stomach pains getting worse.
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| Fri, 05-05-2006 - 6:49am |
It seems my stomach pains are getting worse. My doctor prescibed belladonna for me to take only when I get extreme stomach pains, and I seem to be taking every other week now, I took two yesterday because my stomach was quit painful, and now i am refusingto take one today and I am in pain. Last month I did get a referral to see one doctor once a GI doctor down in MA to see what they think about the stomach pain. So i'm calling him today because I am really scared i may have stomach cancer. I have lost a lot of weight I was 140, now I am 130lbs, without exercising or dieting, and my pains are getting worse and worse. Plus, when I do take my medication I have no energy it makes me soo tired, and I hate feeling this way. I have cut back on caffiene, somedays only one cup of coffee, other days I can have 2-3 maybe. I no longer smoke and I don't eat foods that irritate my GERD. I just want this to go away. The pain I am having is my lower back and it radiates to the front of my stomach, and yeah it hurts I took my GERD medication but I am refusing to take the belladonna again unless it gets so bad I can't walk. Thanks for letting me vent.
Jess

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Hi Jess - I'm sorry that you aren't doing well.
I'm just curious about the belladonna - is it a herb or homeopathic remedy? or a perscription medication?
Hope you find the cause for these problems real soon,
Jo
It's herbal. Here's a link, if you want to know anything about it:
http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/nmdrugprofiles/herbaldrugs/100220.shtml
This is not spam. I am merely trying to be helpful.
Perhaps you should ask your doctor about the possibility that you might suffer from a malabsorption disease such as Celiac Disease (gluten intolerance).
Your symptoms sound similar to what I experienced a few years ago - rapid weight loss / wasting (I went from 125 to under 100 pounds in about three months) and the stomach pains (I experienced horrible stomach pains, bloating and cramping). My stomach made these weird gassy noises that could be heard across a room.
Some other symptoms that I had that are related to CD (that I didn't even realize were related until after being diagnosed) are irritibility, anxiety with panic attacks, light headedness and "brain fuzz," hypoglycemia, malabsorption and anemia. I eventually experienced chronic diarrhea (which lasted for three months).
Celiac Disease is an auto-immune disease where the body attacks the lining of the small intestine when exposed to gluten (which it "thinks" is poison). The villi become flattened and therefore proper digestion and absorption of fat and any fat soluble vitamins becomes nearly impossible. The only treatment is to stop eating gluten (the protein found in wheat, rye, barley, oats, kamut, spelt, etc.).
When people with CD start to experience weight loss, malabsorption and eventually diarrhea, it means the disease is advanced to the point where the entire length of the small intestine is flat. I realize that weight loss combined with stomach pains could be a number of ailments, but I am sharing my story here as a possible answer to your problem. CD is underdiagnosed and commonly misdiagnosed (as IBS and a host of other similar conditions) so I feel a sort of duty to make people aware of it.
Also, it has been 3 years since my diagnosis (blood test followed by an endoscopy) and my physical symptoms are completely gone (unless I accidentally eat something that contains gluten) and the malabsorption-related problems are under much better control.
Links for more info:
http://www.celiac.org/
http://www.csaceliacs.org/celiac_diagnosis.php
http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/gi/celiac.html
"...you should ask your doctor..."
Not possible. Don't have one. Uninsured. Living on disability paychecks, also a dependent.
"rapid weight loss"
You don't have to worry about that! It's as hard for me to lose 5 pounds as it is for a "regular" woman to lose 10, or even 15! I've been "fat" practically all my life, except the couple years I chose to starve myself (fyi, not fat in the way that I'm "woman sized", though I've been there before, but fat enough for the skinny people to think so).
"irritibility, anxiety with panic attacks, light headedness and "brain fuzz," hypoglycemia, malabsorption and anemia"
Heh, I have all of these!
Sorry. Can't get help for my problem. Seems like the people who need the most help can't afford it.
But i know that part of my problem isn't due to my body, but my situation. I have what you might call "anger fat". I go through almost constant stress that no one seems to see, because I don't lead the kind of life that normal people (basically those of you who have children, and a job) would think of as being stressful. That's the main casue of my problem. My stomach will swell in times of stress. I have proof because my ex had brought on a great deal of stress, and I always seemed to be fatter around him than I was around anyone else--even my father, who continues to be a source of my stress. I just react badly to stress. I've suffered from GAD since I was 10-years-old.
Two years ago, I had a truly wonderful time at Nekocon. It was the best vacation I'd ever been on. Even though I was "menstrual", my abdomen wasn't in that much discomfort. I just need more harmony in my life. I'm sure that my problem would vanish, if my other problems would vanish. But I'm still certain that you're correct when you say "malabsorption". My family suffers from it. It seems to be hereditary. But I need my sugar, otherwise I'll get ill. Low blood sugar, you know. Not to mention, sugary foods help my bloat go down. The foods that usually have a habit of irritating my stomach are greasy and stuffed with sodium--the kinds that my father loves!
I also know that part of the reason why I have stomach problems is the same reason why I have problems with my joints. I have scoliosis. My lower lumbar spine bends 90 degrees to the left. The weakness of my back weakens my stomach, hips, and even knees, not to mention puts stress on my neck.
Edited 5/11/2006 11:09 pm ET by filiasan
Sorry for the confusion, I thought I was replying to the first post in this succession (pasted below - message # 2712.1 by ariesgirl26).
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It seems my stomach pains are getting worse. My doctor prescibed belladonna for me to take only when I get extreme stomach pains, and I seem to be taking every other week now, I took two yesterday because my stomach was quit painful, and now i am refusingto take one today and I am in pain. Last month I did get a referral to see one doctor once a GI doctor down in MA to see what they think about the stomach pain. So i'm calling him today because I am really scared i may have stomach cancer. I have lost a lot of weight I was 140, now I am 130lbs, without exercising or dieting, and my pains are getting worse and worse. Plus, when I do take my medication I have no energy it makes me soo tired, and I hate feeling this way. I have cut back on caffiene, somedays only one cup of coffee, other days I can have 2-3 maybe. I no longer smoke and I don't eat foods that irritate my GERD. I just want this to go away. The pain I am having is my lower back and it radiates to the front of my stomach, and yeah it hurts I took my GERD medication but I am refusing to take the belladonna again unless it gets so bad I can't walk. Thanks for letting me vent.
Jess
>>
That's what my last GI doctor said but I was still getting the pains and what made it worse since I was on soy milk( nastiest thing ever) I couldn't poop, I had constipation for like a week. So, i did get off the soy milk, and after the week of constipation my body got rid of the waste. I probably shouldn't have done it, but I was unhappy.
Jess
P.S. The belladonna is an herb but mine is in prescription form, and in a pill. I hate taking it.
whoa, now that is strange. maybe it has something to do with being "backed up" for so long? i never had that but i did have fat, tissue and blood in my stool (gross, i know, sorry), which is what prompted me to call my doctor for a more thorough check-up (i guess my doc wasn't worried about the other problems until things really got out of control). i guess the fat was a little stringy now that i think of it (but not long like you mentioned). the doc thought i kad krohn's disease until my bloodwork came back showing elevated antibodies consistent with Celiac Disease. maybe it's worth your while to ask for thorough bloodwork on your next visit.
i was sick for months before i knew what was wrong, so i can relate to what you're going through right now. keep us posted. i hope you start to feel better soon!
Hello aries26,
How are you doing? Are feeling any better? Did you ever call the GI doctor? You definately need some tests done. I think it would be a good idea to have an endoscopy done with biopsies just to rule out the cancer to ease your mind. In what time frame did you lose the weight? I have taken that belladonna also. I think it made me feel worse. Have you had your gallbladder checked? I just had surgery on mine and I had the same syptoms where it was in my back and radiated around to my stomach. Do you ever have nausea and vomiting with the pain? Well, I hope you have found out something by now. Its frustrating living with so much pain and the doctors cannot figure out why.Keep us informed on how you are doing. Take care!!
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