work on a plant farm outside the city where I probably contracted this from. Chemicals are everywhere and it's a dirty environment. I wasn't too keen on my hygiene and eating habits either, probably contributing to the madness. I'll leave out the bias of what I think it is for the time being, but if anybody has any advice or thoughts about what ails me here, I'd really appreciate some feedback. Thanks to everyone.

Jared