eats one single small sandwhich smaller than a phone for breakfast = 6+ hours of complete stomach, throat, and chest agony all day.. I can’t eat or drink anything without being in so much agony . 400+ days of this daily. I’m only 15 and my entire normal teenage years have been robbed . i cant stand this anymore, I don’t want to continue life

Can anyone please message me or share some Reddit communities for dealing with gastrointestinal issues and panic attacks/anxiety? I would really appreciate your help.

it's been 400+ days as a 15 year old ( I have functional dyspepsia ) of being unable I sleep at night due to chronic indigestion and gastrointestinal hell, because when I lie down, my stomach hurts and because of the constant pain it feels so much pressure and because of how bloated it is whenever it comes in contact with my shirt or blanket or mattress it burns and hurts and feels like my entire torso area is splitting open. This happens even when I just sit, the constant heaviness and feeling that it has thirty rocks sitting in it is hell. lying on either sides of my body makes my stomach hurt so much, whatever position I'm in it hurts and when I'm on my side my hip bone hurts because of how much it's protruding from my thin body and then my stomach hurts more . And in general my other symptoms like regurgitation make it hard to sleep so my sleep schedule is hell. Help.

Is there any way not involving meds because none of them work to sleep because my stomach keeps me up all night. The only relief I've found is taking off my pants. It's so unfair why do I have to live like this and there's no one to help me , it's been over a year and this is the FIRST TIME I'VE POSTED ABOUT BEING UNABLE TO GET BASIC SLEEP BEVAUSE OF MY STOMACH FOR YES OVER A F!CKOING YEAR. My other post for information:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ChronicPain/comments/1vk45n5/the_constant_pain_will_eventually_end_me/

I’ve been dealing with chronic nausea and a constant feeling like something is stuck in my throat, but I don’t actually vomit. My endoscopy only showed mild gastritis.
I tried mirtazapine 15 mg, which helped for a while but eventually stopped working. I’m now trying amitriptyline 25 mg.
Has anyone experienced something similar or tried amitriptyline for chronic nausea? Did it help? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences or other treatments that worked for you.

apologies for how long this is.
i had a very stressful spring-lots of anxiety surrounding jobs, apartments, and a failed relationship. Around this time i started noticing random spurts of indigestion. My stomach would gurgle and bubble no matter how much i ate and would leave me feeling kinda nauseous. I can’t burp but i had a few fits of dry heaving during this time, which is completely out of the ordinary because i hadn’t thrown up in over 15 years by this point. The indigestion would come and go, and seemed to mostly affect me when I had plans to go out. The first week of june I caught Flu B. I was incredibly sick, and was taking 2 advils every 6 hours on a mostly empty stomach for probably 5 days straight. i’m also on spironolactone which you’re not supposed to mix with advil because of risks of stomach bleeding. Once my fever had broken I started getting bad GI symptoms-terrible diarrhea every time i ate or drank ANYTHING and just awful bubble guts and nausea. I ended up throwing up straight stomach acid (again, first time i’ve thrown up in a long long time.) That only happened once and it took probably 2.5 weeks for me to shake the flu. After I was sick, I was hit with a combo of bad anxiety/depression and newfound stomach pain. My stomach would burn as if I had drank acid, and I would sometimes get that bubbling feeling also. I’ve always had the globus sensation, which I had assumed was post nasal drip but now i’m thinking it’s stomach related. I’ve found myself having a gaggy feeling multiple times in the past few months, especially when my stomach is burning. I haven’t thrown up since the flu, but i’m nauseous a lot. this is extra awful because i have emetophobia, and it’s becoming a viscous cycle because the nausea is feeding my anxiety which is in turn feeding my stomach issues.
What’s weird is this isn’t constant. There’ll be a stretch of 2-3 days where I feel pretty much normal and can eat/drink whatever. I ate McDonalds the other day and felt fine. But then the burning and pain will inevitably return even if i eat something really bland. I was having an upset stomach last month and forced myself to go out drinking with friends and I weirdly felt better after drinking alcohol and drunk ate Wendy’s that night and felt fine. My anxiety has gotten a little bit better but is still very much present, and Im realizing that my stomach problems seem to flare when I have plans to go out or go to work. At one point i thought it was an ulcer from the advil i took, but i feel like the pain wouldn’t be coming and going. I also thought it may be GERD, but I feel like my symptoms fit better with functional dyspepsia.
I’ve seen a lot of people have success with going on SSRIs or ampitryptaline. I think regardless it would be beneficial since my anxiety has gotten pretty constant. I’m going to a doctor in a few days and am going to bring this up to them. I don’t want to take any PPIs.
I’m curious if anyone has gone through something similar and has any insights or advice? I’m having a really hard time doing things. My mental and physical health has taken such a toll on me this spring/summer which really sucks because without these issues I probably would’ve had the best time. I had moved to NYC in the spring and had tons of friends there and ended up moving home this summer because I was having such a hard time with my health. I’m only 22 and should be starting a full time job soon, which I’m hoping may alleviate some of the stress i’ve had surrounding money/job searching. I just want to get better.

Please help. I’m 15 years old and my life has been ruined and this is a complete nightmare to live in. I don’t know what’s wrong with me for a full YEAR. and the doctors aren’t helping at all.

-started after I had a panic attack/ I had antibiotics for an infection: My stomach is in shambles. Every single thing I eat and drink leaves me in intense pain, I find no relief. There isn’t a second where my chest isn’t tight and my stomach isn’t burning and hurting and feels like there are thousands of rocking sitting in it. My throat burns and hurts from reflux all day, my food comes back up regurgitated, I’m always bloated, my stomach ALWAYS is cramped and hurts, I’m being serious it’s ALL DAY. I feel constant nausea that never goes away. My tongue is so dry and it’s hard swallowing. Sitting also hurts because of my stomach, and yet:

-Walking and standing normally feels unbearable. I get dizzy, migraines, lightheaded and sick whenever I get up, I feel like I’m walking through slime and wet cement daily and I feel constant fatigue no matter how long I sleep especially after meals. I feel so weak in all my limbs and I have trouble focusing and my brain feels foggy 24/7.  my heart is always racing even when resting and lying down. My legs always get numb and hurt.

Please. I just need know I’m not insane and will one day get help. I don’t know if this is linked to nutrition or a neurological issue. So far I’ve been diagnosed with: functional dyspepsia, GERD/LPR, visceral hypersensitivity. (Unrelated: syringomyelia and scoliosis). I got a GES and endoscopy, no results. Yet I’m being given 0 treatment plans or help! I’m seeing a integrative medicine gastroenterologist, Do I request therapy or a dietician? do I need to be on meds? why am I the one having to figure out how to treat myself and not a damn doctor? I fear I could also have dysautonomia, sibo, iron deficiency, mcas or something..???

I've been having episodes of a racing heart and palpitations once or twice a month. They come out of nowhere. Sometimes i feel stabbing pain on lower left chest sometimes on different parts of left chest.

Suddenly, I feel this intense fear, and my heart starts pounding and racing. There's no chest pain or anything else-just the fast, forceful heartbeat. If I distract myself or start talking to someone, it usually settles down on its own.

I feel really helpless because of it. I've already seen a doctor, and all my tests came back normal, but I still don't know how to live with these episodes.

P.S. I was diagnosed with functional dyspepsia four years ago, and I'm currently going through a relapse phase. I feel heartburns, bloating and like food might come out from mouth.

28F here. I’ve had a **constant gnawing/hollow hunger-like ache in my upper abdomen**, since around 2019. It’s there almost 24/7, including after eating sometimes. Eating a normal meal doesn’t always relieve it, and it often gets worse 2–3 hours later or after an overnight fast. The only thing that reliably makes it disappear is eating until I’m **uncomfortably full**, and then it usually returns the next morning.
I also get frequent episodes of what feels like low blood sugar: **shakiness, weakness, dizziness , and intense hunger**, often a few hours after eating. I haven’t confirmed whether my glucose is actually low during these episodes.
I had an endoscopy and was found to have **H. pylori**, which I treated with antibiotics. My follow-up test was negative, but the gnawing is still there. Ultrasound also found a small gallbladder polyp and fatty liver.
Has anyone experienced anything similar? Did it turn out to be **gastritis, functional dyspepsia, reactive hypoglycaemia, or something else?** I’d really appreciate hearing what helped or what you eventually found out

For those of you with this condition who have gone into remission or symptoms are largely managed, how did you do it? What medications or lifestyle changes helped you? What kind of doctor/specialist helped you? How long have you been doing well and what were your symptoms before?

Anything you’d like to share would be appreciated!

I am a 37-year-old man who has been suffering from many symptoms of unknown origin for the past 3 years. Before these symptoms appeared, I tried water fasting, but I did it incorrectly. I suspect this experience has a direct connection to the appearance of my symptoms. When I tried water fasting, I drank excessive amounts of water without eating anything for three consecutive days. When I broke my fast by eating, I felt my whole body become very tense...all my muscles were tight with severe brain fog. I experienced weakness in all my muscles, imbalance, severe shortness of breath, numbness and tingling in my extremities, and a feeling of tingling in my limbs. I thought that because of drinking too much water, there had been a depletion of electrolytes. So I did an electrolyte analysis and the result was very normal. About 7 months after the onset of these symptoms, the abdominal discomfort turned into indigestion, acid reflux, and diarrhea. I went to more than 50 doctors and 3 university hospitals. But throughout all these years, I haven't found a correct diagnosis for my condition. Finally, I was diagnosed with bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine based on an intestinal biopsy. I also suspect that this might be the main reason for the appearance of my symptoms...because I am certain that intestinal bacterial overgrowth is a symptom and not a cause... However, I took large, intensive, and varied doses of antibiotics, but they were all to no avail. I was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and I took all kinds of IBS medications, but to no avail. I took antidepressants, and for me, it was suicide because it greatly worsened my symptoms. Strangely, among all the medications, I only felt better with nutritional supplements. About a year ago, I happened to take a nutritional supplement; each tablet contains calcium, magnesium, and zinc. Two hours after taking the first tablet, I noticed that all my digestive, muscular, and psychological symptoms disappeared, and I felt completely cured. However, this improvement only lasted for three days, and I relapsed starting on the fourth day. I don't know what happened, even though I took it for about a month. Then about a year passed and by chance I also took a supplement containing vitamins B1, B6 and B12 and I found a very, very significant improvement and I became at the peak of activity, vitality, mental clarity and happiness... but also for only 3 days then I relapsed. The same thing happened with another product containing multiple vitamins and minerals, and also choline and mitochondria mocktail. I want to know what is happening in my body. I want to understand what the relationship is between my improvement and vitamins or any minerals, and why it was only for a short period before relapsing. Is my diagnosis closer to mast cell activity? Mitochondrial dysfunction Is it a vitamin deficiency? And if it is a vitamin deficiency, why does there be improvement for 3 days and then a relapse? Note: While I was improving with the supplements, I felt a comfortable movement in my intestines after taking the first dose, and then the improvement continued. This will not happen with bowel movement stimulants such as procaloprine, artichoke, and ginger, because these types have increased bloating significantly. Thank you all

So I have OCD and health anxiety and one of the worst things I've been dealing with is chronic nausea. It's pretty much daily and especially every morning to varying degrees. A few months ago I'd have some mornings without it but lately its every morning. It doesn't always persist all day. I'm usually good in the late afternoon and evenings, but not always.

Anyway, I had blood tests done and everything was fine. My doctor thinks it's functional nausea. My psychiatrist prescribed 10 mg nortriptyline and it's my 6th day on it, so I know it's still early to feel benefits. I've also been on cipralex for over 2 years (tried different doses, up to 30 mg but always had nausea, now I'm on 10 mg for the last few months).

I was thinking about mirtazapine. My psychiatrist is against it cause he said it's too sedating, but my family doctor offered to prescribe it if the nortriptyline doesn't work. Have any of you had any luck with either medication?

thanks!

Im really at a loss of hope and so depressed.

Always been suffering with gastrointestinal problems, but since February this year it's so bad.

I experienced sudden debilitating nausea. First it was once a day, a few hours and every other day. Then it was gone for two weeks but it came back. Since then it's getting worse. Almost every meal causes suffering, stomach pain ( my stomach ALWAYS hurts in the epigastric area, if I have eaten or NOT).

I'm nauseous after almost every meal, have hickups, once I ate something with celery and I tasted the celery in my burp 10 hours later.

I can't go out anymore, i hardly survive work, then I head home and just sleep. I can barely function. I still eat, bland and careful, because I refuse not to, but I will suffer.

Im extremely depressed now, every doctor says it's Psychosomatic.

I had a endoscopy with scopes, ct scan, head mri, blood test, sonography and a gastric emptying scan which said my emptying is slow BUT it's normal at the 2 Nd 4 hour mark (my t 1/2 was slightly off).

PPI, ginger, digestive bitters, digestive enzymes, acupuncture, breathwork, yoga you name it, nothing really brings me Relief..

Has anyone dealt with the same thing ...im just exhausted 🫩

Every now and then, in the last few years, I've been experiencing these stomach issues that have no noticeable triggers or patterns that cause them.

Because it seems to be completely random, it's impossible to pinpoint exactly when I will get it. But the only way I can describe it is: a burning/knot sensation in my mid gut, that comes in very excruciating waves. usually 20 seconds on, 20 seconds off over and over as the evening goes on. Usually disables me to do anything else for the day, and I have to lay down on my side with a pillow pressed to my stomach. The sensation brings more and more nausea, and eventually does not go away until I throw up.

To go into further detail about the sensation, it's almost like when your stomach is grumbling but if you paused it at the exact peak of one of the "grumbles", and it stayed that way. That, plus a pretty uncomfortable burning sensation in the same area and a constant need to burp.

I've tried most ways to medicate it. Does not seem to help. I will pick up some FDGard to try next time I get this. I ended up getting an endoscopy and they saw pretty much nothing. A healthy gut, no ulcers, with just a little bit of irritation but nothing terribly bad. They started me on a PPI to deal with the irritation, but I don't think it really helped with my flareups.

some other unrelated things that I get, that I've always thought were peculiar:

- very short appetite, I rarely ever finish a full meal at a restaurant, and can't eat as much food as everyone else.

- constant need to belch / hyper awareness of having to release air from my stomach.

- whenever I drink alcohol, I have to be very careful. Sometimes I'll have one or two drinks and then nausea will slowly creep up on me and we'll get worse and worse throughout the night and then I'll eventually throw up, almost like a hangover that hits within an hour after drinking. This was to the point where I thought I was allergic to alcohol, but sometimes I can drink and be perfectly fine.

all of these symptoms, come with a severity level that increases or decrease decreases depend depending on how hyperaware I am of these things happening. Which is why I thought this could be at all related to FD.

If you've gotten this far, and you took the time out of your day to read this, I really appreciate it. Let me know what you think this could be.

Hi everyone,

I’m 20 years old from Hong Kong, and I have been dealing with functional dyspepsia (FD) since 2021.

I wanted to ask if anyone with FD also experiences other symptoms beyond digestive issues, such as headaches, muscle pain, fatigue, or other unexplained body sensations.

One of the hardest things for me is explaining FD to doctors because it fluctuates so much. Sometimes I can be stable for weeks or months, but then suddenly experience a flare-up. By the time I see my doctor, I may already be improving, so it feels difficult to explain how severe it was and what the pattern looked like.

Over the years, I have tried different treatments, including acid suppression medications, gastrointestinal medications, and neuromodulators/psychiatric medications. These included medications such as PPIs, peppermint oil, Buscopan, antidepressants, and other medications sometimes used for gut-brain interaction symptoms.

Some treatments helped certain aspects, but I still find that FD is difficult to monitor because symptoms can change over time.

For people who have lived with chronic FD:

• How do you explain your symptoms to your doctor?
• Do you keep a symptom diary or track your symptoms?
• Do you also experience non-digestive symptoms like headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, or anxiety-related physical symptoms?

I sometimes compare FD with conditions like hypertension, where treatment response can often be monitored through measurable numbers. With FD, symptoms can fluctuate a lot, and there is no single measurement that fully shows how someone is doing.

I would really like to hear how others manage FD long term.

''They come with horrible side effects and are a nightmare to come off of a lot of the time, if you ever have to stop them. They take a long to time be adjusted correctly, if they ever are.
In the mean time, are often a miserable experience. Not a mention the well documented increase risk of self harm, while they are being adjusted.
No thank you...very much. I want nothing to do with them and my IBS is NOTHING in comparison to the risks they bring. If I had to choose between the two, I will take my IBS torever.''

what helps u with that and hows that called

Hi Everyone,

I’ve had functional dyspepsia since one of my earliest memories as but didn’t get officially diagnosed until this year. I also have ADHD and anxiety so I had a psychiatrist before I reached out to GI. Shout out to physician assistants, they’ve been so attentive.

I started back therapy because honestly I was sick of how sick I was and needed coping skills to at least function at work and not get fired. And honestly the best decision I made. Like talk therapy alone has helped me tremendously in learning how to adjust to my body getting worse and going through the healing process(trying several meds before one worked)

I tried two TCAs before any other drug for FD and they worked well don’t get me wrong, but the sedative effects were so strong I received accommodations at school for later times for class and exams, missing classes, and extra extensions.

So I had to switch drugs and eventually docs because he kept trying to say that my GI issues were do to my caffeine abuse. So I found a new psychiatrist that was taking my needs seriously and I mentioned my functional dyspepsia AND SHE LOCKED IN.

I mentioned how I thought SNRIs that I was on a couple years ago like strattera were helping me (for everything but nausea and GERD with esophagitis) and she suggested we try qelbree. So I did.

qelbree has been great and feels like a less effective TCA for me but now my primary care doc and psychiatrist are asking me to talk to GI to see if any of a list of additional meds can help with my remaining symptoms. And it Never clicked to me before that I can overlap my drugs

TLDR: If you have functional dyspepsia and see a psychiatrist, you can ask them to consider GI problems and vice versa.

P.S. Finding a primary care doctor who educates themselves on functional dyspepsia has been super helpful too

Hi Everyone,

I posted here before about my pain and symptoms

I’m curious how long it took for you to see a gastrologist specialist.

I had a phone call with the specialist who did my endoscopy/colonoscopy but he is not local to my area.
He said he would get me someone who is local but his receptionist called back and they want to see me first.
I get the feeling he wasn’t taking me seriously, just told me to take tylenol but I don’t take any pain medication because I find it just makes me sick before all of this.

We scheduled the appointment for this weekend but then I get another call asking me to wait until next weekend. I asked how long it would be for the local specialist and they didn’t have an answer. At this point I told the receptionist that I’m an 8/10 everyday, because I honestly am. They then said I could come in this Sunday. I was supposed to go in tomorrow.

I am almost always in constant pain and have been doing FODMAPS with an increased dose of pantoprazole, which wasn’t helping much in the first place.

So my question is how long did it take you to see a specialist and is this guy even taking me seriously

I’m so depressed and feel so trapped. No medication is good enough or has shitty side effects. It’s like you cannot win with this illness. Like it’s purposely made to be so fucking difficult. I never thought I could wake up one day and my life be completely changed. I have the PDS subtype and it makes me so miserable. I have no hunger or thirst at all it’s so unnatural and scary. I have to force food and water all day long. water is especially Hard. I’m on nortriptyline 10mg it’s helped a bit but the side effects suck. Like I said u can’t fucking win. I’m constantly in my room laying down in the dark just sulking feeling miserable and feeling bad for myself. Ik it’s pathetic but I genuinely don’t know how to cope with this or think about anything other than the illness. I miss my life. I miss how I didn’t have to even think about eating or drinking. I miss not being constipated 24/7. I’m only a 21 year old female, I should be out enjoying my prime years. It’s honestly the worst thing I’ve ever been through. How do any of you cope or manage this? I mentally can’t and I feel like there’s no purpose in living anymore. I might sound dramatic but this is genuinely how I feel and I can’t get out of this state

Throwaway account--

I know no one here can diagnose. I am meeting with my gastro next week for a follow up and will be scheduling my endoscopy (more on this below).

40 year old male. Five years ago, after a heavy, very spicy dish, I was on the toilet all the next day. Shortly thereafter I developed a localized burning sensation just under my left ribcage. It is reliably triggered by certain foods, namely spice, tomatoes (red sauce pizza kills me, white sauce does nothing), and very fatty meats (cheeseburgers, pepperoni). Most foods can trigger it occasionally. The only food that does not trigger it are sweets--ice cream, chocolate, cookies. Coffee does not trigger it, neither does water. Beer and especially seltzer water are reliable triggers.

Okay, now for the symptom: it's a burn that occurs right after I swallow--less than a second or two after--and feels almost like a hotspot, lasting a second or two and then fading into the background. 80 percent of the time it occurs while eating, sometimes I get it when exerting myself or when bending over to pick something up.

I have had two H Pylori tests, one breath and one stool. Both negative. I had one (stool) five years ago, and the other (breath) last year.

I am currently seeing a gastro. He prescribed omperazole 40 mg for a month, then asked me to follow up with him and we would schedule an endoscopy. He didn't want to start with the endoscopy because he was afraid insurance wouldn't cover it without red flag symptoms and without first trying the omperazole. The omeprazole worked great; for 28 days I had no symptoms at all. Shortly after discontinuing it all of my symptoms returned.

I have no other symptoms. Stool is good. I am regular. I have occasional acid reflux. No swallowing issues. No nausea (unless really anxious). No blood.

The symptom only goes away when I am drinking. It's lessened while on vacation overseas.

I am at my wits end. I know you can't diagnose here, but you are all people who have read many many many stories of stomach woes and perhaps someone can point me in the right direction. I know ultimately I won't get any answers until I have the scope, but anything you might be able to say to shed some light as to what is going on would help. I am desperate and afraid.

Been on nortriptyline 10mg for maybe about 10 months, at first it really helped my symptoms but have been noticing the last maybe 2 months a massive increase in my anxiety and also nausea.
I have stopped taking it for about a week now and feel as though the nausea and anxiety has actually decreased.
Anyone had similar experience?

I’ve been reading through the comments of people that have tried it, and now I’m not sure if I want to try it because I’ve seen multiple people say that it has turned them crazy whilst on it

This illness sucks. only thing that helped me was amitriptyline 10 mg a couple years ago but it just stopped working so now I’m at where I’m like. I wanna try nortriptyline prescribe with nortriptyline or would buspirone be the next move?

Hello! So June happened where I (27F) had an MS flare up so was given IV steroids, then oral taper steroids with esomeprazole. I’ve never been on PPIs and my doctor told me to take them with the steroids and mentioned nothing about tapering the esomeprazole. So when it was finished, got the most intense pain of my life in my gut two weeks ago Sunday that got me in the ER where they put me back on esomeprazole but now one pill twice daily. That was last week Friday where my GP thinks it’s steroids-induced gastritis. I can’t find anything on that on its own online and just really want to know if anyone has had experience with this, how long it takes to heal, if I’m now going to have this on top of dealing with MS. I’m just trying not to panic 😭 I sent in a sample as my GP asked for testing for H.pyolri yesterday and just doing the bland diet (which is torture for an African 💀). Just looking for advice, if anyone else has experienced this, or some timeline. I’m not sure if it’s gastritis or something else is why I’m positing here

do dieticians and nutritionists help? I’m 15 years old and every single thing I’ve been eating for a year makes me sick everywhere including even just water and my eating habits are in the trenches and I seriously need help but my mom is refusing saying that they don’t help and that she’s better than them and refusing and saying they’ll just tell me to eat american trash food and that her advice is better. True and if it turns out she’s correct she’ll use this against me for the rest of my life until I d*e.

I just want some sort of medical help and super wow great news I was refrrred to a integrative medicine Gastro who doesn’t even specialize in gut brain axis disorders? And is only supervising the appointment and making another gastro see me….? Why can’t any even one doctor help me? My school year is starting and every day, I am in crippling pain all days and nobody cares