Any Ideas on What my Symptoms Mean?

[ConcernedBeing]

A couple months ago, a couple of days after a night of bbq and beer, i experienced chest pain that eventually became abdominal pain and eventually lower back pain. This attack put me out of commission for a couple of days but eventually subsided.

I decided to go to the doctors and he prescribed me medicine for constipation and stomach acid inhibitors.

Fast forward about three weeks and I realized I lost about 7 pounds. This could be attributable to a low calorie diet and high levels of anxiety. I went back to the doctor for this and he referred me to a GI. He also prescribed to me an antibiotic.

The day i started taking the antibiotic, I had a really painful BM but it was the first solid stool i've had in a few weeks. I've been having BMs regularly but they were loose (sorry for the detail). I've since had basically normal BMs since.

I visited the GI and he recommended a colonoscopy of which he performed the next week. This came out clean but he did perform a biopsy on my TI due to some nodularity. The histology came back normal.

My issue is that a few days after i began taking the antibiotic, i started feeling a burning sensation in my lower right abdomen that has not subsided for a couple of weeks now. I know the TI is located in that region but the biopsy did not reveal any abnormalities. I also have not experienced any diarrhea or other symptoms related to CD or anything like that.

Does anyone have an idea of what could be causing the burning sensation without causing diarrhea? I also feel like the pain is radiating higher up my abdomen.

 

[Beach bum]

Hello, I was just wondering if you have had a through the mouth endoscope?
If your problems feel higher up this might make sense.
Also have you had your gallbladder checked - that was one of the first things my Dr suspected and could tie in with a night of fatty BBQ food ?

But in the past I have had a lot of pain, including a burning pain which felt quite high up and I very rarely have diarrhoea so they don't necessarily go hand in hand.
I turned out to have inflamed small intestine - did they go up into yours during the colonoscopy?

I personally felt I lost the most weight when on acid inhibitors, it kind of makes sense that if your body is already struggling to digest and process food that cutting out the acid will maker its job even harder. Could be something to talk to the Doc about - do not stop taking them on my advice !

Good luck hope you feel better soon.

 

[ConcernedBeing]

BeachBum,

I thank you for your response. The Doc was able to get into my TI during my colonoscopy and perform a biopsy of that area. The biopsy came up clean.

I visited him the other day and told him about my symptoms (burning sensation in the lower right abdomen area and random body aches ). He seemed to shrug off CD as a reason. He stated the symptoms are most likely attributable to gastritis, and may be a result of h. pylori infection. He prescribed me nexium. I do not know if his diagnosis makes sense as I read that pain from gastritis should occur in the upper abdomen, not the lower abdomen area close to where the TI and appendix are located.

I began taking the nexium yesterday so it isn't the cause of my weight loss. I haven't lost weight since the colonoscopy which might lend to it being due to extreme anxiety (and a low calorie diet) i was experiencing. Additional weight loss is to be determined.

It is a possibility I might have gallstones. I read my sudden weight loss could predispose me to gall stones and i do feel some discomfort in the general area of where the gallbladder is located. I am getting an abdominal ultrasound next week.

I wonder if the antibiotics might have a role to play since I didnt experience these symptoms until after I took them. My BMs have been normal. I am eating quite regularly with no significant issues. I just want to know what's going on so I can deal with it and move on.

 

[mickey]

perhaps your ascending colon is getting aggrevated? Note that bbq has wheat in it (majority of sauces, as I have not found one without it) and perhaps that is what is aggrevating your system? Watch closely what you are eating (no carbs with meat will help you digest better) and drink. Eliminate any alcohol for a while (if not already done) and drink as much water as possible to see if you can flush out (figuaratively and literally) what is affecting you. note that we can sometimes hold our stress in our stomach; thus causing those problems. Antibiotics can certainly play tricks on the body; amp up on probiotics for a while and hopefully that will get your stomach back on track. Good luck!