I've had digestive problems for roughly over a year now and seek advice.

Digestive health
1

Right, so let's take it from the top, i'm a 24 year old male, naturally slim with no history of any digestive disorders in the past.

So before when i was healthy, i had just started a somewhat stressful job working with a certain someone who was very nasty and would knock my confidence on a daily basis, and after 3 or 4 months i started to suffer from severe acid reflux, and was prescribed omeprazole off and on which worked wonders temporarily, however, gradually over time omeprazole didn't help any longer and my symptoms creeped back. i then tried alternative proton pump inhibitors which didn't fix my problem either.

 have however discovered that by boosting my stomache acid levels with apple cider vinegar and coffee, it relieves a lot of my symptoms, but once again, only temporarily.

I have had a colonoscopy which was all good, and a gastroscopy which diagnosed me with a "minimal hiatal hernia", which explained my acid reflux. i'll also add i have several appointments at the hospital coming up later this month, but i was just wondering if anyone else has been through the same sort of stuff, it's been a very tough year, as this indigestion can make me feel extremely fatigued, and also very anxious, it's very debilitating

I was eating dinner one evening, after suffering with acid reflux for 6 months roughly, and all of a sudden i had a very sharp pain under my right rib, something i'd never experienced before, and during that pain, i felt extremely fatigued and just completely terrible. almost as if i was going to pass out. this only lasted for a few seconds.

Ever since i had that pain, i now have a noticeable lump beneath my right rib which can be seen if i position myself in a certain way, i've been checked for gallstones, and had blood tests and got the all clear, it's been a very confusing and stressful process as all doctors i have seen just simply dont understand what is wrong with me.

When my lump plays me up, i drink ginger tea that often calms it down, or coffee which seems to help clear me out. i'll also add i've not passed a normal stool for quite some time now, maybe 1 year approximately, it is quite often loose or stringy, and darker than usual.

If anyone has been through this or anything similar and received answers or know of any dietry advice i'd love to hear it and i would be forever grateful, I know this is a long piece of text so i appreciate anyone who takes the time to read it.

 

2

Hi brad I have a hernia hiatus I know what you mean about acid reflux I have just spent two days in hospital in gut agony feel tired all the time constantly burning and bloated I am a stress head as well . I also have IBS have you got any food intorants that could be one reason another like me I am scared I have low stomach acid which my gastro days I have not but I have slow gut mobillty he says I am going to ask for gastric emptying tests as I feel my food stuck in my stomach or my intestnals for to long , like you I have been put on ppis but it makes me more bloated so don't take them I have tried to see if it helps but I feel the same at night I feel like I have inflamed stomach and intestines but when I drink water it calms down a bit . Like you I have had a camera down my throat got to have one up my bum but I feel no one listens . Aloe Vera helps drink that before bed I going to ask for a low acid test and see what my doc says I don't think I have to much cause my stools are not right my food intorant are dairy wheat citrus fruit mushrooms etc . Get an intorant test then your symptoms might clear up God bless

3

Hi Brad, sorry to hear you have been going through this and at a relatively young time of life.

All I can say that I have also had a lot of trouble in the digestive areas over more than a year - I have diagnosed gallstones, H hernia (small) and a diverticula, these are all commonly found in people as they go through life, often without major symptoms, sometimes all at the same time and sometimes they can all cause dreadful symptoms and mimic one another so you don't know exactly what you are dealing with.

Stress is a major factor in gut wellbeing, whether its emotional, physical, or commonly, both. I'm speaking from experience and also years involved in health work, both complementaty and mainstream.

You have done some sensible things so far. It makes sense to try to mitigate the stress - if you can - taking a break, changing anything you can, resting, doing things you enjoy, avoiding the situations/ people that are troubling you (where you can, I know not easy). Exercise and do meditation if you can.

Seeing a holistic practitioner can help if within your means. Acupuncture, chiro, massage, nutritionalist etc.

Raise the head of your bed (I bought a wedge pillow as the bed not suited to altering). As this helps gravity keep the hernia down.

Eating little and often is usually preferable to larger meals and keep a food diary to see what foods are good or bad for you.

I have gallbladder stones as I said and am awaiting surgery - have been very worried that it may not all be gb troubles. The surgery has been postponed by the hospital a number of times though.

I figured from my symptoms that I may have a small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) - I am saving for a test as the GP does not offer any testing on this. It can occur due to a bad gb or hernia, low acid, stress, other illness. I had h pylori treated last year as well, an accident , lost job, etc. I have been taking oregano oil  and olive leaf caps for this and take probiotics and a few other supplements and have improved from very ill to just unwell, which given the situation I am pleased about. The PPI meds form the GP only made things worse in my case. I also take cider vinegar once a day.

You may have gb problems without stones, so if your right upper pain does not go, do go back and ask for more tests to see if your gb is functioning, it may be inflamed.

There are lots of folk on here and elsewhere online who have experience and can advise you and read the articles on this site if you have not already.

Good luck and keep posted. Take care.

4

Brad, I am not a doctor but someone that has stomach and bowel problems for several years.

Number 1 thing is Change your diet!

¤ get rid of coffee, tea and carbonated drinks

¤ get rid of spicy foods

¤ only have acidic foods that are cooked into a meal and limit these

Then you must start weeding out foods in your diet that seem to irritate the stomach.

Some of these foods can just be limited.

such as: cream of soups, icecream, breads, milk

I had a gal bladder check and my report came out good. But I knew that they had found a stone. So when I asked they said yes and I will want to get my gal bladder removed.

As for my hernia, When they checked it recently it was down and back in place.

There are ways to massage it back into place. And there are activities to avoid as well.

As for your stools I am unsure, maybe watch what you eat and how long it takes to move through your bowels and how it comes out. A good thing to check how fast/ slow your bowels work is by eating corn and checking your stools.

Hope this helps....look into some of these things I talked about and adjust for yourself. Everyone's body is different.

5

Hi Brad,

I'm new to this website and forum so please forgive any faux pas.

The symptoms you mention are familiar to me but as I'm sure other people have said a lot of gut related stuff does seem to present in the same way. I will just tell you what happened to me and leave you to judge what value it is to you. The reason I'm responding at all is that in my case it became very serious and I wouldn't want the same to happen to you and me not say anything.

What happened to me transpired over a 18 months, 2 years 'ish. I occasionally suffered from acid reflux and put it down to over indulgence in the food and drink department. It would be a problem at night and I'd take a Rennie or Gaviscon and sleep propped up a bit and it would allow me to sleep. Now and again I'd find that after dinning with friends and maybe too much wine I'd feel bloated, quite unwell and now and then I'd actually be sick.

I accepted this as just part of my life style and getting older; I too had a very stressful job, long hours and a long commute at the time and I enjoy good food and wine. I'm not very fit and I'm marginally over weight but not a lot.

It came to a head when I was working from home one morning. I hadn't slept well, I felt like crap; felt bloated, lots of indigestion, tired. I tried to do the work I needed to do but by about 11:00 I just had to go lie down. In the past a power-nap would sort me out. I slept fitfully for about 90 minutes or so but felt even worse. After talking with my partner I decided to call the Dr. I got an appointment for 45 minutes time so I went to the surgery and waited.

The triarge nurse saw me and took all the details and then called my named GP in. He examined me and said "a surgeon needs to see that now". I was in a lot of pain by now. By the time we'd decided that I couldn't drive to the hospital and my partner could not get to me quickly enough I had thrown up all over the nurse. They called an ambulance and took me to hospital and the GP injected me with morphine ........ after that I was really happy away with the faeries.

At the hospital they diagnosed a twisted bowel. It was touch and go for a bit but after the operation and recovery period (I'm gettting all emotional just remembering this) I was fine. My GP, this is the second time he's saved my life, and the nurses and the hospital staff were brilliant!

It is now, in hind sight, that I realised that this had been coming on for a long time. All those times I'd had bad indigest, acid reflux, vomitting, they were just warnings of what was to come. I have no symptoms now. I do have an incisional hernia which is why I'm on this forum but at least I'm alive!

Apparently the small itntestine sort of wriggles about and in my case it had pulled away from the mesentery which supplies the blood to the bowel and part of it had died.

By the way I had previously had both a colonoscopy and gastroscopy as part of a normal screening programme and that threw up nothing untoward. Apparently Mesenteric ischemia is very hard to diagnose.

So there it is Brad. I'm hoping that you do not have a twisted bowel. I just mention this as something else to consider.

Good health Dude!