Upper Abdominal Distress - Digestive Disorders Message Board

Newsome · 08-25-2005, 04:08 AM

Last Thursday night I began feeling nausous. This developed into a feeling of constant discomfort/pressure (rather like having a rock stuck in the upper abdomen beneath the breast bone). Sometimes it feels like a ganwing. I also feel like I need to burp but don't. I have zero appetite and have been living off of Ensure Plus the last couple of days hoping bland food and no soda would turn it around. Previous to this beginning I had taken a large amount of advil and a dose of hydrocodone to relieve a toothache. I have no vomiting or fever, but have been feeling more and more fatigued as this has gone on.

I'm also dealing with several stressful issues including (but definietely not limited to) my step-sister who is struggling with an unknown cancer they can't seem to figure out. I'm a 34 year old white female. I do suffer from stress disorders and depression (panic attacks, generalized anxiety disorder) since I was 21. I had a similar situation when I was 14 to 16 years old and our family dr gave me tagament. It eventually went away on it's own and I had been really stressed out about school. I smoke but do not touch caffiene. I have no medical insurance and medicaid/SSI is pretty useless now where I am unless you get into an accident or need emergency treatment.

I've limited my possible diagonsis down to, ulcer, gastritis or stomach cancer. My mother died from pancreatic cancer in 1997 and I've never quite recovered from that loss either. But that is the only cancer that has been in my blood line (step-sister's cancer seems to come from her mother's side as she lost her mom to cancer and a couple of her mom's sisters). My grandmother (mother's mother) lived to be 90 and my father is 82 and doing well despite emphysema, though it is debilitating. Father's parents died from stokes and old age and his brother's are still going strong.

Any suggestions? Thanks

Harry · 08-26-2005, 01:18 PM

Ulcers, gastritis and stomach cancer all have to do with your stomach-- your problem is in your esophagus!!!

There is a condition where your esophagus goes into spasm or cramping any where along it's length --- it is called Nut Cracker Syndrome.

It is diagnosed by measuring the pressure every inch along the esophagus as you swallowing a sip of water. Your esophagus is from your throat to just below your the end of your breast bone about 9" long. The test is called a Mercury Manometer Test--

My wife has had this syndrome for about 8 years and it is relieved by taking Prilosec (20mgms OTC drug a PPI) an hour before breakfast. It does not happen daily but enough.

Also, taking a magesium supplement helps with all sorts of spasms and cramps.

Harry

aslo · 09-03-2005, 09:55 PM

Newsome,
I too suffer from panic, depression and the condition you mentioned and more im afraid.
First you havent had this problem that long so try to relax a little. The area you are describing is the solar plexus area. It certainly doesnt sound like a cancer symptom to me. I would think more in the lines of hiatal hernia. It doesnt have to be an actual hernia, but abdominal pressure on the diaphragm. Smoking is not good for it of course.
Just as an experiment, try deep breathing and letting that area open up and relax, see if that effects it.
Just out of curiosity, if someone tells you bad news, where do you feel it physically?
Best wishes

twanger · 09-08-2005, 09:40 AM

Did you ever find some relief or what was causing those symptoms. I have the same ones and it has been going on for a week. I thought that maybe it was a virus or something.

Please let me know.

Newsome · 09-14-2005, 06:50 AM

Yes, I found relife with Pepcid AC. Just taking that a couple of days helped a lot. Cutting back on soda, cigarettes, and spicey food and drinking water (I can't stand drinking water as a rule) Also, eating regular meals. I'm also missing most of my bottom molars, so not chewing my food properly could also contribute to digestive problems (so says a dentist, but I think he'd just like the 10,000 samckers for dental implants). I often find myself swallowing thing mostly whole which I am sure can cause digestive discomfort in many ways. It was also suggested many years ago I could have IBS as well but was never tested. My father and grandmother have also had a history of stomach problems. My father's were quite major (he had diverticulities and had most of his colon removed, but he's 82 and still alive).

And to the person who asks where I "feel" my emotions (good and bad)...right there where I was having the pain. When I was an anxious teen my folks took me in for a similar problem and I was given tagment.

I'm sorry, I've not posted. My father's health has declined and he's spent the last week sick with a cold which due to his emphysema turned into pnuemonia and has been in the hospital two days. Also, I've had the milder form (if you can call it that). Actually, I'm sick as a dog lol. Is there anything else as minor as a cold that can make you feel so horrible..ugh. Well, nothing more painful than a paper cut....

I think I might be having a relapse of the hypochondria I had when I was in my 20s. Or maybe the severe stress I've been feeling the last few years are finally catching up to me. I'm my father's primary care-giver and I worry everyday I'm not going to be able to take as good care of him as he deserves. And I'll blow my brains out before I see this vibrant man whose only problem is his lungs put into a nursing home. And watching him slowly getting taken by this disease is taking it's toll. I've watched my grandmother and mother also die. I don't know if I can do this again.

Anyway, thanks for the support and hope my experience gives someone some info that helps.