Consant Nausea... is this gastroparesis?

Digestive health
1

I've made a post similar to this one, but I'm hoping to get more opinions and insight. Basically since the start of this year i've been nauseous every single day. It all started after I went out to eat with friends, to a place I've been to many times and never had a problem. That night I became very nauseous, but never ended up throwing up. To this day I have yet to throw up, but I am somewhat afraid of vomiting so I feel that this does influence my condition, at least partially. I've been nauseous every single day since with some days feeling better, but still not like my normal self, and other days i'll be so miserable that I can't focus on anything but my nausea.

I've gone to multiple doctors and currently see a GI, my CT scan came back with what my GI said was some food still in my stomach and intestines, so I've been put on Miralax to help with that. I thought it was working but I feel almost as bad as I did the first couple days of this. I'm also taking omeprazole 40mg daily which used to help partially, but now it seems it isn't helping anymore. I've tried reglan and it didn't help much (a little bit at least though) and I currently take zofran as needed, although it doesn't really work to well either, truthfully I only take it out of desperation.

I'm a 20 year old woman with NO other health problems. I've had bloodtests, CT scan, Endoscopy, and nothing has shown anything problematic, except the CT scan showing some food in my stomach. I'm currently trying to schedule a gastric emptying study, but I honestly hope it comes back normal because gastroparesis seems like a nightmare. 

I also find it weird that in the first couple weeks I was sick, I was able to eat normally without little problem. Now, I can barely get myself to eat a piece of toast in the morning. I've lost at LEAST ten pounds in the past few months and its very concerning, especially since I really don't have the extra weight to lose. Doesn't help that I'm in college and dining hall food isn't exactly appetizing, but even in times where I feel my stomach growling I can't really eat. I also have a lot of burping throughout the day, every once in a while i get some acid reflux, but I've never had heartburn. Also, there will be days where I'm feeling okay and can eat more, and I'll continue to eat 'safe' foods (no spicy food, caffeine, etc. etc.) and I'll suddenly feel bad again, even with things previously tolerated. 

Before I get the gastric emptying study done, does anyone know other possible causes of these symptoms? Should I also check with an endocrinologist and/or allergist? I tried cutting out gluten and it didn't help. Dairy too. I was thinking it might be thyroid related? Or maybe some sort of viral infection that a normal blood test wouldn't pick up (also i had 2 h pylori tests, both came back negative). I'm just so desperate to feel better again and my life is absolutely miserable like this. 

2

You symptom of nausea and vomiting can be from variety of conditions : 

Assessment of the patient with persistent nausea and vomiting should fall into two categories:

Poor nutritional state

Dehydration

Electrolyte imbalance

Additionally, 

Reflux oesophagitis or gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD).

Obstruction - eg, due to malignancy or chronic constipation.

Cholecystitis.

Hepatitis.

Urinary tract infection.

Gastroparesis - delayed gastric emptying.

Toxic substance effects/metabolic conditions

Drugs, eg cytotoxic agents, erythromycin, digoxin toxicity, theophylline.

Alcohol.

Hypercalcaemia.

Uraemia.

Diabetic ketoacidosis.

Do you recognize any of the above conditions that fall within your health disorders? 

3

Hi rocky,

No, i don't suffer from any of these, except maybe gastroparesis which is yet to be diagnosed since I haven't scheduled the study yet. My PCP said I had acid reflux but only based that claim off of me telling her I had nausea, and I've been taking omeprazole daily with no results. Also i think my blood tests all came back normal which would rule out a lot of these possible causes. 

4

Why are you taking Omeprazole. Acid blockers dont solve this problem. 

5

I was put on it by my doctor and now i continue with it because it takes the edge off. When I wasn't taking PPIs, i felt much worse. I know I have to get off them soon and I figured I would when I talked with my GI again.

6

If PPIs have helped you to feel better, it maybe more a gut related problem.  A gastric emptying test would confirm gastroparesis.  However, some people with a delayed emptying of the stomach have a lazy stomach rather than gastroparesis.  Since delayed emptying showed up, I would concentrate on getting this ruled out first.

If you told your doctor about getting on off acid reflux/heartburn, that is why you would have been given a PPI.  To find out about your thyroid, this would be examined via a blood test.

7

Try some magnesium (like 'calm&#39 and zinc.

Stay well hydrated, but not overhydrated (as it flushes out salts and puts body into huge work mobilising rest to have adequate level in blood)

My daughter is gastroparesis patient

(with massive throwing up in bad bouts, every 3 minutes and if it was only bile, slime and blood, during day and night, very exhausting, gastroparesis can really go very bad.....you don't want to have that)

and chronic constipation due to slow motility/EDS (connective tissue is crap), magnesium cutting it better than Miralax/Movicol in our experience,

so you might want to give it a go.

(If blood test: for zinc and copper. Magnesium shall be in level even if depleted, more reliable is hair test for those like magnesium, calcium....)

Good luck!

8

I have struggled with extreme nausea for a long time and tried every single medication as well as Chinese medicine. My life was miserable, I still have quite bad stomach issues but the nausea went. The way i treat it, is to have a really strong glass of apple and black current squash. I know it sounds crazy but it seems to work for me. Also deep breathing. The sweetness from the squash stops the sickness

9

what about a colonoscopy? sometimes bowel problems and small intestine problems can cause nausea. ive been reading up on crohns disease as i might have it. i had daily nausea start out if the blue last year snd it lasted for six months! still no diagnosis but im having sn endoscopy in3 weeks…
also have you had stool tests to check for parasites or bacteria?
h pylori is notorious for false negatives by the way…