Trying to Figure Things Out

3 weeks ago i started experiencing severe pain in upper abdomen when lifting weights. Over the course of the next week I had CBC, Ultra Sound, Endoscopy and CT Scan. Only thing shown were (1) small polyps on my gallbladder and (2) very very small hiatal hernia (less than 2 cm) .. in fact CT scan results didn't even mention it.

A week after initial pain in weight room, i started experiencing some more constant pain in abdomen and back when i would eat. Had one bad night of heartburn. Doc put me on Protonix.

Over last two weeks, doc has had me keeping food diary. He was leaning towards gallbladder. I sleep fine (minus some anxiety keeping me up). I get up in mornings with no pain. Breakfast is usually combo of an Insure, yogurt and/or banana. I'm usually fine in mornings (maybe a little belching). Lunch is whatever is served as the University. Sometimes i hurt immediately and sometimes it is not until 2-3 hours after i eat. Abdominal pain, back pain, gas that usually last for a hours.

I have found that fatty/fried foods seem to really trigger it immediately. Baked, less fatty foods i don't have issues until hours later. I go back to see doctor Monday.

Some other symptoms include globus (just the last few days and its off and on), feeling of throat being a little tight (but that might be my anxiety/mind), chills, leg fatigue ...

I've read a lot of tough stories on here. At this point mine isn't as rough as some of these stories so i hate to complain. However, i'm just trying to get some feedback. GERD, LERD, gallbladder causing some of the reflux symptoms, pancreas issues, ...

I'm 45 and have never had issues with reflux in my life. If the Protonix is working, should i be in this type of pain? My stomach has settled down from what it was at its worse, but it still rumbles and I get a lot of gas.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you.

Since you are a weight lifter, the vagus nerve is definitely worth looking into, although you may have a hard time convincing a doctor of that.

Stress can do strange things, and easing it often has profound effects. If you're sure the stress is only due to having these symptoms, and can find no other changes in your life that might account for it, then you can move on to other ideas.

The body's ability to handle certain foods with ease changes as we age. You're only 45 but that's not too young to see this. Having pain immediately while, or just after, eating usually indicates some kind of stomach upset, like gastritis, but the endoscopy should have picked that up. Pain 2-3 hours later could still be in the stomach, but also might be small or large intestine based.

Your doctor may be on the right track suspecting gall bladder issues, but since he put you on Protonix, which is a Proton Pump Inhibitor designed to reduce the production of stomach acid by 90%, he may feel there are other issues. Or, as do most doctors who are just guessing in the early stages of these type of symptoms, he may have just prescribed that as part of the trial and error process of diagnosis.

If you intend to take any PPI for more than a few weeks, you should start taking supplements with calcium, magnesium, potassium, Vit B complex and Vitamin D3, if you are not already doing so; as these are the main essential nutrients that often go unabsorbed properly due to lack of stomach acid.

Until your doctor narrows this down to something more definitive, (and don't be surprised if he/she never does) I would start working on your main symptom, which appears to be gas. The FODMAP diet is an excellent place to start. Followed to the letter, it's extremely restrictive, as it eliminates all gluten and lactose, but it's a good way to find out if certain foods or food groups are causing you problems. Googling FODMAP diet will bring you to dozens of sites with charts and explanations.

Start by following all of its restrictions for about 3 weeks and see if you notice any effect. If it's working, then add back *one* source of gluten for a couple of weeks and see if it still works, then add back another, and another. If still good, then starting adding back sources of lactose, one at a time. Along the way you might discover what foods are the culprit. If it continues to work for you after adding back gluten and lactose, then the rest of the diet is much easier to stay on permanently.

Another way to attack the gas issue is with the Fast Track Digestion books by Norman Robillard. He has a more novel approach, one that doesn't restrict all carbs ( the major source of gas) but only the ones that are the most gas causing. Surprisingly, he has found that some varieties of potatoes cause gas, while others don't. The same with rice. It's an interesting read with scientific testing to back up all his theories, and recipes to help you apply it.

I wish you luck.

Post Edited (rjdriver) : 5/4/2015 8:04:58 PM (GMT-6)

For one thing, how about lactose intolerance? You're taking in a lot of it at breakfast. It would account for the gas. You can try the lactase pills, but you have to take a bunch of them, not just 1 or 2, from my experience. (I'm not a doctor!)

That may be a part of the problem, but then bad things come in threes, as the saying goes. So how about
looking further into your food journal. (Your doctor was smart.) It may not have anything to do with how the food is prepared, but the ingredients. If your reaction comes within a couple of hours there's a good chance you have a sensitivity to something, or more than one something. Make sure not to eat the same foods at each meal or you won't be able to find which meal is the culprit.

My food triggers include corn starch and corn syrup, but not corn, maple syrup, most vinegars, but not rice vinegar, baked goods from bakeries, but not home made from scratch, canned or boxed potatoes, but not fresh ones, dried fruits except cranberries and prunes, ginger and mixed spices, wine and beer, bottled lemon and lime juice, but not fresh or frozen ... I googled my trigger foods with "food allergies" and found they all contain sulfites. Not saying you have the same sensitivity, but this is an example. Others have salicylates or MSG or other triggers.