need advice please

Hi katz,
Welcome to HealingWell!
Don't jump the gun just yet and think you have lymphoma. There are several things that could be the cause of you nausea... GERD, IBS, bad gallbladder, H. Pylori, C-Diff, Endometriosis, Celiacs, etc. Do you have diarrhea (D)? Do you travel? You could even have a parasite. What sorts of tests have you had done up to this point? Stool? What did the doc say he was going to test you for when he took your blood?
If I were you I wouldn't wait around for that doc to call you about your OB/GYN - call HIM. Demand results. That's what you pay them for. I don't mean to be brutal but... They don't care about you. You have to stand up for yourself and do what is best for you.
You'll get some good insight and tips on this site, you can take some notes and take them with you to see a doc. Ask for tests. Ask questions. I know it is easier said than done, but it is the only way to get what you want. Be specific and suggest test.
Sorry, I get a little carried away. It just gets me so worked up when doctors don't help. What the heck are they doctors for in the first place?
By the way, ginger is great for nausea. You can buy ginger pills or make ginger tea. Dbab, the other mod, says her mom chews ginger gum. I get nauseous a lot and I drink tea... Mint, Chamomile & Fennel work the best for me.
Good luck! I hope you get some helpful tips here.

Have you had an upper endoscopy (EGD)? It can show the docs if there are any erosions in your esophagus from GERD or if you have ulcers.
What about a hernia? I don't even know how docs detect that. ???
Yes, blood tests would detect H. Pylori. You would get some antibiotics that would clear it up.
I'm glad you are seeking alternative medicine. I have been curious about that. Please let us know how your visit goes tomorrow.
Wish I could help more.... But all I can say is be persistent with your doc(s).

Peppermint can cause acid reflux so it that is a problem stay away from anything mint. whereas it relaxes the stomach it also relaxes the valve that keeps the stomach acid from coming back up. I persoanally think Barium x-rays are waste of time and money. May as well do the EGD and find out really what is going on cause if they see anything they will have to do it anyway. as for the blood test for H. Pylori there is a disclaimer on the test forum that says it is not as accurate as a endoscopy would be and even at that I was negative in every test for h. pylori, blood, stool and biopsy and my Dr. still insisted I had H. pylori based on the condition of my stomach so he gave me the treatment anyway and my symptoms went away. Now my stomach looks OK but I am having the IBS part. I just find he ginger capsules help with the nausea which I find is from the gas. Once I get rid of the gas the nausea goes away for me until the gas builds back up.

Kyhurst, when my gall bladder was bad, I used to get terrible chills when I had an attack, so I don't think it would be far-fetched to think that night sweats could also be possible. Your body can react strangely to a serious sickness like that.

It will take you about 6 weeks after your operation to get straightened out (as good as you're going to get, anyways). I found after my surgery that red meat and pork made me have worse diarrhea and other problems, so I just ate chicken for several weeks, then slowly added the red meat and pork back in. Luckily I've never eaten a lot of either, so it was no big deal to do without for a few weeks. But I was able to add them back in after my guts got used to not having a gall bladder anymore. Meats are hard to digest anyways, and so is fat (especially now that you don't have a gall bladder to release bile to digest the fat). You may want to try a bland, low-fat, mostly vegetarian diet for the 6 weeks after your surgery, and then start adding things back in. There are only two things I can't really eat now: I can't have caffeine except for the small amounts in green tea and chocolate (caffeine killed me before the surgery) and I can't eat omelettes for some odd reason; I can eat eggs in other forms, though.

If you have bile diarrhea (you know, the yellow, burning stuff) still after 6 weeks, then see a G.I. and ask for Welchol. That's what I take (and several others here). It absorbs the excess bile and keeps you from having bile diarrhea. I take one or two a day, but some here take as many as 6 a day. It all depends on how well yoru body adjusts to not having a gall bladder. Some people are normal, some people aren't. If you have acid reflux instead of or in addition to the diarrhea, then just look to a prescription acid blocker. As my G.I.'s nurse said, sometimes the bile goes up and sometimes it goes down.

Thank you all for your replies. Keriamon, I too found the IBS diagnosis was a little strange because I didn't have diarreha/constipation and my diet was pretty bland to begin with. The only problem I have with that is sometimes having pain with bowel movements and of course, feeling nauseous almost all of the time. Although, I do have pain in my lower right abdomen which comes and goes but I find that it is the same pain I have had with my endometriosis which I am also getting checked out later in April. Before this all started I didn't weigh too much to begin with (111lbs) and now I think I am below the 100 mark. Not so good since I can't afford to lose anymore. As for the swollen lymph nodes.....I had no idea that they were swollen until my dentist pointed it out to me. I don't have a sore throat, pain or anything like that. So I found it odd when he said that.

Kyhurst, unfortunately they never said anything about the night sweats. I wish I could help you with that one. If I do find out I promise to make a post about it.

Thanx for the tip on the ginger pills Canyonbabe711. Where did you pick them up from?

I have an appointment with a Nautropath today so I will send a post and let you all know how it went.

Katz, I just happened to be looking yesterday at the Rome II Criteria for an IBS diagnosis. You have to have for 12 weeks out of the last 52 weeks (not necessarily consecutively) pain accompanied by a change in appearance or frequency of stools. Other related symptoms listed did not include nausea. That doesn't mean that nausea CAN'T be a symptom of IBS, but it's not only not a hallmark of it, it's not even listed as one of the major ones.

I think you should see another doctor and if he brings up IBS, point out that that diagnosis is not consistant with the Rome II Criteria and would he like to try again? (I get impatient with dismissive doctors).

Kyhurst, I had bile diarrhea before I had my gall bladder out and since then. What's up with doctors calling every bowel problem under the sun IBS? "IBS" is the term you're supposed to use when you have absolutely no clue what's wrong with a person's digestive tract. Really, it should just boil down to functional issues that have no known cause. Your problem has a cause and a name. It's called post-cholecystectomy syndrome. (I found that for my book!) Try dropping that term in front of your doctor next time you see him! It entails the gut problems that people experience after having their gall bladders removed, which includes acid reflux and diarrhea.

Yes, fiber can constipate you. I thought I was the only person in the world who took fiber pills and got more constipated! And yes, bile can irritate the lining of your intestines and your rectum/hemmroids. If you're not having a lot of bile in your stools now, then you will eventually heal up. Probably take you a few weeks. Of course constipation will reaggrevate hemmroids.

Are you on a low-fat diet? My mother (a nurse) told me that low fat diets can give anyone constipation, but I think because I don't have a gall bladder my reaction to low fat was even worse. You just have to tinker with your diet and see what you can and cannot tolerate and in what amounts. Me, I eat a good deal of fat because I have a tendency to be constipated anyways and it's easier to take a Welchol and avoid the diarrhea than it is to suffer the constipation (I hate taking laxatives and avoid them if I can--and then, like I said, I can't do fiber supplements, at least not the pills).

The other thing you might try is a product called "Equalactin". You should be able to find it in the chain drugstores in the bowel-product section. It is in a red and white box. It is a type of calcium (not the same kind as in supplements) and it is supposed to help with both diarrhea and constipation by regulating the amount of water in the intestines. It both soaks up excess water and keeps moisture in the intestines. I took it before and after my gall bladder problems and it helped some. Didn't do anything against the bile diarrhea, but when I wasn't having that problem, I definitely noticed an improvement in my bowel movements. Much more regular and easy to pass. I got into the habit of letting the tablets dissolve in my mouth and found that they permanently fixed my sensitive teeth too! It's pricey if you have to use it a lot, but sometimes just getting yourself straightened out is all you need to do, and then just keep some on hand for when you start sliding backwards again.