I'll try to make this short. First things first I have felt nauseous for the last 4 months and no I am not pregnant. I started feeling naseous around the end of Nov and it got so bad that I ended up going to the ER on Jan 17th. For 5 days I couldn't eat, felt naseous but didn't get sick. The Er Dr's told me that it was a bad bout of IBS and sent me on my way. I have changed all of my eating habits and none of the symptoms have gone away and have now resorted to drinking boost and trying to force myself to eat when I occasionally(which is rare) feel up to it. I have been to countless Dr's and I was told by one to just eat 3 meals a day and I would be fine. Another one told me to just take Zantac and Gravol. I discovered that Gravol just made me feel worse. I was also told that my endometriosis could be the cause and an appointment with the gyno would be made. I have now been waiting for 3 weeks now to hear something about this appointment so I am sure the Dr never made the call. I again went to another Dr who figured that H. pylori could be the culprit but refused to give me anything until further test were given. Again my blood was taken and that resulted with a lump in my vein about 1 inch above where the blood was taken. I have an abdominal ultrasound set for April 13th but I can't last until then. I can't afford to take anymore time off work and I feel so naseous and sick and tired everyday. To add to my worries my dentist was very concerned because my lymph nodes are very firm and fixed and he wanted me to get it checked out because he said with the way my lymph nodes were and my symptoms(nausea, loss of appetite, fatigue, weakness and night sweats) are signs of lymphoma. I am at my wits end and don't know what to do. Any advice would be of help. I can deal with the fatigue etc but feeling naseous everyday is killing me.
Hi katz,
Welcome to HealingWell!
Don't jump the gun just yet and think you have lymphoma. There are several things that could be the cause of you nausea... GERD, IBS, bad gallbladder, H. Pylori, C-Diff, Endometriosis, Celiacs, etc. Do you have diarrhea (D)? Do you travel? You could even have a parasite. What sorts of tests have you had done up to this point? Stool? What did the doc say he was going to test you for when he took your blood?
If I were you I wouldn't wait around for that doc to call you about your OB/GYN - call HIM. Demand results. That's what you pay them for. I don't mean to be brutal but... They don't care about you. You have to stand up for yourself and do what is best for you.
You'll get some good insight and tips on this site, you can take some notes and take them with you to see a doc. Ask for tests. Ask questions. I know it is easier said than done, but it is the only way to get what you want. Be specific and suggest test.
Sorry, I get a little carried away. It just gets me so worked up when doctors don't help. What the heck are they doctors for in the first place?
By the way, ginger is great for nausea. You can buy ginger pills or make ginger tea. Dbab, the other mod, says her mom chews ginger gum. I get nauseous a lot and I drink tea... Mint, Chamomile & Fennel work the best for me.
Good luck! I hope you get some helpful tips here.
Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum
Welcome to HealingWell!
Don't jump the gun just yet and think you have lymphoma. There are several things that could be the cause of you nausea... GERD, IBS, bad gallbladder, H. Pylori, C-Diff, Endometriosis, Celiacs, etc. Do you have diarrhea (D)? Do you travel? You could even have a parasite. What sorts of tests have you had done up to this point? Stool? What did the doc say he was going to test you for when he took your blood?
If I were you I wouldn't wait around for that doc to call you about your OB/GYN - call HIM. Demand results. That's what you pay them for. I don't mean to be brutal but... They don't care about you. You have to stand up for yourself and do what is best for you.
You'll get some good insight and tips on this site, you can take some notes and take them with you to see a doc. Ask for tests. Ask questions. I know it is easier said than done, but it is the only way to get what you want. Be specific and suggest test.
Sorry, I get a little carried away. It just gets me so worked up when doctors don't help. What the heck are they doctors for in the first place?
By the way, ginger is great for nausea. You can buy ginger pills or make ginger tea. Dbab, the other mod, says her mom chews ginger gum. I get nauseous a lot and I drink tea... Mint, Chamomile & Fennel work the best for me.
Good luck! I hope you get some helpful tips here.
Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum
Please donate to help HealingWell continue to help us..... www.healingwell.com/donate
Thank you so much for your reply. I live off ginger tea as well as mint and chamomile. You're not getting carried away.......it means a lot that you took the time to read this and reply. I don't travel(unless going to work counts :) I have had my stool tested and I was told that the results from that were fine(although for a couple days before I went to the Er and a couple of days after my stool was green) and the Dr from the ER said that my blood tests were great and he wished that his results were as good. My other blood test results have all been the same. Although none of them ever told me what the were testing for. It's very rare that I have diarrhea but it does hurt sometimes when I have a bowel movement. A friend begged me to go and see a nautropath and even went as far to make the appointment and told me about it after the fact so I am going to see him tom. I don't think that it is lymphoma but I do know that there is something wrong and I just want the Dr's to take me seriously instead of constantly passing me off. They are begining to make me feel like I am overreacting. I do go for acupuncture weekly and they gave me a detox cleanse that is supposed to help with flushing out toxins and parisites. I am now on my second bottle. Just a question,can blood tests dectect H. Pylori? Again, thank you for your reply
Have you had an upper endoscopy (EGD)? It can show the docs if there are any erosions in your esophagus from GERD or if you have ulcers.
What about a hernia? I don't even know how docs detect that. ???
Yes, blood tests would detect H. Pylori. You would get some antibiotics that would clear it up.
I'm glad you are seeking alternative medicine. I have been curious about that. Please let us know how your visit goes tomorrow.
Wish I could help more.... But all I can say is be persistent with your doc(s).
Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum
What about a hernia? I don't even know how docs detect that. ???
Yes, blood tests would detect H. Pylori. You would get some antibiotics that would clear it up.
I'm glad you are seeking alternative medicine. I have been curious about that. Please let us know how your visit goes tomorrow.
Wish I could help more.... But all I can say is be persistent with your doc(s).
Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum
Please donate to help HealingWell continue to help us..... www.healingwell.com/donate
I have not had an EGD, but I am scheduled to have an abdominal ultrasound as well as a Barium xray. I've been told not to worry about that because the stuff just tastes chalky. Although the ultrasound isn't until April 13th and they won't do the Xray until after the ultrasound. So for right now it's the waiting game and trying to control the nausea. I've also found inmy reasearch that crushed dill seeds used as a tea or in water can help relieve nausea and aid digestion. I'll try to find the recipe if anyone wants it.I will update everyone after the nautropath visit tom. As for the acupuncture, I haven't had much of the pain from my endometriosis since I started going. So it's really seemed to help with that.
Peppermint can cause acid reflux so it that is a problem stay away from anything mint. whereas it relaxes the stomach it also relaxes the valve that keeps the stomach acid from coming back up. I persoanally think Barium x-rays are waste of time and money. May as well do the EGD and find out really what is going on cause if they see anything they will have to do it anyway. as for the blood test for H. Pylori there is a disclaimer on the test forum that says it is not as accurate as a endoscopy would be and even at that I was negative in every test for h. pylori, blood, stool and biopsy and my Dr. still insisted I had H. pylori based on the condition of my stomach so he gave me the treatment anyway and my symptoms went away. Now my stomach looks OK but I am having the IBS part. I just find he ginger capsules help with the nausea which I find is from the gas. Once I get rid of the gas the nausea goes away for me until the gas builds back up.
did they ever say howcome you have night sweats .Iam 37 &just had gallbladder removed 2wks ago Ialso have night sweats . THE DR.says it might be from my operation or from my gallbladder having messed my system up. Ialso am having terrible IBS with terrible hemi's Is this normal for someone with IBS.
Kyhurst, when my gall bladder was bad, I used to get terrible chills when I had an attack, so I don't think it would be far-fetched to think that night sweats could also be possible. Your body can react strangely to a serious sickness like that.
It will take you about 6 weeks after your operation to get straightened out (as good as you're going to get, anyways). I found after my surgery that red meat and pork made me have worse diarrhea and other problems, so I just ate chicken for several weeks, then slowly added the red meat and pork back in. Luckily I've never eaten a lot of either, so it was no big deal to do without for a few weeks. But I was able to add them back in after my guts got used to not having a gall bladder anymore. Meats are hard to digest anyways, and so is fat (especially now that you don't have a gall bladder to release bile to digest the fat). You may want to try a bland, low-fat, mostly vegetarian diet for the 6 weeks after your surgery, and then start adding things back in. There are only two things I can't really eat now: I can't have caffeine except for the small amounts in green tea and chocolate (caffeine killed me before the surgery) and I can't eat omelettes for some odd reason; I can eat eggs in other forms, though.
If you have bile diarrhea (you know, the yellow, burning stuff) still after 6 weeks, then see a G.I. and ask for Welchol. That's what I take (and several others here). It absorbs the excess bile and keeps you from having bile diarrhea. I take one or two a day, but some here take as many as 6 a day. It all depends on how well yoru body adjusts to not having a gall bladder. Some people are normal, some people aren't. If you have acid reflux instead of or in addition to the diarrhea, then just look to a prescription acid blocker. As my G.I.'s nurse said, sometimes the bile goes up and sometimes it goes down.
It will take you about 6 weeks after your operation to get straightened out (as good as you're going to get, anyways). I found after my surgery that red meat and pork made me have worse diarrhea and other problems, so I just ate chicken for several weeks, then slowly added the red meat and pork back in. Luckily I've never eaten a lot of either, so it was no big deal to do without for a few weeks. But I was able to add them back in after my guts got used to not having a gall bladder anymore. Meats are hard to digest anyways, and so is fat (especially now that you don't have a gall bladder to release bile to digest the fat). You may want to try a bland, low-fat, mostly vegetarian diet for the 6 weeks after your surgery, and then start adding things back in. There are only two things I can't really eat now: I can't have caffeine except for the small amounts in green tea and chocolate (caffeine killed me before the surgery) and I can't eat omelettes for some odd reason; I can eat eggs in other forms, though.
If you have bile diarrhea (you know, the yellow, burning stuff) still after 6 weeks, then see a G.I. and ask for Welchol. That's what I take (and several others here). It absorbs the excess bile and keeps you from having bile diarrhea. I take one or two a day, but some here take as many as 6 a day. It all depends on how well yoru body adjusts to not having a gall bladder. Some people are normal, some people aren't. If you have acid reflux instead of or in addition to the diarrhea, then just look to a prescription acid blocker. As my G.I.'s nurse said, sometimes the bile goes up and sometimes it goes down.
Katz, swollen lymph nodes are usually a sign of an infection somewhere. Mine were horribly swollen and painful when I had strep throat. Strange, though, that your blood work wouldn't show an infection unless you developed it afterwards. Or it is possible that you showed evidence of a mild infection that they didn't think was enough to bother telling you about. Some doctors don't bother worrying about very low-grade infections since a lot of people have those frequently, especially during allergy season. People can be sick a lot of times and not know it because our bodies are so good at fighting that stuff off. We really only notice when we're losing.
I don't know why they thought your nausea was IBS since only some IBSers have nausea and as far as I can tell, that's in connection with pain, gas, diarrhea and/or constipation. I don't think I've heard of IBS consisting of nothing but nausea.
Things that can cause nothing but nausea are a hietal (sp?) hernia which is where the stomach pokes up a little into the esophagus or the esophagus down into the stomach--one of the two (or maybe both). Anways, a slight connection problem there. I don't know if they will find it on an ultrasound; they found mine by enoscopy (mine is not so bad as to cause me problems, though--seems a lot of people have them and never know about them). Also acid reflux or excess acid in the stomach can cause nausea. You don't necessarily have to have heartburn since the acid may only reflux part of the way up or stay bubbling in your stomach and not cause the distinctive burning sensation.
Your gall bladder can also cause nausea, although it is usually accompanied by pain, vomiting and/or diarrhea. But not all gall bladder symptoms come on at once, so you may develop these later. Early into my bad gall bladder everything I ate made me feel sick to my stomach, so I quit eating much and lost 20-30 pounds in about 5 months. I got very weak, was tired a lot, couldn't concentrate, and generally was lethargic. I had one or two bad pain attacks during that time and I think I had some diarrhea too, but the nausea was the worst. I eventually got to where I had less nausea and more diarrhea and pain. (That wasn't exactly a fair trade-off.)
They may find a problem with your gall bladder on an ultrasound, but only if it has stones, sludge or is deformed. If it's chronically inflamed like mine was (may explain those swollen lymph nodes), they can pnly discover that by doing a hida scan, which checks for gall bladder function. If it doesn't function well, there's your problem.
Thank you all for your replies. Keriamon, I too found the IBS diagnosis was a little strange because I didn't have diarreha/constipation and my diet was pretty bland to begin with. The only problem I have with that is sometimes having pain with bowel movements and of course, feeling nauseous almost all of the time. Although, I do have pain in my lower right abdomen which comes and goes but I find that it is the same pain I have had with my endometriosis which I am also getting checked out later in April. Before this all started I didn't weigh too much to begin with (111lbs) and now I think I am below the 100 mark. Not so good since I can't afford to lose anymore. As for the swollen lymph nodes.....I had no idea that they were swollen until my dentist pointed it out to me. I don't have a sore throat, pain or anything like that. So I found it odd when he said that.
Kyhurst, unfortunately they never said anything about the night sweats. I wish I could help you with that one. If I do find out I promise to make a post about it.
Thanx for the tip on the ginger pills Canyonbabe711. Where did you pick them up from?
I have an appointment with a Nautropath today so I will send a post and let you all know how it went.
Kyhurst, unfortunately they never said anything about the night sweats. I wish I could help you with that one. If I do find out I promise to make a post about it.
Thanx for the tip on the ginger pills Canyonbabe711. Where did you pick them up from?
I have an appointment with a Nautropath today so I will send a post and let you all know how it went.
Keriamon I'm 2 wks &2 days out of gallbladder sugery . Before surgery I had bile dia. but now I'm constipated. Have you ever heard of fiber constipating someone? My primary care Dr. says it is normal to have IBS after gallbladder is removed. was it like that for you?I'm wondering if the bile before the surgery does'nt have me flaired up including my hemi's because iwas sore from the bile ( burnt like fire!)
Katz, I just happened to be looking yesterday at the Rome II Criteria for an IBS diagnosis. You have to have for 12 weeks out of the last 52 weeks (not necessarily consecutively) pain accompanied by a change in appearance or frequency of stools. Other related symptoms listed did not include nausea. That doesn't mean that nausea CAN'T be a symptom of IBS, but it's not only not a hallmark of it, it's not even listed as one of the major ones.
I think you should see another doctor and if he brings up IBS, point out that that diagnosis is not consistant with the Rome II Criteria and would he like to try again? (I get impatient with dismissive doctors).
Kyhurst, I had bile diarrhea before I had my gall bladder out and since then. What's up with doctors calling every bowel problem under the sun IBS? "IBS" is the term you're supposed to use when you have absolutely no clue what's wrong with a person's digestive tract. Really, it should just boil down to functional issues that have no known cause. Your problem has a cause and a name. It's called post-cholecystectomy syndrome. (I found that for my book!) Try dropping that term in front of your doctor next time you see him! It entails the gut problems that people experience after having their gall bladders removed, which includes acid reflux and diarrhea.
Yes, fiber can constipate you. I thought I was the only person in the world who took fiber pills and got more constipated! And yes, bile can irritate the lining of your intestines and your rectum/hemmroids. If you're not having a lot of bile in your stools now, then you will eventually heal up. Probably take you a few weeks. Of course constipation will reaggrevate hemmroids.
Are you on a low-fat diet? My mother (a nurse) told me that low fat diets can give anyone constipation, but I think because I don't have a gall bladder my reaction to low fat was even worse. You just have to tinker with your diet and see what you can and cannot tolerate and in what amounts. Me, I eat a good deal of fat because I have a tendency to be constipated anyways and it's easier to take a Welchol and avoid the diarrhea than it is to suffer the constipation (I hate taking laxatives and avoid them if I can--and then, like I said, I can't do fiber supplements, at least not the pills).
The other thing you might try is a product called "Equalactin". You should be able to find it in the chain drugstores in the bowel-product section. It is in a red and white box. It is a type of calcium (not the same kind as in supplements) and it is supposed to help with both diarrhea and constipation by regulating the amount of water in the intestines. It both soaks up excess water and keeps moisture in the intestines. I took it before and after my gall bladder problems and it helped some. Didn't do anything against the bile diarrhea, but when I wasn't having that problem, I definitely noticed an improvement in my bowel movements. Much more regular and easy to pass. I got into the habit of letting the tablets dissolve in my mouth and found that they permanently fixed my sensitive teeth too! It's pricey if you have to use it a lot, but sometimes just getting yourself straightened out is all you need to do, and then just keep some on hand for when you start sliding backwards again.
I think you should see another doctor and if he brings up IBS, point out that that diagnosis is not consistant with the Rome II Criteria and would he like to try again? (I get impatient with dismissive doctors).
Kyhurst, I had bile diarrhea before I had my gall bladder out and since then. What's up with doctors calling every bowel problem under the sun IBS? "IBS" is the term you're supposed to use when you have absolutely no clue what's wrong with a person's digestive tract. Really, it should just boil down to functional issues that have no known cause. Your problem has a cause and a name. It's called post-cholecystectomy syndrome. (I found that for my book!) Try dropping that term in front of your doctor next time you see him! It entails the gut problems that people experience after having their gall bladders removed, which includes acid reflux and diarrhea.
Yes, fiber can constipate you. I thought I was the only person in the world who took fiber pills and got more constipated! And yes, bile can irritate the lining of your intestines and your rectum/hemmroids. If you're not having a lot of bile in your stools now, then you will eventually heal up. Probably take you a few weeks. Of course constipation will reaggrevate hemmroids.
Are you on a low-fat diet? My mother (a nurse) told me that low fat diets can give anyone constipation, but I think because I don't have a gall bladder my reaction to low fat was even worse. You just have to tinker with your diet and see what you can and cannot tolerate and in what amounts. Me, I eat a good deal of fat because I have a tendency to be constipated anyways and it's easier to take a Welchol and avoid the diarrhea than it is to suffer the constipation (I hate taking laxatives and avoid them if I can--and then, like I said, I can't do fiber supplements, at least not the pills).
The other thing you might try is a product called "Equalactin". You should be able to find it in the chain drugstores in the bowel-product section. It is in a red and white box. It is a type of calcium (not the same kind as in supplements) and it is supposed to help with both diarrhea and constipation by regulating the amount of water in the intestines. It both soaks up excess water and keeps moisture in the intestines. I took it before and after my gall bladder problems and it helped some. Didn't do anything against the bile diarrhea, but when I wasn't having that problem, I definitely noticed an improvement in my bowel movements. Much more regular and easy to pass. I got into the habit of letting the tablets dissolve in my mouth and found that they permanently fixed my sensitive teeth too! It's pricey if you have to use it a lot, but sometimes just getting yourself straightened out is all you need to do, and then just keep some on hand for when you start sliding backwards again.
THANKS SO MUCH! I GO BACK TO SURGION MONDAY I WILL BE HAVING A TALK WITH HIM.