Alright, ive gotten good responses on here before to some of my questions and i figured i'd try again....
Today i went to the hospital due to extreme nausea (which has gotten a lot worse in the past year, ive been dealing with it for 8 years now) it gets so bad that i curl up in a ball & do NOTHING, no eating, drinking or moving for any reason. The dr i saw today finally listened and didnt blow it off saying "its just stress". so he did a blood panel to check my liver & kidney functions and my white blood cell count, all seemed normal, but when he came back into the room he explained that hes going to send some of the blood off to check for bacteria in my digestive system and if that came back negative we would do an abdominal ultrasound to make sure my liver, gall bladder and spleen were "working properly". I was given 2 zofran and sent home (the zofran of course make me even more nauseous but i was instructed to take one every 4 hours anyways) About 3 hours after getting home i took my temp because i started feeling feverish, turns out i had a fever of 100.3 but they dont think of it as a high fever until its 101 1/2. Its been about 6urs and its at 99.9 now. My mom informed me tonight that if it had to do with my liver i would have yellowing of the eyes and skin and if it had to do with my spleen it would have shown up on my blood work, especially after all these years. She told me to have them check my apendix and gall bladder to ensure neither are enlarged and to have them check my lymph system since i've had issues with it all my life.
So i figured i'd see if anyone had any ideas, im desperate for answers because i hate being so miserable all the time because of this. i dont get any results until tuesday but of course, im nervous after hearing what he had to say, its not too bad but i'd still like some ideas to throw at him next time i see him... This nausea is lasting 3 - 3 1/2 weeks out of the month and with a 16 month old i cant really afford to feel like this ALL The time.
thanks everyone in advance =]
sounds like GERD, gastroesophageal reflux disorder. do you diarrhea? Ask to see a gastrointestinal specialist, get a referral... if MD says no, get a new one...
There's the standard panel, and then there are advanced panels as far as lab testing goes. For example, I can think of about 40 that can be done on the liver... but most people never need more then the most common 5. Hence why they're sending it out for more tests.
Jaundice (yellowing) is only ONE problem that can happen with the liver. It's like saying that you only get sick with colds. Everything is a cold. True, the most common way to get sick is with a cold, but there are hundreds of other illnesses out there. There could be something wrong with ANY part of your liver, parasites, hepatic blood flow issues; backup, stenosis, etc.
But yah... your mom's wrong... as far as "you're not yellow, your liver's fine". Ditto the spleen. Because they don't do every test EVER. They do series of tests. Group 1 = most common, Group 2 = next most common, etc.
As far as other things it could be:
- Inner ear
- nervous system
- Parasites (amoebas spring to mind, but there are dozens of options)
- blood pressure (creating dizziness, which leads to nausea)
- migraines (mine will often skip the pain entirely and go right into nausea & total inability to process noises)
- Sinus infections (either pressure on a nerve or post nasal drip hitting your gag reflex)
- Allergies (Celiacs often has persistant nausea, as does lactose intolerance)
actually the list extends to almost every single system in your body. Keep them looking and running tests until they find it. AND if one of your meds makes you worse... CALL AND TELL THEM. Meds are often another way of "testing" to see what the problem is. When something makes it worse, they need to know that.
It's hard to believe you've had nausea for eight years and no one (doctor wise) has done anything about it...I mean, that's definitely not normal. Do you ever have headaches?
The only other thing I can think of is an inner ear imbalance...I get nauseous when I am dizzy, and I think there are a lot of things that could cause something like that without you necessarily feeling dizzy.
I sure hope you feel better soon and get some answers!
Try Ultimate Aloe Juice. What aloe does for the skin outside, it does for your digestive system inside. It is amazing. I really think it would help. You could also try digestive enzymes.
Poor thing.....being nauseous stinks. I was on zofran through all 3 pregnancies.
Google food intolorance (different than allergy). You could do an elimination diet and see if it's food related. I've been researching this because I have a child on the spectrum. Check out dorisrappmd.com. Good luck.
Have you had an edoscopy done? I would ask your doctor about an upper/lower endoscopy--depending on what all of your symptoms are. What about a barium scan to see if you have an obstruction somewhere? I am sorry you are feeling so awful. I hope you get this resolved soon.
Take care,
M
Your M. seem to have some pretty good options for you. I would go with what she is saying.
I have always had nauseau issues as well....mostly related to migraines. I would say with your fever- you may have had a virus on top of your other issues. Not to alarm you but, constant nausea can also be a sign of pressure in your head because there is a center in the brain, called the vomit center, that can be activated by pressure (aside from normal triggers like a virus, foodborne illness, pregnancy, etc). However, this is very rare. I would definitely have your gall bladder checked. Both my mom and sis have had theirs removed. They typically had nausea with or without stomach pains- but moreso after eating certain food (lettuce, dairy, etc). I would also ask for something other than Zofran. Does Phenergan work for you? It will make you sleepier than Zofran, but it works for my where Zofran never has. In a pinch, you can also take Benadryl or Unisom. Both are work like Phenergan.
How long does the nausea last? A couple of hours or several days? How often does it occur? Does it happen at any particular time, such as time of day or after you eat, etc.? Without knowing these answers, it is a little difficult to say "That sounds like my experience with_____"
A couple of people have mentioned an inner ear/balance issue, which (depending on your symptoms) could be a possibility. From my experience with Meniere's, the nausea typically lasts no more than a few hours, will occur periodically, with no rhyme or reason. (Although in my case it was always worse in the spring and fall, which is when my allergies would act up. Unusual, but not unheard of.) It would strike suddenly, and I would would get really hot. Most of the time I would get dizzy, but not always. However, if I closed my eyes, it felt like I was on a merry-go-round. The only thing that really helped was lying down and not moving.
I'm sorry I don't have any ideas about what you may have- I'm so sorry you're suffering so much though. The question that sprang to mind as I was reading your post is, What kind of doctor have you been seeing? Until today, has it been the same doctor? Have you seen a gastroenterologist?
It sounds like you have finally seen someone who is taking you seriously, thankfully, but if he doesn't keep searching for answers until he finds one, see another doctor! And another. And another, if necessary. Sometimes I think people are afraid to change doctors- I know several. Some doctors are just not great doctors. I've changed doctors a few times myself.
The best way to find a good one is to start asking. Ask everyone you know. If you know a nurse, start there. They often know who the good ones are. That's how I found mine (my husband is an RN) and have been very satisfied. If you don't know anyone that knows a good GI doctor, post another question here. There are bound to be women here that are from your area that have seen GI docs.
I hope you get some answers really soon, and I hope you'll keep us posted.
Very best wishes! :)
Your mom is right about the signs of these issues.
Just thought I'd throw another thought out. When your digestive system is not working right (usually the LACK of acid to digest the food) you will get nauseaus. If you've been taking milk of magnesia or tums or anything like that it will actually get rid of the acid that the stomach desperately needs. You can purchase "stomach acid" Betaine HCL at the health store to jump start your system. If you don't want to go that route, adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the beginning of a meal or eating a dill pickle will do about the same thing. Just FYI, if you eat something rich or full of chemicals like processed or fast foods, if you don't have acid and enzymes to break it down it will sit on your stomach like a lead balloon.
This is a cheap and easy thing to test. It's more common than you think because most people think you are not supposed to have too much acid. If it's supposed to be acidic, there has to be acid....Give it a few days and see if it helps. It's worth a try.
M.
