Thinking I Have Malabsorption

Posted by flow65 @flow65, Aug 17 8:22am

Hope someone could shed some light on this. All I’m told is I have anxiety and depression. Which I do for years. Constant heat in esophagus. I take Nexium. I’ve had endoscopy and colonoscopy. Found a polyp in stomach. It was removed. Colonoscopy was fine. I have no appetite though I get hungry. I have episodes of constipation and diarrhea. In April 2024 I was experiencing abdominal pain. Went to ER. Did a number of tests. CT, MRI, blood tests. I had 2 small tumors in bladder. Was bladder cancer. Those were removed and treated. Had a uterine polyp which was removed. But this lack of appetite and being hungry at the same time, the nausea, and heat in my esophagus is killing me. It doesn’t matter what I eat. I hope I explained as much as I could. I’m really upset about this. I’m 68 yr old female. Since the pandemic I’ve gone downhill. I didn’t have Covid but it affected me deeply. I don’t want to do anything. Plus now these physical ailments are making me feel worse. I’m not sure if I have malabsorption or something else. Sometimes I think I have PTSD because of the past 4 years. I’ve lost a lot of weight but gained some back. My PCP just did a blood test for celiac and it was negative. I explained as much as I could. This post may seem confusing and I’m sorry. Thank you for any information.

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jude1 | @jude1 | Aug 18 6:49am

Did you have your Vitamin B12 level checked?

flow65 | @flow65 | Aug 18 8:55am

No not for awhile. I just sent a message to my dr about it. Thank you

moudsie80 | @moudsie80 | Aug 18 2:24pm

I would recommend seeing a gastroenterologist--mine was brought on by 2 abdominal surgeries--and I couldn't gain weight (normal is 112-115) I went from 96 to 88 to 82 to 73--I would lose 8 pounds all of a sudden for no reason and luckily an endocrinologist diagnosed it. I wasn't keeping the food in my stomach long enough I guess to gain any nutrients. Good luck.

flow65 | @flow65 | Aug 18 2:57pm

Thank you

rka19 | @rka19 | Aug 18 3:32pm

3.5 years of diarrhea. Terrible after 5 GI doctors say I have IBSC
I finally got a different blood draw panel and
My dx is EPI. No enzymes from my pancreas to merge into the small intestines that are necessary to allow your body to be nourished. Malnutrition. Muscle totally wasted. Hair loss. Many polyps I duodenum stomach and pancreas. Put on Creon and Bentyl. Force your doc to get the correct blood. draw.

rka19 | @rka19 | Aug 18 3:51pm

After 3.5 years of being told I have IBSC, take Linzess or America I’m malnourished
Insisted on pancreas blood testing. Tummy full of polyps as is pancreas and seasons. On expensive enzymes and they now are looking at my liver.

flow65 | @flow65 | Aug 18 6:29pm

Sending my understanding and well wishes.

shelleyW | @shelleyw | Aug 19 6:21pm

flow65,
WOW!! you had a super rough go. I have Celiac disease, diagnosed at 55, probably born with it. I feel like I got off easy compared to you. How did you find polyps in your stomach? I have never had any burning in esophagus, sounds miserable. Can it be cooled down, at all, by ice on the outside? Small pieces of cooling mint candy, peppermint, broken up. Peppermint essential oil on the outside? Medical grade pure honey, it has a name, I forgot what it is.
I'm not sure celiac could be the culprit. But you cannot prove or disprove celiac with blood tests. I am guessing you had, IgA, IgG, possibly more tested. I am not picking on your doctor, but my PCP messed around with my vit D and iron deficiency for 2 yrs....then sent me to endocrinology for another 2 years of massive doses of vitamin D, consistently inconsistent PTH, parathyroid hormone levels ( has nothing to do with thyroid)...testing IgA and IgG( there are many many specific variants of IgG)...finally I was shuffled to GI, for an endoscopy and to the shock of every dr., I have Celiac disease, asymptomatic, probably born with it, because the damage to my villi in small intestines were 90% at Marsh 4 and the rest at Marsh 3c... meaning severe damage and flattening from gluten. I am told that most of our absorption takes place in the small intestine, not the stomach. I am pretty sure I remember that correctly. Anyway, the Gold Standard for celiac is only biopsies from an endoscopy. If you think this could be an issue, per the GI, do NOT stop eating gluten, at all, prior to the procedure. Just a few days of no gluten can cause a false negative biopsy result. If that happens you will have to plead, grovel, beg, for another endoscopy and biopsies. You might look up your blood tests online and compare them to celiac or not celiac. Bunches of my blood tests give weird results. Again I'm not saying your PCP is wrong. Good luck ShelleyW

flow65 | @flow65 | Aug 19 8:35pm

Hi Shelley, polyps were discovered during an endoscopy. I had a surgeon do that procedure and a colonoscopy. The reason I had him do it because I like him and his bedside manner. My PCP is good. Known her for years. I am going to see a new gastroenterologist to go over everything. The heat in esophagus doesn’t go away with anything I do. It even goes down into the abdomen. Someday I hope to get the correct answers. I have talked to a psychologist that deals with gastro issues. Much of my stress disturbs my gastrointestinal. Thank you. Flo W

sb4ca | @sb4ca | Aug 20 12:25pm

I'd suggest stool tests to check for any type of malabsorption. One is pancreatic elastase and the other is fat. I will say however, if someone has malabsorption it would lead to a great weight loss. I'm wondering if you might have bile acid reflux which is different than stomach acid.