Crazy ER visit--can anyone shed light?

See a GI doc and in the meantime take probiotics- a good one with many live cultures. Also avoid sugar. I had the black and green stuff about 2 years ago, have them do a nuclear scan of your gallbladder. It is possible it could have inflammation or be failing (does not need gallstones so insist on the nuclear scan it is pronounced Hide AHH). Also know your body may be getting rid of toxins with the black and green gunk. The spots require a dermatologist and the gums mean you need to see a dentist fast. The irritation can lead to tooth loss. I hope you discover the problem. If non of that works ask for a barium scan and get a gallium scan too. I wish you luck in dealing with this. The probiotics fixed it the black and green stuff for me, along with having my gallbladder out. Know that the bowels can retain rotting matter and old food that didn't digest for decades so this may be your body trying to clean itself out. I hope it isn't an infection or a surgery issue, I am really hoping you just have a low supply of the needed bacteria and that it is making your body nuts because that can be fixed easier than any of the others. Check and see if any of your meds lower white cell counts.

I don't want to scare you but my grandma lost all but 4 teeth due to gum irritation so when I hear someone has it I suggest a dentist right away because had she seen one they could have helped the irritation and saved her teeth. Know this, liver involvement in lupus is very rare- I unfortunately developed a mild case thanks to my gallbladder being allowed to be inflamed and damaged to the point it completely quit functioning (I started having problems at 13 and they only too it out when I was 28). I have a family history of gallstones but I had no stones- my gallbladder was targeted by my immune system and it got the brunt of things for years. I nearly died because they put off the surgery for so long- the gallbladder can burst like the appendix but it is much worse and a lot more dangerous. As to the yogurt, it is a nice start but the truth is you need a pill or liquid that is completely probiotic with many cultures. I suggest going to GNC, The Vitamin Shoppe, or a similar store for it. Seriously if your balance is as far gone as a lot of the lupus meds can make (also know lupus screws this balance up on its own too) then you need a heavy duty course and to take it for at least a month more than once a day (preferably 3 or more if you eat small meals) then take it at least one week every month from here on out. It will do wonders for digestion. Also if your stomach empties slowly then this could be a necessary thing because all that stuff gets backed up. Clearing out your system by having only broth and similar stuff for a day or two might help too because it gives the stomach a break. Personally I use motion sickness pills to excess. I also have found that if you can avoid the bathroom for 45 minutes the suppositories of compazine and fenergen (sp both) work exceptionally well- even better than IV or IM meds. Another thing- ginger tea, ginger snaps with real ginger, and ginger pills (yep they make them). I even found that bananas can help- see often being sick to the stomach is caused by multiple factors and having an empty stomach makes it worse. I have morning sickness all 8 months I stay pregnant when I am lucky enough to get past 12 weeks. I am healing very well- only 2 small areas have not completely closed and those are from irritation from being required to wear a bra 24/7 for 3-4 months following surgery- my skin is really delicate and clothes can give me ulcers if I wear them too long. The new place is coming along nicely. I am actually officially in remission on the lupus- the RA and fibro are still a problem. I recommend you get some of the mouth spray they sell in most drug stores for dry mouth- I think it is Oasis or some such thing. Also keep water constantly on hand. Even if you don't drink rinse your mouth regularly and it will help a lot. Coke syrup can be purchased for nausea and works really well for some people. Also rearranging your meds can help too. I switched all my plaquenil to nighttime and it helps some. I have an over active gag reflex- if I put anything other than food (and some foods) beyond the middle of my tongue I gag and sometimes can't help puking. Left over from a combination of childhood trauma and the fact I was anorexic/bulimic for several years. Actually I still have trouble with the anorexia but the bulimia well, that was never a huge part of my problem with food and I broke that habit when I got pregnant the first time- trust me puking your guts out for 8 months straight will cure you if you have a mild problem. I really hope you get better soon. I hate to see someone else suffer like I did- I was years getting help so I prefer to offer my experience so it may help speed treatment. (gallbladder problem not my food issues though I have tried to dissuade those young people who see anorexia or bulimia as a good think and cool).

I can honestly say the worst of the pain was over in 5 days then only mild soreness. Considering how much it helped my neck and shoulders and back my pain level actually was down by day 2. I take longer to heal because my skin was so thin and messed up due to pregnancies and also the fact I got weird skin infections from them being so big and heavy and rubbing against the other skin- yeasty type infections 2-3 times a year. Might see if insurance will pay for a tummy tuck. Sometimes Medicaid will. Often diet will not fix the problem. I lost weight and mine did not shrink at all. Heck mine never stopped growing. My hope is I will not need a repeat surgery several years from now- I hope she removed the tissue that was growing. I paid nothing for my reduction but hear it can cost 4000-8000 depending on how much work is involved.

Thanks for the info redrose and Kris--
I've been trying to get info on bariatric surgery or some kind of stomach help at least to find out if its organomegaly (well I know some of it is from my fat fat liver which presses on all kinds of things), water, or fat that's on standby to be shoved into my liver somehow. It's frustrating. Does the reduction get rid of side and back boobs? I just don't want to get rid of the front ones!

Kris, I was hoping to hear from you on my son's problem. The docs he's only ever seen a primary care and his neurologist, who could care less and just gives him pills and a hard time, and a cardiologist who is extremely frustrated with the whole situation with the electrophysiologist, who refuses to run the diagnosic cath he needs to rule out wolff-parkinson-white so it can be fixed and we can be done with the cardiologist. Sound like a cluster of idiots?

Anyway, I'm frustrated, he's frustrated. He's got a heart monitor under his skin that tells the cardiologist absolutely nothing about whether he has WPW, and the electrophysiologist blames everything on epilepsy and doesn't want to do the cath, which is so low risk and could save my sons life by curing the WPW. Anyway, the neurologist assures us it's not his epilepsy, I agree on that part, but does no blood work for any of the hereditary conditions I have that might contribute to my son's neurological problems. The doc gave him a medrol dose pack because they didn't want to give him narcotics for pain, they didn't care if it gave him a seizure or heart attack. I'm afraid for him to take it, he is so moody anyway.

He definitely needs some bloodwork, our PCP isn't too bad, she tried to get him into another neurologist, they weren't taking patients. He can't go to a children's hospital because he's nineteen. I'm afraid he might have some kind of demyelinating problem, but its hard to tell with epilepsy because the medicine causes such bad side effects. He is on trileptal. Have you ever taken that Kris?