Hello everyone, 27 year old Male here seeking help. Im really at a loss here and don't know what to do.
My stomach problems started in 2006 when my family and I were in Thailand. We got food poisoning. Everyone in the family vomited and had diarrhea but because I have always been afraid to vomit "managed" to supress and threw up only a little. Me and my dad were admitted to a hospital and were put on IV.
Approximately three months after returning home various stomach problems started to appear. Acid reflux, heartburn, heavy stomach with early satiety and belching.
The symptoms continued and I got to try a course of Flagyl (antibiotics) to kill any parasites.
Various samples have been taken and have not found either bacteria or parasites. I could live with the discomfort and accepted that they were there. I could still be physically active and eat and drink and even feel that I could digest what I ate.
Since January 2014 my symptoms have become significantly worse after a workout at the gym.
I got sudden huge pain in the scrotum area and in three hours I was laying down on the floor in pain. This has happened before, 2- 4 times a year. Since that night it feels like my problems have escalated.
I have sought help again. I have taken new samples, made a new gastroscopy , ultrasound and CT-scan + a barium swallow, all normal. The ultrasound only found a small umbilical hernia that sometimes pops out and when it happens I push it back in (it pains to do it).
My doctor said it's a possible case of aerophagia, and I have received antidepressants(Mirtazapine which made everything much worse) and I went to a psychologist for 5 months now (and counting) and 3 months a few years ago. They say its anxiety because I have lived with the belching for 8 years and that my symptoms worsen because now I finally want to get rid of them.
When my symptoms worsened in January I was really happy and can not trace back an ounce of anxiety that could have triggered this.
So that is where it stops, nobody wants to do any more investigations, and I have no tools/help to cope with everyday life. I take digestive enzymes, magnesium, zink, probiotics, herbal remedies and nothing works. I have tried acupuncture, hypnosis, relaxation massage, lactose free, dairy free, sugar free, gluten free, low FODMAP, etc.).
My days always look exactly alike.
I wake up and get up out of bed and I belch several times when I get to an upward position. When I move it pains in the intestinal region and I have a dull feeling. The belching is always there but during and after intake of food and water it always starts violently, and it has recently started to become painful to belch.
It feels heavier and heavier as the day goes by and I eat and get more food in my stomach. A feeling of bloating that I had not had before to the same extent.
I will quickly feel full after eating and I feel a strong pressure and pain in the abdomen and a sort of pressure against the esophagus or lungs that makes it more difficult to breathe and stand upright.
My symptoms escalate during movement. The belching becomes constant and I have a terrible uncomfortable feeling of cramp in the intestines. This makes walking, especially later in the day after more food intake, sometimes excruciating . A feeling that the bowels are moving and that I have "dropped" my abdomen (if that makes sense) makes walking overwhelming. I feel the pressure all the way up in the throat and sometimes I get a warm feeling and hunger similair to that of heartburn acid inhibitors have unfortunately never helped. I used to go to the Gym, I used to jog and swim, play golf and the occasional soccer, but now I can't even walking and ordinary movement in the home is difficult to perform.
Sometimes when I inhale and exhale deeply I can sometimes hear and feel rumbling sounds in the lower left abdomen, as if air is stuck there.
I experienced loss of sensation (numbness ) in my right groin area when I sat down and sometimes I awoke to that feeling. I have belched so much and my intestines have cramped so much that by the evening I'm completely exhausted both physically and mentally.
My stool is on the harder side, and bowel movements worsen my symptoms of abdominal pressure.
I'm feeling weaker and weaker , I have lost 15 kg since 2006, of which 6 kg in the last 4 months. Im now at 58kg (127lb) with a BMI of 17. I feel I'm losing hope of ever getting better. Im just so confused, I was physically active and I love to cook and make desserts. Now I can't even give my dogs their proper walks and daily exercise, let alone walk in my own household.
Anyone have any inputs? Any new idea can really help/save me at this point. I havent tried a grain-free paleo diet but im a little scared of starting since I really need to gain weight and I have a hard time with meats and fats. Someone mentioned Xifaxan, but im afraid of side effects worsening an already precarious situation and after years of herbal remedies I wonder what good it will do.
Regards
John.A.S.
