I am not sure if anyone can help, but any thoughts would be appreciated.
My 17 year old daughter is almost always nauseated. Brief history:
She had her gallbladder out in Feb 07. In the week after having it out, she was extremely nauseated, and we landed back in the hospital. Her liver enzymes were way off the charts. They did a hita scan (normal), abd US (norma) and an ERCP (removed "sludge"). The nausea just stopped. We went 5 months just fine, when the nausea started again. SHe complains all the time of feeling sick. We have been to the doctor many times, have had another abd US (normal) and a EGD (showed slight gerd). Her labs are all fine. What do you all think? And what tests should we do next?
THe doctor has tried Prevacid and Protonex. She says they do not help.
I just don't know which direction to head in next. What would an MRI show? Or do we need another ERCP? and should you be doing that test again and again?
Thanks for any help you can give.
A lot of things can cause the nausea and not knowing what it is makes it difficult to treat. Is it just that, or are there other symptoms like changes in Bowel movements/color, abdominal pain, changes in appetite beyond nausea, like feeling full all the time, etc.
I've been seeing a GI and one item they are still investigating for me is Gastroparesis. It can be triggered by viruses in some folks and isn't always permanent but can take a long time to recover. I have a stomach emptying test coming up which should finally give me a diagnosis of that or Gallbladder Disease. Given that she did feel better for a few months after the ERCP it doesn't sound like Gastroparesis, but it might be something to keep on the radar.
Another possibility is Bile Reflux. It could be (and/or have been) bile is backing up into her stomach and making her feel ill. In that case, first thing is to heal the stomach and then she needs to manage the flow of bile as best as possible. Keeping it 'thin' seems to be a recommended strategy so drinking lots of water, eating foods like apples, beets, EVOO, etc and avoiding foods like eggs, transfats/saturated fats, and mints (which relaxes the muscles) might help. Of course she should already be avoiding soda's, sweets, anything we don't need, etc until the cause can be figured out.
I find that chewable DGL Licorice (while tasting bad) helps a lot with my upset stomach issues when taken as directed.
Thanks for the reply. The bile reflux might be something to think about. I will mention it to her doctor. I am having her cut out soda to see if that helps.
Lori
