just another newbie

[blood_tears]

hey all,


Although this is my first official post here, i cant exactly call myself new. I've been lurking and hiding for quite a while now, just haven't been posting anything. But i do have to say I'm glad to see there is a site and support for this fear. Like most of you, for the longest time i knew nothing about it, just knew what i was afraid of, terrified of and though i was alone in feeling that way.


A little about me, im 19 years old, live in canada, currently living at home, fun stuff like that. A year ago something, currently undefined, went wrong with my stomach. To say the least i am willing to trade the silly organ in now for a newer model as it has yet to decide it wants to be normal again. Doctors have been looking for a while now, still not sure whats going on and im tired of waiting.


Other than that, i just wanted to say hi all

[ontariogirl]

Hi welcome to the site. I hope you feel better soon. What happened to you?

[ontariogirl]

I forgot, I live in Canada to.

[blood_tears]

let me guess, your from ontario?


thanks for the well wishes, i hope so too. i dont know what happened, it seemed like one week i was fine, the next i was having horrible stomach cramps, d*, etc. since then its progressed into all of the above plus lots of n* and a bit of v*. I've lost 50 lbs in the past year and still the doctors dont know why. they know its not celiac disease, not crohns or colitis, not an infection or parasite. it might be IBS, might be motility, might be thyroid, might be anything still but theyre not sure so they want more tests but as we all know, free as it might be, healthcare isnt the fastest thing in the world around here so i'm playing the sit and wait game. i swear i'm not bitter about this...


all they know for sure is if you lose as much weight as i did, you go hyperglycemic....fun fun

[sunshine16]

Welcome to our little
IES family. I hope you find all the support, comfort and hope here to
get you through your darkest hours. Always remember that you are not
alone, and that we are always here for you. You can read more about me
on page 4 of the "Who are you?" Sticky topic at the top of this page.
Well now didn't that sound like a autobiography, lol. Anyways, I hope
to see you posting around the site!

Welcome!</font>

[blood_tears]

thanks

[ontariogirl]

I hope the doctors find out what is happening to you.

[blood_tears]

so do i...oh boy so do i...

[sunshine16]

I know. I feel your
pain. From January 2004 - October 2004 I went though about every test
possible, because I kept going to my doctor with complaints of extreme
nausea. Pretty much what you describe. Anyways, he FINALLY diagnosed me
with my Anxiety Disorder after all the PHYSICAL tests came back okay.
Anxiety, OCD, IBS and Despression are my current world, and the reasons
that those months were full of nausea, discomfort, and days home from
school.</font>

[sunshine16]

Forgot to add to my lil blurb that I live in a town near Toronto, Ontario, Canada.</font>

[blood_tears]

now thats an interesting idea. mind if i ask what tests you went through and how they were? im realy nervous about my next set of tests and though i am not sure yet what it will involve, none of the words mentioned to me thus far sound pleasant. also, how do you control your IBS now?


lol, I'm right near toronto as well...*starts singing its a small world after all*

[sunshine16]

lol *its a small, small world!*



Well, I went through both Pelvic and Abdominal Ultra sounds, CT scans
of the brain and bone marrow, Upper GI serris, Lower GI serris, blood
tests, of course urine tests, I was hooked up to a heart monitor for a
day, and a bunch of other ones before the stupid doctors finally
guessed that maybe it was more than physical. Then they did the testing
for anxiety disorder (i.e. do you have difficulty sleeping a) all the
time, b) some of the time, c) never)



If there are any specific questions you have, I'd be happy to answer in
the best way I can. I know they can be so scary, especially barrium
swallow X Rays, but just think of them as the first step to getting
better. </font>

[blood_tears]

well people keep mentioning a colonoscopy to me. know anything about it?


ive been through a whole wack of blood tests, the ecg, any number of collection tests. ive seen a therapist for a short itme about anxiety which my gp knows about but other than that, they've not started imaging yet...

[tink]

Welcome! You will get a wonderful amount of support here.
I am so sorry that you have gone through so much chaos in the last year. I hope they find the problem soon.

Did you just become an emet with your recent illness? Or were you always prone to fearing v*?

--Kim

[blood_tears]

i've been an emet since i was about 7. my younger sister had a bad reaction to an antibiotic one night while my mom was out and my dad refused to take care of her though she was quite ill. i spent the night and most of the next day in the hall closet listening to her v*. to say the least, i suspect my fear has something to do with hours spent thinking she was dying...

[madisonsmom]

Welcome.


My mother has a lot of problems with her stomach. She has had 3 surgery's on it and it is still messed. She has hardly any motility at all. Her stomach is basically paralyzed. In the beginning she had a lot of pain, nausea, v*, and d*. Hers started off with ulcers though. The last surgery she had was to remove 1/2 of her stomach. She still has lots of pain...


I hope they find out soon whats wrong. I know my mom has had SO many tests. It really sucks to have emet with stomach issues.

[tink]

Oh my gosh, how horrible.. Its amazing some of the horrible things that have triggered this affliction ..

[2jo2]

Welcome to the site! I hope you find relief from your stomach problems.

[blood_tears]

thanks everyone. its nice knowing im not alone in being afraid.

[realtaken]

Welcome!


I wanted to share with you my stomach experiences. I have celiac disease (you obviously know what it is) and a lot of pain, d*, etc. in my stomach. I tried to go in for the endoscopy, but I was so terrified of the scope going down my throat that on the OR table, I told the doctor to get me out of there. Well, the pains and weight loss would not stop even on a gluten free diet, so I talked to another doctor who performed the endoscopy and colonoscopy by putting me totally under. The endoscopy showed that my stomach is bleeding inside not due to anything other than anxiety. Everything else was normal. I am sure you probably have some type of anxiety disorer and after they finally tell you nothing is wrong with you, you will have a better time with your stomach. I don't know if this is encouraging, but I will keep you in my prayers.


Stephanie

[blood_tears]

they have truied telling me before that they arent sure anyhting is wrong with me. problem is i am still losing weight and having symptoms. even all of my blood work comes back realitively normal for the most part. im now hypoglycemic but as i have known since gr. 8 that i would develop this soon, thats not a suprise nor really a concern for me. my moms entire family is and i take after her so....at least i am not my sister, she is probably going to end up diabetic from my fathers family so...


however my thyroid is borderline high, my b12 borderline low and all together this adds up to not alot. there probably really is something going on just because some of the symptoms i can force myself into having. you cant make yourself think you are hurting, are nauseous and even to some points give yourself d* ect through anxiety. however, i dont really think that you can force food to pass through your body almost entirely undigested. i guess thats part of the reason why i still think they are going to find something. but, realtaken, when you went through your problems, did you ever go through the celiac blood test?

[ejb199]

Welcome to the site! im not from US or Canada doh! But i have been to both and Canada is great! I loved Toronto and Vancouver - and Bala Bay - north of Toronto - just lush!

ems x

[realtaken]

Yes, I went through the blood test and it has been verified four times now. I am due for another one in May because my doctor wanted me to get back on gluten to see if the blood count goes up for it. I tried to eat the gluten, but I was too sick and have quit.


Stephanie

[blood_tears]

just out of curiosity, do you have to pay for the celiac test? when i went through it, i had a bill mailed to me weeks later asking for an outrageous amount that no one bothered to tell me about in advance. i was less than thrilled...

[realtaken]

Actually, my insurance covered it just fine. It is a very expensive test, but I have HealthNet here in the US, which is an HMO that covers those types of expenses. That is good that you got the test and found out that you don't have it. It NEVER goes away...I miss my pasta and breads! I really hope the doctors can find out what is going on inside of you. As soon as I get back on the gluten free diet, my signs of malabsorption stops and I feel much better. Hopefully it will be something as simple as that for you.


Stephanie

[blood_tears]

yes i know what it is like to miss those foods. while i was waiting for the test results, my doctor decided it would be best for me to start on a celiac diet. actually we have a fiarly decent gluten free bakery in my area but even then rice bread will never replace real bread. however, comeing form that diet and as i do have a mild wheat allergy, i have adopted some of the gluten free products. if they involve enough chocolate, they are yummy. rice or not.


but i am sure you must be glad to have the insurance. my mom has insurance through work but because of the way it works, the bills get sent to us first then the insurance pays what it will 6 weeks later. which is not so much of fun.

[realtaken]

That is awful. Yes, I am grateful to have such great insurance. The gluten free products are hard to find out here and I usually order them online. I WISH we had a gluten free bakery around.


Stephanie

[blood_tears]

what area of the world do you live in? and have you ever tried going to any of the health stores (they are the ones that normally advertise a whole lot of rather strange herbal pills you may not have heard of before). at least here in canada they tend to have a few random gluten free products in the freezer.

[realtaken]

I do go to a health food store here in California (United States), but they don't have as much as I would like. I get the brown rice bread and some of the gluten free brownies, but as far as breads or pizza crusts go, I don't like them. There is like one brand of each. I can find some of the frozen meals, but they get old really fast as well. I just try to eat freash foods or meat and forget about the carbs.


Steph

[blood_tears]

*hugs* that isn't much fun.


actually this is a trick i learned from an ibs diet i was on for a while but if you happen to like peanut butter, put some on a rice cake as it actually tastes really really good as a snack.