Stomach ulcer?

[SophieFoxman]

Hi everyone,

I'm not feeling so great right now. It's 2:25AM here in Hawaii... And I shouldn't be up but I am, unfortunately, due to discomfort in my upper abdomen.
It's not like normal nausea either where my anxiety makes it pique for no reason, it's like a painful type of nausea.

My stomach has been acting up like this for the past couple of days. Usually I'm really good at deciphering what kind of bowel movement, nausea, and stomach aches I have. This one isn't normal, it feels oddly different from what I normally feel. It feels so extremely painful and sour... I googled around for indigestion, but they said it could be an ulcer, so I guess I'll be going with that. I stress a lot throughout the day, which may have a huge effect on it.
I ate everything the same as my family, and I'm the only one feeling this way, so it must be just my body.

Everytime I try to fall asleep, I end up waking up again within an hour, coughing, due to the acid rising from my stomach. It's been really irritating the lining of my esophagus.

I normally get acid reflux from time to time at night, but it's never this painful to the point where I'd rather just throw up, but obviously my irrational fear still won't let me. I also feel like I won't feel any better if I throw up because it's so sour and so intense. The pain comes and goes like a wave, but it gets worse each time.

I don't know what to do, or what it is... It's very frustrating because I'm so tired!!!!!!! This whole stomach issue has been affecting my school which upsets me immensely. Sorry for the rant... I wish my stomach was healed altogether. I'm so tired of this...

[ChadS]

Hi Sophie. I've had similar issues in the past....and it does sound like an ulcer or possibly just a very heavy case of reflux. The waking up coughing is a clear indicator of reflux. However, I would encourage you to seek the advice of a medical professional. It doesn't take much in the way of acid reflux to really mess up your entire system. The smallest amount of acid above the pyloric valve can result in a substantial amount of discomfort.

A lot of times, it can be controlled with the same medicine as an OTC drug, just a stronger dose which requires prescription. You may need to restrict your diet for a while....but the longer you go without getting treatment, I'm afraid the worse your symptoms will get. And we both know when symptoms get worse, so to does the anxiety, which causes more symptoms. It truly is a vicious cycle. Get some help on that acid reflux and you'll be well on your way to sleeping through the night.

[thecheesecake17]

I reckon I either had one or still have one as I hardly ever get any IBS-type issues but my upper abdomen is constantly giving me grief and its so exhausting isnt it? Is the burning like a huge ache? I have this almost every other morning if I haven't eaten and am very suspish that I have an ulcer....hmmmm.....

[SophieFoxman]

Thank you guys for taking the time to reply... It means a lot.

I went to the doctors earlier today. I basically told her everything that was going on, and I wasn't able to take a blood test for H. Pylori, but instead she requested a urine sample...
Everything came out negative, but she was concerned of the severity of my IBS.
I also had told her that USUALLY, I will stop eating foods at around 2PM, and she said that she felt bad that I live my life this way. She kept asking me about my stress levels, whether I need to talk someone about it or not.
I greatly stressed to her that I am an emetophobic, and I do not take nausea lightly. She prescribed me some probiotics and to eat past 2PM, so I could stabilize the acid in my stomach.

[Heather_509]

Please be careful with the use of proton pump inhibitors. Try to control your reflux with diet; see a nutritionist to work that out, maybe even an elimination diet to find triggering foods. I was on omperazole for over a year, had my endoscopy and was told by my gastroenterologist that I had polyps in my stomach but that was fine because it was "just" the omperazole... had the doc who prescribed it to me told me that it would cause polyps in my stomach, I would never have taken them. A drug that creates growths inside you can't be good!