Greetings,
This must be one of the hardest ailments to diagnose. My daughter, 21 years old, has had severe stomach pain on and off for 6 years. Here is a snapshot of things done over the years:
Doctor says:
Lactose intolerant (So she stays away from dairy)
Food allergies (she stays away from certain foods)
Upper GI Tests OK
X-rays and CAT Scan OK
Colonoscopy OK
Gallbladder removed (Dr said Gallbladder was in bad shape)
Stomach continue….
Dr. Says it may take a year for her body to get used to working w/o GB
2 years after surgery…still has same issues
Go to Dr. at Northwestern in Chicago
Dr. prescribes mild antidepressant for , “nervous stomach”
Stomach issues slow down
After 7 months on mild antidepressants, we take her off drug
Stomach is OK for a while
Several months pass and she gets pain attacks that double her over, cause her to sweat and shake
Pain goes away, stomach hurts for a couple of days apparently due to muscle convulsions
She is religious with her attention to food intake and type, but it seems that there is no pattern to what she eats and when the attacks come. Yesterday she was at work doing what she loves, student teaching when an attack came. She had to go home to get relief.
Diarrhea is also a symptom. She tries to belch to relieve pain. Her stomach gets bloated feeling. Sometimes the pain radiates to her side and back.
We are getting ready to go through another round of Dr. visits. It seems that the symptoms are being treated but we never get to the cause.