Debilitating condition for 2 years now in 26-28 aged male

Posted by jimmoran87 @jimmoran87, Sep 22, 2023

Hello,

I will try to keep this as brief as possible while still covering everything and range of symptoms. I’ve had many tests and am relatively at a dead end while my life has been ruined due to what’s happening.
To start I an otherwise healthy mid/late twenties male. No obesity.

Starting 2 years ago I started to experience dry heaving. I had assumed at time this was stomach ulcer. Well the dry heaving passed but I am constantly nauseous, as well as experiencing a pain in my left side right under ribs to down next to my hip bone (I imagine this is colon pain). I have pain that can radiate to the lower left side of my back and numbness even in the same area but in my backside. I experience intense gas, and stomach groaning. Most days I wake up to a gurgling stomach. Half of days my stomach won’t stop gurgling as well as a pain in the center of my abdomen/lower bowels. I’ve noticed more the last 16 months my stool is quite unhealthy. For one it’s always yellow-ish vs brown, I have a large amount of undigested plant matter when eating vegetables whether greens or tomatoes. My stool is formed but often will take on a fuzzy looking appearance, or very jagged like broken shale rock. Sometimes it will be very slender. Sometimes when yellowish it will even look waxy/shiny. But almost never is healthy shape/color.

I can have heartburn, which I was diagnosed with moderate gastroparesis 20 months ago through a GI emptying exam.

I’ve had many blood tests done and ultrasounds as well. Everything was normal from including things like Sed rate, amalyse, and all the normal blood work (aside from high bilirubin which I was told I may have always had something known as Gilbert’s Syndrome).

I’ve had 2 CT scans 18 months apart which showed borderline enlarged spleen, and a distended bladder. I also have some stones/polyps sludge in my gallbladder and I have Aunts that have had their gallbladders removed. My most recent CT showed some possible wall thickening in my proximial Jejunum (small intestines I believe), which my doctor wants me now to get a colonoscopy to check it out, though he doesn’t believe it to be anything too substantial.

I’ve also had X-rays and ultrasounds done but these showed little. I had a Hida Scan and this was normal.

I had an upper endoscopy which showed nothing abnormal.

I met with a hollistic doctor and had a stool test and it showed high inflammatory to gluten and a decent lack of good bacteria. I have been gluten free for most this year and have been on probiotics. I feel like the nausea got a bit better but that’s it. I had no blood in my stool.

I’ve tried constipation medicines like miralax and heartburn medicines to no avail. One medicine I was recommended was reglan, though I felt like holding off on it due to side effects and I’m not sure if it addresses the overlying issue rather than treating a symptom.

My MAIN issues I’ve described but to reiterate is my left side pain to the point of numbness. And intense constant gurgling/feeling the need to burp. To put in perspective I woke up from a quick nap and it’s been 4 and a half hours and my stomach is still gurgling like as if i have a stomach flu. This is almost every day and you can hear it let alone me feeling it. Both the gurgling and the pain I believe causes then the nausea I experience.

Other than this colonoscopy saying anything significant that many CT scans could not see (which I hope is not to the tune of something like cancer which I have family history of different cancers), I am at a relative dead end.

I drank a lot in my 20s (probably averaged like 20 drinks a week) but had stopped at such a frequency to months before this began, I am not sure if is related. I also did not exercise intensively through my 20s at the most a brief walk once or twice a week and lived quite sedentary. I am not sure if this could have lead to this.

I have had bouts of anxiety and depression in my life but I have a very good control and understanding to recognize what they feel like. Aside from what I’ve been dealing with I’ve actually been in one of the lowest stress environments I’ve been in for years, thanks to my families willingness to help. Which I mention cause I understand the stomach/brain link. One thing I do feel as well is more fatigued than normal for someone in their twenties. However I attribute some of this to getting older and I think may be due to feeling stress from my stomach being constantly aggravated is exhausting.

Any and all suggestions are welcomed. My life has been relatively ruined/put on hold due to this as I’m always feeling nauseous and the pain is impossible to ignore. When it’s really bad which is far too often I feel like I can’t stand for long like I need to keel over. It often feels like someone is squeezing my belly, that it’s tight or hard, or that I’ve been punched in my left side.

Thank you for reading.

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I don’t know if this will help but have you tried digestive enzymes? I have gastro issues. Nowhere near as bad as you but the enzymes help me.
I use these. InterPlexus Mega-Polyzyme - Full Spectrum Vegetarian Digestive Enzymes with Bromelain for Gastrointestinal Support - Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free - 60 Capsules (60 Servings) From Amazon.
You said vegetable matter goes undigested through your system. Maybe green smoothies would work.
Wishing you better days.

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So did you have the colonoscopy or not? What were the findings?

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@parrot53

I don’t know if this will help but have you tried digestive enzymes? I have gastro issues. Nowhere near as bad as you but the enzymes help me.
I use these. InterPlexus Mega-Polyzyme - Full Spectrum Vegetarian Digestive Enzymes with Bromelain for Gastrointestinal Support - Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free - 60 Capsules (60 Servings) From Amazon.
You said vegetable matter goes undigested through your system. Maybe green smoothies would work.
Wishing you better days.

Jump to this post

thank you!!! I appreciate your response. I’ve wondered why I hadn’t been recommended digestive enzymes by any doctor so I will look into these definitely. Thanks 🙂

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@gboi

So did you have the colonoscopy or not? What were the findings?

Jump to this post

no not yet, I am currently waiting to hear from doctor to have scheduled as he wants to take a closer look at the small bit of wall thickening in my proximal jejunum

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Of all the testing you’ve done, take a SIBO breath test - it’s a kit your doctor or an ND can send you: you own it over 3 hrs & send back where lab tests for levels of methane. If present, very likely you have SIBO. If you do, very specific FODMap diet may be important. There are some natural supplements that work for some to kill bacteria. For some a dual does of select antibiotics may work. I only heard & got on board with this from an ND. Most western docs (w WG gastro specialists) are very ill or non-informed
about SIBO. It’s a huge issue with gastro conditions, both creating & worsening whatever you’ve got. SIBO can reduce stomach motility & cause horrific gas.

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@edloftus

Of all the testing you’ve done, take a SIBO breath test - it’s a kit your doctor or an ND can send you: you own it over 3 hrs & send back where lab tests for levels of methane. If present, very likely you have SIBO. If you do, very specific FODMap diet may be important. There are some natural supplements that work for some to kill bacteria. For some a dual does of select antibiotics may work. I only heard & got on board with this from an ND. Most western docs (w WG gastro specialists) are very ill or non-informed
about SIBO. It’s a huge issue with gastro conditions, both creating & worsening whatever you’ve got. SIBO can reduce stomach motility & cause horrific gas.

Jump to this post

I purchased a yogurt machine. Dr Davis has a recipe that heals or helps with gut issues. I’m doing right now but just started on it. Check it out😊

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@parrot53

I don’t know if this will help but have you tried digestive enzymes? I have gastro issues. Nowhere near as bad as you but the enzymes help me.
I use these. InterPlexus Mega-Polyzyme - Full Spectrum Vegetarian Digestive Enzymes with Bromelain for Gastrointestinal Support - Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free - 60 Capsules (60 Servings) From Amazon.
You said vegetable matter goes undigested through your system. Maybe green smoothies would work.
Wishing you better days.

Jump to this post

I just want to reiterate how important it will be to investigate the SIBO probability. AND teaming up with a good nutritionist (be it out-of-pocket) or through your medical insurance provider. For instance, since I'm on a study program called Thaenabiotics (located in Portland, OR), my nutritionist had some strong suggestions about the KIND of probiotics I took (& excluding anything with "pre-biotics", as so many products have now), to ensure that there wasn't a particular bacteria in the pro-biotic that actually "fed" the bad SIBO I was trying to get rid of. She also recommended a particular brand of bitters prior to eating. I'm NOT saying that all this has absolutely helped me, but different treatments have various different rates of success from person to person. Because when it comes to gastro issues, checking in with ALL types of naturopathic (ND), western/gastro MDs, holistic, meditative, functional, acupuncture, homeopathic, etc., specialists - much less just reading thru these Mayo Clinic blogs - tells you that gastro dysfunction arises from a host of various conditions & issues & can also be (possibly) resolved with a similar BROAD approach to checking in with various providers to see if what they have to offer might make some difference in your inevitably very unique case. Good luck everyone.

REPLY
@edloftus

I just want to reiterate how important it will be to investigate the SIBO probability. AND teaming up with a good nutritionist (be it out-of-pocket) or through your medical insurance provider. For instance, since I'm on a study program called Thaenabiotics (located in Portland, OR), my nutritionist had some strong suggestions about the KIND of probiotics I took (& excluding anything with "pre-biotics", as so many products have now), to ensure that there wasn't a particular bacteria in the pro-biotic that actually "fed" the bad SIBO I was trying to get rid of. She also recommended a particular brand of bitters prior to eating. I'm NOT saying that all this has absolutely helped me, but different treatments have various different rates of success from person to person. Because when it comes to gastro issues, checking in with ALL types of naturopathic (ND), western/gastro MDs, holistic, meditative, functional, acupuncture, homeopathic, etc., specialists - much less just reading thru these Mayo Clinic blogs - tells you that gastro dysfunction arises from a host of various conditions & issues & can also be (possibly) resolved with a similar BROAD approach to checking in with various providers to see if what they have to offer might make some difference in your inevitably very unique case. Good luck everyone.

Jump to this post

thank you so so much, I am really appreciative of your response. I can definitely see this being SIBO related as I’ve heard it being a possibility before as well. I will be sure to look into it further. thank you again! 🙂

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So sorry you are going through this at your age. That is a lot. Hang in there!

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@jimmoran87 from the tone of your inquiries I’m guessing you’ve had a pretty free wheeling diet as a young man in his 20’s as I did when I was that age and I’m now 71. I didn’t know or consider what I put down my pie hole because life was good. I’m guessing a lot of what is going on is diet related and as your tests indicated your gut biome was not too healthy. A nutritionist and or a more holistic diet may be your future, which isn’t a bad thing. I hope your gut settles down.

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