Stomach discomfort and feeling of something 'stuck in the throat'

Hello,

Almost two years ago, out of a sudden, I started having weird stomach pain and discomfort. Eating usually relieved the symptoms and after a few months I've been diagnosed with an H. Pylori infection. I took the antibiotics and it worked. Everything got back to normal.

... until two months later. I caught some virus after the eradication therapy, and 3 weeks after recovering a constant feeling of stomach discomfort has began. The discomfort is only in the middle part of stomach - where the diaphgram is located. I am constantly belching - this feeling is as if "gas accumulated" in my stomach and every burp seems to help a little bit, but then the feeling of stomach discomfort and heaviness instantly comes back. If I'm not eating anything for a while, I'm getting a feeling of something 'stuck in the throat' - as if this was a belch.

For example, immediately upon waking up I feel some stomach discomfort and I belch immediately. I belch a couple of times when sitting/getting up from bed, then also randomly when drinking something or after eating. If I'm not eating anything for a while then stomach discomfort usually disappears entirely and instead I have a 'belch stuck in the throat' feeling. But - I still belch.

To put it shortly:

I have a stomach discomfort/heaviness feeling right away after eating and a lot of belching. Generally, throughout the day I can't stop belching - it's a constant feeling as if gas was stuck in my stomach. When I don't eat for a while, stomach discomfort completely disappears and instead I feel a belch 'stuck in my throat'.

I never had both stomach discomfort and feeling of something stuck in the throat. It's usually either this or that.

It is going on for 16 months now and after seeing many different doctors nobody seems to know what may be the issue. I have tested basically everything there is regarding diet, natural remedies, I tried stuff like betaine for dyspepsia, I took prokinetics (trimebutine and itopride) for 2 months. Of course I was also a few months on PPI. Nothing helped yet.

I didn't have that many tests done, because medical system in Poland is pretty dysfunctional. I end up paying for every single doctor visit and every test I have to do. Although money is not much of an issue and I will be doing everything I can to find a cause.

One of theories is that this is an post-infectious functional dyspepsia - after H. Pylori or the other virus I've caught. Maybe, but I don't feel convinced. I'm also leaning more towards it being some kind of neurological issue, because what's weird:

-for some reason, during two endoscopies, I always had too much bile in my stomach. Doctors couldn't explain why so;
-whenever I have stomach discomfort and I start eating, all symptoms disappear. As if the act of eating relieved all symptoms, but they come back few minutes after I've stopped eating.

In one of other topics here on the forums I've found a suggestion towards HIDA scan. I don't see it's available in Poland, but I can do a CT scan of my gallbladder and maybe an MRI.

Thing that I have checked so far:

-Esophagus CT scan - GERD confirmed, but it can't be the cause. I'm not having heartburn, I don't have any burning feeling in my throat, nothing of the sort.
-Two endoscopies
-Stomach-emptying scintigraphy
-Sulpiride treatment for 2 months to rule out if the issue may be mental. Unfortunately - no help at all.

I understand it's a long post, but I'm feeling desperate after almost two years of living with this. I'm only 24 and I will do everything I can to find a solution. I appreciate any ideas on what else can I do and what tests to perform. I have an abdominal MRI scheduled for next week, after that I also want to check for Giardia, Lyme, and do a SIBO test.

Hey, thanks for your answer!

Yes, I had barium swallow test, but only esophagus got checked. The doctor didn't order RTG of the stomach.

No doctor suggested hiatal hernia - they did check my stomach manually if there may be one, but didn't find anything. However, I forgot to mention that I've been diagnosed with a cascade stomach. From what I read, hiatal hernia is harder to notice in cascade stomach. I don't know whether cascade stomach is something that I've been born with and it's completely natural for me, or if it is simply a manifestation caused by some other issue that I haven't diagnosed yet.

As for the gallbladder - technically it doesn't seem like it could be an issue for me. GB usually causes pain and reflux, while for me it's rather constant discomfort, belching, and well... maybe reflux since I feel like there is something stuck in my throat. However, some other user reported gallbladder dysfunction after running Hida Scan and their symptom was just annoying belching. I think it's worth checking out with an USG at the very least, and then maybe hida scan if there was something noticed.

Also, one of my recent ideas is to check for H. Pylori again. All symptoms came back 3 months after eradication. I did a stool test twice, but that was 6 weeks after antibiotics. Perhaps it came back false-negative because of this? I will be checking it again with both stool test and breath test.

Thanks for the suggestions so far! I'm determined to find the root of the issue and finally start enjoying my life again

Hey!

Unfortunately not. I have also done colonoscopy and nothing major was found there as well. Will update the thread if I manage to find something.