This is topic My tummy hurts. (Probably don't read if you're squicky.) (It feels better!) in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.
It's hurt for more than two weeks now, since I had a stomach virus that had me vomiting, etc. It hurts every time I eat, and hurts more when I don't. My IBS has been reasonably well-behaved; this seems to be the stomach itself. Food in, tummy hurt. The only thing that seems to help is to eat bland food (which minimizes the hurting, but does not eliminate it), avoid dairy and spicy foods (which I love!), and take Alka-Seltzer. I hate Alka-Seltzer. But Pepto Bismol nauseates me, and Tums, my usual remedy, don't help this at all. I'm not happy. This should be gone by now. *grumps* I can't even eat ketchup.
[ September 16, 2005, 02:16 AM: Message edited by: ketchupqueen ]
Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
You're not pregnant, are you? Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
Could be food poisoning. Thats a guess, but it sounds like the symptoms I had when I ate some bad ice cream one time. It's weird because it tasted fine, but about halfway through I couldn't keep it down.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
No, I'm not pregnant. I almost wish I were, I know what to do for that! But it's not that kind of tummy upset. This is actual pain, like irritation, not nausea and general dull ache like when I had all-the-time sickness.
Food poisoning? I don't think so. Because I'm no longer ill at all; my stomach just doesn't seem to have recovered.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Ulcers?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
My sister had one in HS. What are the symptoms? Risk factors?
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
It's probably an overdose of ketchup you know. Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
*looks around* CT? Theca?
You would immediately know more than me about ulcers if you did a Google search. Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I think it's stress, actually. That doesn't make it not real by any means, but it might change how you deal with it.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Oh, dear. I just looked up ulcers on WebMD, and I do indeed have several risk factors and many of the symptoms. But we don't have health insurance yet. Maybe I should talk to my dad... (He's a doctor.)
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Katie, I thought of stress, too. But my IBS usually flares up when I'm stressed, and it's not. And this isn't part of my IBS pattern. Besides, the stress has gotten a lot better now that we're here.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Oh, and doesn't Alka-Seltzer have asprin in it? Taking asprin can cause/irritate ulcers. So maybe if I'm thinking I have symptoms of an ulcer, I should stop the Alka-Seltzer and find something else that helps.
Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
I'd say stress myself, since some of your description matches the stuff my stomach goes through when I get overly stressed out. I could be wrong though. Everyone's a little different.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
It also makes me curious that I had a bad virus and have only had these symptoms since.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
It could be a tumor.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Oh, gee, thanks.
I think I like "stress" or even "ulcer" better than "tumor"!
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Just joking.
No one remembers the timeless Schwartznegger film "Kindergarten Cop"? It was Ah-nold's "Citizen Cane".
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
see the doctor dad. Someone needs to look at you if you're hurting for this long. Posted by LadyDove (Member # 3000) on :
When my son had this type of pain, they thought it might be a gall bladder problem. It later turned-out to be an extended and painfully acute case of gas.
Recently, my pediatrician prescribed GasX for my son when the pain came back. It worked like a charm.
My grampa had a similar pain and it was caused by the deterioration of his stomach lining. He was in his 80's though, and as I understand it, stomach lining issues are common in the elderly.
Here is a site that may be able to give you some help.
Hope you feel better soon!
(editted to give better link)
[ September 15, 2005, 04:53 PM: Message edited by: LadyDove ]
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
quote:But Pepto Bismol nauseates me
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who experiences this. If I'm feeling sick to my stomach, the only thing pepto is guaranteed to do is make me throw up.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Yup. And then give me green-black stools.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Yes! Dude, do you think we're allergic?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Maybe just hyper-sensitive. Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
BTW, I am giggling at the ads at the bottom of this page.
Posted by Samarkand (Member # 8379) on :
Since this happened after you had some kind of stomach virus, I would bet that the levels of bacteria in your stomach are really out of whack. You probably already know this, but the human stomach alone can't break food down and process it; we need bacterial helpers in there.
When people vomit and/or get diarrhea, the balance goes out the window and your stomach can't digest correctly. This is part of why doctors suggest eating yoghurt with live cultures (acidophilus); it helps replace what you lost. What's even more effective than eating yoghurt is taking nutritional supplements:
The website above talks about the amount of bacteria that need to be present in pills to be effective etc. Remember that these are bacteria that are already in your digestive tract anyway, or if they're not, they really really should be, ie. don't be afraid of them. More and more physicians are automatically telling patients to head on over to Whole Foods and buy a bottle whenever they put them on antibiotics so patients don't get diarrhea. You should keep the refrigerated because they're alive (ooooohhh!).
Don't take too many to start, ease on in. Hope it helps!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I've already eaten yogurt and taken acidophilus tablets. My mom made me. I hate yogurt. It irritated me more, so she switched me to the tablets. Didn't help. Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
Usually when I see pain like this after an episode of vomiting, it is from gastritis (gastric irritation) leftover from the acute illness. I usually treat with a few weeks of an acid blocker and have the person eating bland foods for a week or two. That'd be, in your insurance-less case, OTC prilosec 20 to 40 mg per day, taken with a meal, for at least two weeks.
I can't judge whether you have gall bladder problems or continuing gastroenteritis or anything online, but you can always see your dad.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Thanks, Theaca, that makes me feel better-- that's kind of what I suspected. I know my dad keeps Prilosec on hand, I'll ask him about it. And would you happen to know whether that's okay for me to take while Emma's still nursing morning and night?
Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
I hadn't heard that acidophilus was helpful after nausea/vomiting/diarrhea unless those symptoms were occuring with antibiotics. It won't hurt anything, though.
Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
*looks*
Well... most of the proton pump inhibitor class are excreted in breast milk. Prilosec is one. Since it is one of the older ones, at least there has been more experience with it than the others and there are no reports of harm that I know of.
Perinatolog.com had this to say: BREAST FEEDING: A single case report suggests that there is minimal excretion of omeprazole into human breast milk [5]. Because of the limited data regarding the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from omeprazole, and because of the potential for tumorigenicity shown for omeprazole in rat carcinogenicity studies, a decision should be made whether to discontinue nursing or to discontinue the drug, taking into account the importance of the drug to the mother.
See, we were worried for years that these drugs would cause cancer in adults. It hasn't. But they are covering their bases and saying it is still possible since we haven't been treating babies.
You could try ranitidine (zantac) OTC, 150mg twice daily instead. It is also excreted in breast milk but it is an older drug than prilosec and with no evidence of harm. Perinatology.com says it is compatible with breast feeding.
Or talk to your mom and dad.
[ September 15, 2005, 06:28 PM: Message edited by: Theaca ]
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I was going to say acid reflux.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
My dad also recommended Zantac. Thanks. You're great to look all that stuff up.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Good luck and feel better soon, kq. It sucks to feel like that. Posted by Treason (Member # 7587) on :
The same thing happened to my mom and they found gallstones...
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I took Zantac 30 minutes or so before dinner. I managed to get down a nice big sandwich without irritation or queasiness, and have had no unpleasant after-effects other than a teensy bit of gas. I guess I will be taking Zantac and taking it easy for a while. Yay for Theaca! (And my daddy, who agreed with her advice and suggested Zantac, and since we only had 4 tablets is bringing me more tomorrow. )
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
My gallstone problems started out - in my teen years - as very similar to IBS, plus I'd get really tired after eating anything fatty. As it progressed, the pain got worse and worse until it turned into full-fledged gallbladder attack, and those are really nasty. Really really really nasty. Hugely vomitously painfully nasty. Avoid at all costs nasty.
If this continues, watch the pattern. If it happens after meals with a lot of fat, then it's more likely to be gallbladder related.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Fat doesn't bother me. I have had IBS at least since I was 10 or so, diagnosed when I was 12 (although according to my parents my bowel patterns have been the same since I was born, and my daughter has a very similar pattern.) (I also saw a chiropractor and physical therapist from the time I was 7 because I had so much tension I was having back problems. And when I was 8 my hair fell out from stress. :| )
Anyway, I've had a lot of time to get comfortable with treating my IBS and knowing what's normal for me. I supplement with fiber when necessary, avoid large amounts of pork products (I used to be so hypersensitive I could only eat cured pork, like ham or bacon, twice a year or so, and fresh not at all, but that's gotten less sensitive as I got older), limit my dairy (I take Tums not only as a remedy for tummy upset but a calcium supplement), especially milk, pay attention to which pattern I'm in and eat accordingly, and try to do stress-relieving things when it really flares up. It works pretty well; at least it's livable. But thank you for your concern. I can tell that this is unrelated to the IBS because I've known it so long, and know its patterns.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Good enough. All I'm here for is dissemination of information. (Although pork sensitivity was my first symptom. Just sayin'.)
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The only thing that seems to help is to eat bland food (which minimizes the hurting, but does not eliminate it), avoid dairy and spicy foods (which I love!), and take Alka-Seltzer. I hate Alka-Seltzer. But Pepto Bismol nauseates me, and Tums, my usual remedy, don't help this at all. I'm not happy. This should be gone by now. *grumps* I can't even eat ketchup. ![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
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You're great to look all that stuff up.
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I can tell that this is unrelated to the IBS because I've known it so long, and know its patterns.