Cant keep my food in my stomach...

[joyous]

The past week and a half has been really tiring for me. Im normally a big eater, and have large 'man' size meals, but have recently lost my appetite to eat anything. Everytime i eat anything I end up throwing it up eventually, and it has been like this for almost 2 weeks. Im really struggling as I cant take my medicine without having food in my stomach, and end up throwing it up anyways, so I am really achy and in pain, its making me so miserable. I am really behind with my Uni work which is not good as I need to be working on my final year project and various other coursework, but cannot read much as it makes me feel naseuas for some reason, and cannot concentrate because of the pain. I have so many deadlines coming up I just feel hopeless and my University is really crappy with helping out with extenuating circumstances.
Im in the middle of changing specialists and  hospitals so I dont officially have a rhemy till April, so am stuck with that. I went to my GP who checked my urine which came out ok. I need to get my bloods done, and the soonest appointment is in a week! for a blood test!! He asked if I could be pregnant, but I checked that already and Im negative.... Ive lost half a stone in a week, which id normally be very happy about as its the most ive lost in like a year or more, but obviously its not healthy and I feel like crap. I just dont know what the problem is. I thought I would be ok today, as I ate a small dinner atleast, but alas, I threw it up in the end.... It was my birthday on sunday and my family cooked up a lovely large meal and there was lots of choc cake (my fave), but i only barely had a few bites (( I work part time which i made myself turn up to, as I cant lose out on the money as thats essential for bills. That was really bad as I spent alot of times running to the toilet. I never told anyone at work about it though as its a new job and I dont think theyd care much at all.
Sorry to ramble on but I just am fed up and so exhausted and tired and in pain. I have to go to the hospital tomorrow to talk to a surgeon about possible having my piles removed... which is another story altogether.... I just dont know... Im just miserable anyone else happen to suffer from similar symptoms or have any clues as to what the heck is wrong with me??? thanks...

not so joyous x

[Joe S.]

Try cabbage Juice. That is what they used at the pain clinic I went to. After a bit they went to carrot juice.

[BonusMom]

Joyous-

I can relate to your tummy woes.  I started vomiting, even upon waking in the a.m., in November 2006.  I went to my family doctor, who thought it was a virus.  I returned a couple of weeks later and was given antacids.  Mind you, I didn't really have much in the way of nausea and felt fine after vomiting.

I was finally referred to a gastroenterologist who did a colonscopy, endoscopy and finally, a gastric emptying study.  They determined I had slow stomach motility (gastroparesis).  I finally saw a motility specialist who determined that the nerves in my stomach aren't working right and not making contractions strong enough for the food to digest.  Also, my stomach is not stretching, so it can't accommodate food like it used to.

When I tired of vomiting (because my bladder grew weak and I was peeing on myself at the same time  ), I went on an all liquid diet (Ensure).  I slowly began eating solids again.  I have "flares" every few months where I routinely vomit after eating and even today I can't keep a meal down if I've eaten to much.  Kinda like gastric bypass without the surgery 

Although I had only previously experienced a tad of heartburn with my third pregnancy, I developed unbearable heartburn in the Summer of 2007.  In retrospect, I think it was my body "flaring" from autoimmune issues at that time--the tummy's where it attacked.

I honestly believe that my tummy troubles are due, in part at least, to the lack of saliva I produce.  I have VERY little saliva (<.1 ml after 1 minute), therefore, there's nothing to help the food move in to the stomach and assist in the digestion process.  I have to be really careful of the texture of food, because if it's really dry (like toast) and I drink water with it, I will vomit because I've eaten/drank too much for my tummy to hold.  Before I received the SLE and SjS diagnosis in December 2008, I couldn't understand why when I vomited the food would feel "stuck" in the esophagus.  Although I'd had a dry mouth for years, I thought it was related to medication or just not drinking enough liquids, not an AI disease.

Remember, this is purely my situation and theory and your situation could be totally different.  I'm just trying to offer some insight as to why you might be having digestion problems.

Please keep us posted on how you're doing

[lynnmarie219]

Hi Joyous,

As I was reading your post, I also immediately thought that you need to see a gastroenterologist....that is the type of doc that should be able to run tests and help you figure things out. You don't deserve to be in such pain...please get to a doc and let us know what you find out!


Good luck to you!

[irish]

Joyous, I don't know how much your are retaining of what you eat or drink, but this situation can be potentially dangerous for you. You can get dehydrated plus the question that crosses my mind is if you are having a partial bowel obstruction--plus there are other things that could be involved. If you were totally obstructed you would be extremely ill---at least you should be!!!!

The motility problem with emptying is very common in sjogrens. Bottom line, you need to see a doc ASAP. If nothing else get in to your GP and he could make an emergency referral for you. You might as well get this treated cause you will become so ill at this rate that you won't be able to function. Let us know how things go and good luck. Irish

[Scottietottie]

Hi Joyous 

As Irish says - you could get dehydrated. Make sure you are drinking plenty and if water is not staying down - try sucking ice cubes. When you've been ill for as long as a week - you need to see the doc about it again. It could be a stomach bug - there are some vicious ones about. Any time I get sick like that I make a point of not even trying to eat solids for at least two days. I make sure I take plenty liquids though.

Take care - Scottie 

[Chana M]

Hi Joyous

I think everybody's said what I would like to say - take this seriously!  It's often not until something like this has been going on for a while that we realise how debilitating it is.  Please let us know what your doctor says and what the next step is for you.

I'm troubled by what you say about your university.  You have a contract with them and they are not allowed to be 'crappy about extenuating circumstances' as you say. 

Maybe you need to be formal about your situation: make a file of letters from your doctors, copies of all correspondence/emails etc from your tutors, a diary of your health issues, and details of your assignments.  Ask your departmental administrator for the department's/university's policy on extenuating circumstances.  Write a formal letter asking for your situation to be taken into account by the examinations board, and enclose copies of all the relevant documents. 

If you don't think you're being taken seriously you can ask for the external examiner to look at your file.  That usually makes people jump because they realise that you understand the system!  The external examiner is your defence against any internal system failure and you shouldn't be afraid to use the system to support you.

There may be dates by which these documents have to be submitted but the departmental administrator should be able to help you with this.  Hope you don't mind me going on about this - in my former life I used to be an academic and I always thought my job was to support students.  Sadly not all academics share that philosophy!

Take care

[joyous]

Hi Guys,
Sorry for the late reply on this... I haven't been able to get to my computer much the past few days. Thanks for all your replies. I managed to get my bloods done last week and will be going to the GP on wednesday as thats when the results come through. I have been feeling on and off the past few days. Its really strange actually. I got my period last Thursday which lasted till Saturday, and I actually felt much better on those days. I didnt throw up once and managed to eat a few bites here and there. But when my period finished on Saturday, I was throwing up again and felt really bad. I'm not sure if this is just coincidence. I ate ok today and haven't thrown up as yet, so I think I am getting better overall. But it is still happening randomly, and I still cannot eat anywhere mear as much as I use to (otherwise I'd definately throw up). So I will ask my GP to refer me to a gastroentrologist to check out things. I have been able to drink water fine so thats ok.

I have managed to get through to someone from the disabilities department at University, and hopefully they will help me with extensions etc. I'll let you know how everything goes, but for now, I am coping and am feel a bit better. Thanks again!

Joyous x

[Chickpea]

Hi Joyous

Thanks for updating us on how you are doing.  I'm so pleased that you're feeling a bit better.  Make sure you tell the GP about the changes that happened when you had your period - there are definite links between hormones and AI conditions, as well as hormones and nausea.  Have you found any particular foods that are easier to keep down than others?  I assume you've tried all the usual things like ginger beer, ginger cookies/biscuits, tonic water. 

Good for you for getting hold of someone helpful at the university.  Let us know how your appeal for mitigating circumstance goes.

Thinking of you - Chickpea