Stomach Issues

[Jamie]

What's going on in that area?

Aron, I keep meaning to ask you if giving up the fraps has helped.

Usually, besides the persistent acid reflux, I have no stomach problems. I hear people talk about how they threw up that morning and I'm like, "But you are here! Walking around and talking to me!" If I'm sick enough to barf, I'm sick enough to stay home, and then some.

But today, I'm feeling a little... unsettled. Queasy isn't quite the right word, but it's the closest I can come up with. It's bad enough that I wish I could go home and lie down, and I really hope it passes soon. Eating some Cheerios has seemed to help settle things, a little.

What about you? Anything persistent or in passing? How do you usually remedy?

[Heather]

I get queasy sometimes in the morning, especially if I don't get enough sleep the night before. Even if I do get enough sleep there are still days that I just feel blah for a couple of hours and then I'm ok. I used to not be able to eat anything in the morning, but now I can, but there are still some things in the morning that I just can't go near. I do still wait a couple of hours to eat breakfast though - I don't eat until I get to work, so that's enough time for my stomach to feel settled.

[koroshiya]

i have the same thing as heather, where not enough sleep can make me pretty bad gut-wise. also, certain smells in the morning will set me off like nothing else, when i'm fine with them every other part of the day. add to that a crappy gag reflex, and brushing my teeth some mornings sets me off. unfortunately, morning barfing is no longer an excuse to stay home for me - some weeks, i would get nothing done.

[Jamie]

I know I said I tend to eat poorly on the weekends, but this weekend was banner. I think the healthful high point was a panini from Panera bread. And we are paying for it. Mollie said she doesn't feel particularly well, and my solar plexus feels like a little fireball. Ugh.

[Aron]

Aron, I keep meaning to ask you if giving up the fraps has helped.

It sure has. I still have a couple problems here and there, but sometimes it's a combo of things rather just one ingredient or product.

[Jamie]

This is a stupid question, but I'm not finding a clear answer on the web.

In general, what causes an upset stomach? Is it usually something you ate?

I was fine last night, went to practice, ran my ass off for two hours, then came home and... awful. If I got into a position where I was halfway comfortable, the relief was so great I wouldn't move - Matt held out his hand for me to hold and I said, "No, thank you."

But it seems so odd to me that I would eat, practice... and THEN have gastro issues.

[Rooey]

I'm pretty sure it usually is food. But stress can do this, and long-standing stress can turn into an ulcer. I don't think that's what is happening to you, though.

Any weird changes in your diet lately? More acidic food?

[Jamie]

I did eat a shitload of candy yesterday, even for me.

[Lola]

Sometimes my stomach reacts to things I've eaten days before. Especially if I work out with some intensity later.

It's my theory that exercise works some of those toxins out of the body ... though I don't really have any medical proof to back me up on that.

[Heather]

Alot of times if I eat anything before I work out I get an upset stomach. Even good for you stuff like fruit and veggies can leave me hurting afterwards.

[Jamie]

I couldn't sleep last night, because of a burning, stabbing pain right below my solar plexus. It actually kept waking me up. I'm no stranger to acid reflux, but that usually sits in the base of my throat. This was lower and much, MUCH worse. Tums and Zantac didn't do a damn thing.

Now, I'm in a hard place. I'm tired, and want coffee. But I'm scared to drink the acidic. I'm scared to consume anything but water, honestly.

[tapestrygirl]

i am so glad i dont have acid reflux.

jamie, can you do tea?

[Jana]

Corey has acid reflux and horrible heartburn problems, and he says that milk and water is about all he can handle for beverages on the days that it's really bad. He also started taking something for the heartburn recently, and I think that his quality of life has improved a great deal.

[Harmony]

I have never had bad heartburn or reflux -- I usually get a mild case of heartburn a few times a year. This week I have had three different days where I had terrible heartburn that felt like it was low in my esophagus, not like reflux. I am pretty sure I have burned my esophagus somewhere and my stomach is pissed at me. Then last night I felt like I was attacked. I was totally fine, then I felt a little funky, and then suddenly I was bent over from the pain and totally miserable. I finally threw up because my stomach felt so full, but overall I don't think that helped. It took a few hours and as many different heartburn remedies as I could think of to get to a place where I wasn't crying.

I woke up feeling ok, after finally deep breathing and laying in as comfortable of a position as I could manage to get to sleep. But now the burning is back. It's not horribly painful yet, but if it gets any worse, I am not going to be able to concentrate on work. I didn't drink coffee or anything weird this morning either.

[Jamie]

Our meal of wings and waffle fries last night upset my stomach so much that I was eating Tums like candy before bed and the stomach issues actually kept me up and hour and a half later than I wanted to go to bed. I've brushed my teeth twice since and I can still taste Tums in the back of my tongue.

It'll be a long, long time before I consider eating there again.

[barefootboatnik]

My stomach/digestive stuff has been scaring me lately. I've always had stomach problems after eating a particularly rich meal (usually sunday dinner with the folks, dinner out with beth, or even things like mac and cheese).. I just chalked it up to IBS or the like. But it's been getting worse and worse lately, with painful cramps sending me to the bathroom regardless of what I've eaten recently (even if I HAVEN'T eaten!), nearly every single day for the last five or six weeks. At least twice it was so painful I had difficulty moving. I finally broke down and made a doc appt for next week, and I'm nervous as hell about it.

And you know, if my innards aren't going to work correctly, the least they could do is skinny me up a bit, wouldn't you think? But nooo. Apparently my body digests just enough to maintain my spare tire.

[tapestrygirl]

How did the doctors appointment go?

[barefootboatnik]

I postponed it, of course. Seriously, I couldn't get the time off last week for the appt, so I rescheduled. Next week is the magic week now!

[Jamie]

Worst reflux attack in a long time, last night. I couldn't even get up off the couch to get medication, and the pain was so intense it gave me goosebumps.

It's better this morning, but I still feel a burning core and it's thwarting my plans to go for a run in the rain. Maybe biking later will be more my speed.

[Jamie]

Okay, you know what? People keep asking me if I like Orlando, and in order to give it a fair assessment, I need my various recurring ailments to BACK THE FUCK OFF for a few days. Just as I got over the vague sore throat/sniffling/sinusy stuff, on Saturday night I got hit with another awful acid reflux attack. This one is backed up so far that it actually burned the back of my throat. I can feel it - still hurts, this afternoon. Add a blechy headache and I am just TIRED OF IT.

[Lola]

If I didn't know you were in Orlando, I would say you've caught a case of the Cincinnati Crud.*




* My former doctor's technical term for the yucky, vague sinusy stuff.

[Jamie]

Today, it made me lose my voice. So much for job follow-up calls.

[Kayeita]

god, acid reflux is awful. i get episodes like that occasionally, Jamie, and it made me really understand what Jonas was going through and push for his fundo surgery. Now if I know I'm going to drink red wine or I'm eating things that I know might give me acid reflux, i'll take a zantac before I go to bed otherwise I'll wake up with a mouth filled with acid at 2am, choking & my lungs will hurt for the next day or so from aspirating on some.

[Jamie]

I'm still trying to nail down the culprits, but after this, I'm definitely going to be more pro-active about preventative Zantac, any time I think reflux is a possibility.

[Kayeita]

Yeah, the pain just wasn't worth it for me to not, and the days that I *do* end up forgetting, inevitably it's awful. I had to take a lot of zantac during both pregnancies, I never had heartburn/acid reflux before I had children and it decided to stick around. Ugh. It took Jim a long time to listen to me and just take a zantac when he'd complain of heartburn, and when he finally did listen he couldn't believe it took him so long to pay attention.

[Jamie]

Do you take one every day?

[Kelly]

This qualifies as assvice, but my worst acid reflux episodes were caused by persistent sinus drainage. If it's hurting you enough that your throat is sore, you need to be dosing yourself with something. I had to take the pepcid stuff twice a day for two solid months after the sinus stuff was cleared up to heal the damage. In that time, I had to avoid acidic stuff like fruit juices, soda, and tomato-based stuff.

[Kayeita]

No, just on days (like today for example) when I know I"m going out and going to eat/drink something, I'll take one when I'm about to go out.


I've also been known to take one right before bed, if I've been bad. I don't take them daily anymore (during the pregnancies i was on a double dose twice per day) but in general if I regret my food decisions (something a little spicier than I should have) or something I know I've ended up with acid in my throat from eating before, I'll just take one on my way to bed and that helps. Usually when it's after-the-fact, I'll pop the zantac, chew a tums, and go to sleep.


I know this sounds like I do this often but in reality it's maybe 1 or 2 times per week. The biggest culprit for me & night time acid reflux is alcohol, so if I know i'll be drinking I take it an hour or two before I do so. If I somehow unexpectedly (which is RARE given my housebound-ness) have alcohol without taking one prior, I'll just take one right before bed with water.

[Jamie]

I don't know what is wrong with me, specifically, but I feel like someone ran my stomach and intestines through a paper shredder.

[tapestrygirl]

I don't know what is wrong with me, specifically, but I feel like someone ran my stomach and intestines through a paper shredder.

I hope this isn't why Matt was making a trip to the ER last nite.

[Jamie]

It is why. And guess what? There's nothing wrong with me! Except for the crippling abdominal pain.

[tapestrygirl]

Yikes. Did they at least give you some pain meds?

[Jamie]

I had an IV last night and they put something in there that helped a lot. But for now, they just want to keep in on OTC stuff.

Right now their best guess is a virus. I have a little bit of a fever, too. If it doesn't go away, I go back for a CAT scan.

I just like to ignore these things till they go away, and I would never think to go to the hospital - that was Matt's idea. He did have a good point, though, about ruling things out - like, let's make sure it's not my appendix before it ruptures, ok?

[Harmony]

Eek, Jamie! I hope they figure out what it is, and that it is something easily treatable and largely non-threatening.

[tapestrygirl]

I just like to ignore these things till they go away, and I would never think to go to the hospital - that was Matt's idea. He did have a good point, though, about ruling things out - like, let's make sure it's not my appendix before it ruptures, ok?

You definitely want to catch your appendix before it ruptures. Nick didn't and he A. Nearly died, B. Was in the hospital awhile, not cheap, and C. Ended up not working for close to 8 weeks I think because he couldn't move afterwards. Very very scary.

[Jamie]

No issues on this front for a long, long time and then a little reflux last night. Zantac fixed it but it had been so long I was sort of hoping it was something in my past. Oh well.

[MightyBruja]

I am on Day 1 of a 3 day experiment with a gluten-free diet. I have been having digestive issues and am going to see if this helps.