1 Year of Undiagnosed Stomach Misery
I was under a lot of stress when my stomach pain started, so I thought maybe that was why I was having the pain, or maybe it was because for awhile I was grinding my teeth at night so during the day I had to take a lot of painkillers because of the tooth pain..and maybe that had messed up my stomach..but in any case, I started to have horrible stomach pains, heartburn, and vomitting. My doctor thought this was just heartburn and prescribed to me a series of different acid reducers that did not relieve the problem. Certain foods seemed to make the problem worse and bring on the vomitting so I cut several foods from my diet, always having to add more and more to the “no” list. Even so, with the dramatically changed diet, and the acid reducers: Tums, Prilosec, Zantac, Prevacid….the pain and vomitting persisted…one day a couple of months into my problem I visited the ER and they gave me the diagnosis of gastritis. I continued to suffer…I suffered for a full year, not daily but often enough…until finally, I was suffering daily…and it seemed ANYTHING I ate caused the pain and vomitting. I went to the ER again after an episode of pain and sudden unexpected vomitting at a Walmart. The woman I was with drove me. I waited 7 hours before they could see me. They diagnosed me with gastritis and sent me home after giving me some Dilaudid and a prescription for vicodin. Two days later I had to return because I was in major pain again, this time, diagnosis: Unknown Stomach Pain, and told rudely to see my family doctor. A few days later I did. The doctor gave me a referral to have an endoscopy done, a camera put down my throat to see if I had ulcers or something…
but then the following week before I had the chance to have the endoscopy done I was back in the ER…and this time I was yellow, on top of the excruciating pain and vomitting, and finally I was taken seriously. During one of my recent ER visits, an ultrasound was done but everything looked fine. This time the ultrasound was repeated and I was told this ultrasound looked drastically different…they told me I had gallstones, stuck in my gallbladder, and maybe my bile duct, and pancreatitis. Finally someone saw my problem and was taking me seriously..too bad though it took me being yellow… So I was admitted. I was in the hospital for 5 days, they took out my gallbladder, gave me lots of painkillers and antibiotics..and all that treatment. I was told that the gallstones in my bile duct had been passed. Unfortunately, they were wrong again…a week later, I was back having the same pain and vomitting again. So I had an ERCP, they stuck that camera down my throat and cleaned out my bile duct, also enlarging the opening some as well. I spent another 4 days hospitalized. Now I’m recovering from it all, and I just wish that someone had seen it sooner…as I suffered for a year with this pain and it affected my schooling, my job, my life. I have talked to others about this and it seems to not be uncommon for gallstones, or a bad gallbladder, to be undiagnosed for a long time. I feel so bad for anyone who has had to go through the same problem, undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, for so long, in pain, hoping someone will see how serious it is and being disappointed again and again.
Stephanie S, Illinois
March 8th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Hi Stephanie,
I have had an undiagnosed stromach problem for over 20 years. It starts out with sharp pain from my belly button to my chest. I go to the ER about twice per year and they put me on morphine and then send me home. Yes, i am back in the ER about 36 hours later until it goes away. I have had every test possible, even surgery, but nothing works. They told me to take vicoden and try to sleep it off. As you know, you cannot sleep this pain off. I am now in debt, paying hospitals, doctors and labs on a monthly program. Still sick, losing money, but the doctors still get paid. I have had all the test. I wish they could find something and fix it. I am now 52, and I do not like to travel, since it can happen anytime. I do sales for large engineering firms and I have been in hospitals from Japan to Egypt. Now, I do not like to travel with my family on vacation, because I am afraid I will ruin their time. I feel bad for what you went through, but at least you know what was wrong. Thanks for writing your story. I sometimes believe people think it is in my head. I hope you stay healthy and don’t look back. This is the first time i have written about this, it feels good.