Bile Reflux Disease - Ways to Cope with Your Stomach
82Never Walk Alone... The Journey is Long
A Personal Journey
In reading some of the comments placed on my first article, it inspired me to write a second article about my experiences living day to day with Bile Reflux Disease. I probably could write a small novel about the experiences I have had. Each time there is what I call an "episode" the affects on me are draining. In reading some comments from my first article, it seems a lot of other sufferers go through similar symptoms. Keep in mind each case has basic criteria and symptoms the doctor uses and diagnoses you with. Each case is individual in severity, pain, nausea, weight loss, etc., which leaves sufferers feeling very alone when we need support the most.
The first thing anyone diagnosed with this condition should do is pay very close attention to your doctor. What I mean by this is very simple; Fire them if you don't like them. In my case the "team" I had wasn't working. They switched my medications around at whim, prescribing things I didn't need such as antidepressants, vitamins, antihistamines, etc... It also seemed at one point they weren't listening to me or my symptoms. They wouldn't refer me to other doctors I asked to be referred too, wouldn't place me on medical leave, and I realized they weren't even doing the basic patient check ups at visits. All the while, my "episode" was getting worse. I was dumbfounded once I fired the doctors, and hired new ones, to discover just how sick I was this time. I had vertigo so badly, and didn't even know I had fluid on my ears. The old doctors said it was nerves and placed me on an anti-depressant. The new doctor looked in my ears, placed me on antibiotics, and medical leave. Now mind you, the vertigo I experienced is not part of Bile Reflux Disease. However, in my case, I was so sick with an ear infection, it helped trigger the symptoms of my condition. Think about it, if your sinuses are draining heavily into your stomach, would one not feel the affects? The answer is yes. Because even the most talented nose blower will not get all the mucous out, therefore it drains to your stomach. When I am feeling my worst, I have noted (for myself and my condition), there are other things going on that usually trigger my symptoms. Logging the things I am feeling, even little pains, or things others might deem insignificant are usually very important in helping relieve symptoms. If your doctor won't listen, fire them.
Another thing a person suffering from Bile Reflux Disease should be aware of is the medications they are prescribed. Something doctors tend to forget is that we are people who have lives. If a medication doesn't seem to be working, or you experience adverse side affects, or question if you should be taking the medicine, then bring it to the attention of your doctor. At one point I was on so many medications I was getting lost if I took it or not, and the combinations of some of the medications were producing horrible symptoms. Do not be naive thinking everything the doctor prescribes will help you. Bentyl can dry you out causing constipation, (so can certain vitamins) however, Bentyl is great at relaxing your stomach and colon. Which is very needed when your stomach or colon is in spasms. "Drying out" can happen with over the counter suggestions they give you as well, such as Maalox, and products like it. I am in no way advising you to stop taking these medications. However, educate yourself on the side affects, talk to pharmacists, note any changes, and immediately tell your doctor if you experience anything out of the ordinary. In my case they had me on all sorts of antihistamines, and the Bentyl, and I had various rounds of cortisone shots. Some antibiotics can cause constipation problems as well. This time around I experienced a "back up" so painful and severe It would be a week before any bowel movements occurred. This was a new side affect for me. Then at times when there was a bowel movement, it was the exact opposite, and it would drop my blood pressure so low, my loved one had to stand there with a wet towel on my face and help me up if I passed out. I didn't realize I had developed IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) in combination with my Bile Reflux Disease. My body was poisoning itself because it wouldn't get rid of anything. Now remember, not all medications do this, so don't scare yourself, but educate yourself. What happened to me this round, has differences from the other episodes I have had. In addition, what triggers my Bile Reflux may be entirely different from what triggers yours.
Never forget you are in charge of your health and well being. When I am going through an episode, it scares me, it scares my loved ones, and at times I feel extremely helpless. This does not mean I need to be placed on depression medication. True, some doctors feel that certain things going on in ones life might trigger an episode. However, Bile Reflux is not a mental condition. You are not CRAZY.In the course of the last 5 months I have had a lot of blood work done, a cat scan, x-rays, countless office visits and medications redone, an endoscopy and a colonoscopy, got rid of my regular doctor (DO), and hired a new medical doctor (MD), new gynecologist, and gastrointestinal doctor. I am feeling better with the new team I decided to entrust my health with. Bile Reflux needs to be managed. It takes a lot of research and work on my part, but the doctors should be qualified to help as well. There will be many times you will be sitting in a doctor's office feeling completely alone and at some point completely crazy. You are not CRAZY. I can not express this fact enough. There are no words to express the pain I go through when I have an episode. Just as I can not express the pain another sufferer endures. I have been suffering/managing this condition for almost 2 years now. I have good days, I have bad days. There may not be a cure, but I do plan to have more good days than bad.
Never give up hope. In my case I fight weight every day. I am a tiny person, so it is very important to watch my weight. I am not Anorexic, I am not Bulimic. I love food, some days alittle too much. Unfortunately, when an episode for me occurs, I drop weight so fast it gets dangerous for me. People who do not understand what I am going through tend to label these two eating disorders quickly. Anorexia and Bulimia are not symptoms of Bile Reflux Disease. They are their own medical conditions that warrant special care of their own. Still I will hear some ignorant soul make a comment. It happens, and it will continue to happen. Don't let them get you down. Implement a routine for yourself. I weigh myself every day, take my medications, and above all things, make sure I eat. A good point my gastrointestinal doctor discussed with me was about protien, and weight gain. I need it, but not all things sold that say weight gain are good for someone with my condition. Talk very closely with your doctor to see what would be good for you. I stress this because some weight gainer and muscle mass helpers can cause ill affects on a Bile Reflux Disease sufferer. I found this out the hard way with a past episode I experienced. I never give up hope though, Everyday I tell myself I will gain that weight back. I have too, because in the back of my head, I know another espisode will happen, and I will have to do this all over again. Sometimes it feels like an up hill battle, but I just keep at it, by sticking to my routine. Another aspect of the weighing myself each day is that it in a small way lets me know if I am heading for another episode. If my weight starts dropping and I know I am eating and taking my medications, it is very probable I am backing up again. I must manage myself. You must manage you. Find a routine, which will help you try to live a normal day.
The best thing for a Bile Reflux Disease sufferer, is knowing someone close or they love is there for them. Get daily hugs from that person. You need it. I can not express all the emotions I have felt over the years, or how many tears I shed. This condition is extremely draining to the sufferer. It is not a mental condition, but it will tug and tear at your emotional well being along side all the pain and symptoms you go through There are days I look at my companion and tell him it's not fair he has to go through so much with me. He tells me I shouldn't go it alone. Everyone needs to feel they have someone to talk to. Especially when you are feeling your lowest. When you are feeling sick, find ways to destress yourself as best as possible. Doing little things to pamper yourself such as; baths, reading, walking, cooking a nice meal, lighting candles that smell great, etc... helps you feel good, but also helps you feel like a human and not a medical guinea pig, or worse feel completely alone.
In conclusion, Bile Reflux Disease has no current cure, just management of the condition. Take back your life and control it. You will have episodes, I know I will have episodes. However, I refuse to stop living while having to live with Bile Reflux Disease. Educate yourself, take your medications, find ways to decrease the stress in your life, and find a support group if you feel alone. You are not Crazy, and you are not alone.
If you would like to chat more please visit: www.bilerefluxdisease-projecthope.webs.com/
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Well, another trip to urgent care today. Rough night. Went to bed and felt so-so, but then all of a sudden at about 0230, the pain was horrible. I can only describe it as an intense pain like someone is stabbing a knife into my stomach and it is horrible. I don't know how people live with chronic and ongoing pain. I have cut out just about everything I like to eat in my life. I love food and food is a central part of my family. We cook together, laugh together, and enjoy time spent together as a family in the kitchen. It is hard at times to even be in the kitchen, as food makes me want to puke. I have no appetite, but need to eat. While, dragon lady talks about bile reflux disease, I also have a stone in my pancreatic duct, which the most common cause can be from alcohol abuse. I do not drink, as I have had problems in college with my stomach and drinking and me do not mix because of my stomach. I do miss the occasional glass of wine, but live a wonderful life of laughter, friends, family and colleagues. Probably a good thing that I don’t drink, as alcoholism is in my family, as it is in many families. With the stress of my job, I probably would drink a gallon of wine a night if I could. Not something to joke about, but you have to have a sense of humor.
My stomach problems started when I was 14 years old and had a gang green gallbladder. I almost died and from that point on, I have had this horrible fear of medical doctors. About a year ago in October, I went to see my primary care doctor and my back and stomach were both hurting. I drive about 2500 miles every two weeks, so I thought a lumbar injury or strain. Took the usual meds for this issue, but it did not improve. I had an MRI, which showed en enlarged bile duct, which should have been my first clue. Over the next five months the pain increased and I felt like something was growing in my stomach area. I thought for the worse, but my doctor still did not do any type of lab work. He basically wrote it off as a back injury. It wasn’t until about March that my pain started to decrease, as the weather warmed up, which I thought maybe he was right. It was when he suggested injections that I said no more. I quit all the medications from pain to steroids and began to improve. Around October of this year it began again. I had back, kidney, stomach, leg, and testicular pain. I began to research on the computer, which can be very dangerous, as I realized that I had every cancer and medical problem listed or so I thought. I am not a hypochondriac, and soon realized I needed to get off the internet and find a doc I could trust and work with.
Today’s doctor visit 1/16/2010:
Urgent care visit: I met with a great doctor. The nurse looked at me like I was crazy. I don't think she believed me at all. I have this stone in my pancreatic duct (I had a copy of the recent CT scan), and this started a year ago with a miss diagnosis by my original MD, who told me it was a back problem. He did not even run one test to check on my system. Dr. Scully was wonderful today and made me feel like I was her only challenge for the day. She allowed me to express my frustrations and to discuss my concerns. She spent well over 30 minutes with me, which is unheard of, for the most part, in the world of managed care. The problem with the stone is that it is creating a back up of bile in my stomach and eroding the esophagus where it meets the stomach. In addition, I live in Wisconsin and there are only a handful of docs that will perform the removal of this stone in the pancreas, which creates a delay in treatment, thus, one deals with bile issues and the pain associated with the stone and bile reflux disease.
The one think I learned today, was to be direct and if you are not getting what you need-SAY SO. Don't let staff treat you like you are less than human or that you are crazy. I brought my folder of information in and had a copy of all my records from the last two weeks. This saved time and a lot of explaining to the nurse from hell. Unfortunately, we have many individuals who are drug seeking, as any community, and those of us who really need help to relieve our pain are often put into this category because of others who are malingering.
Today’s lessons learned:
Lesson learned: KEEP A COPY OF ALL MEDICAL RECORDS AND SCANS: Keeping a copy of your records with you when you have to go to the emergency room or urgent care can help with saving money on repeated test(s); explaining your situation multiple times to the nurse and the MD, DO or APNP.
Lesson learned: IF YOU ARE NOT GETTING PAIN RELIEF: I worked with a nurse practitioner who was hesitant to prescribe pain meds, as she felt I might have an upper GI bleed, which I can understand, but her treatment was borderline unethical and not good medicine. She told me that the GI people would prescribe pain meds. The GI people did, but told me that she should be prescribing for me until we get to the bottom of what is going on with the bleeding, the pancreatic stone, and other issues associated with all of this. I do not abuse drugs and cannot take pain meds during the day, as I am in a profession that does not allow me to be incapacitated at any time during the work day. The few providers I have had to see re the above issues were amazed that I was even able to make it throughout the day without a pain med. I do not want to become addicted to these medications and that is why one needs to be direct and move forward to get answers as quick as possible-in my opinion.
Thanks,
Dave
Thank you for writing this. I jst read your other article and commented. I seen this one and had to again. I am glad to know that I am not the only one going through this.
Welcome Drdavid... Thank you for your comments. This condition really is life altering. I lead a "normal" life as well (or so I thought). I never thought having my gallbladder removed would ever spark something this horrible to live with. Today is a great day. I wish I could say tomorrow will be great. Managing the condition seems hopeless some days, and a victory others. I am glad that the articles give some hope. Especially with the thought that we are not alone, and we are not crazy.
my daughter was just told she had bile reflux and acid reflux we know what you are going through i have to set and watch my 15 year old go through this and she is out of school alot it took me 7 months for the dr. to finaly run the scope in her stomache to find out what was causing all the pain when she has epasodes i feel so bad because there is nothing i can do to help her we have seen sergions and dr. after dr. they treat you like you are crazy untill they find out the problem if you get this please email me @ kimberlystiltner@yahoo.com and please let me know how you are doing i hate that anyone has to go through this kind of pain but we are and i know how lost and awful it makes you feel i just wanna take the pain from my daughter but i cant it makes you feel useless and not worthy of anything to have to set and let your child be in this kind of pain
How can you get a copy of your cat scan? I need to look into that, and get it, because this is definitly what i need to get done.. I think i am going to print out this blog and just show him.. lol. because i cannot describe to him the pain i go through everyday, without them thinking I am completly nuts.
my daughter is having a real bad attack today everyone plz pray for her she is in so much pain i called the dr they said give her a phenerghan for nasia and see if it would help how is that gonna help her pain she is 15 and thay ack like she is just putting on and she is not i just wish i knew what to do for her
Hello, My name is Agata and I come from Poland. I am 34. My stomach problems started just after miscarriage, last year. I lost ca. 11 kg of weight over three months. I had an endoscopy done and I was diagnosed with gastritis, plus HP infection. The treatment did not bring me much relief. The PPI did not worked for me. Just the contrary, it made the things worse. Nausea, burning pains accompanied me everyday. I had plenty of medical exams: parasites, candida etc. No abnormalities were detected.
From a lively, energetic woman I turned into a miserable shadow of a human being. My husband and the rest of my family felt helpless, seing me in constant pain. I stopped sleeping at night, could not work, cried because of pain.
Only recently, they repeated an endoscopy which revealed a bile pool in my stomach. And that was it.
I tried to read some Polish sources (they are really few), but eventually, I found your site dragonlady1967.
Based on my experience:
This condition may, indeed, lead to a serious depression and anxiety disorder. Depression, in turn can worsen the symptoms we experience (the intensity of pain). There is a condition called: 'somatisation disorder', it is when our emotions manifest themselves by various bodily illnesses. And stress is a real killer. It is a vicious circle, really, hard to break away from.... In my case it could be a masked depression from the start, which directly attacked my stomach.
As the time went by, my symptoms aggravated. At some point I considered committing suicice. The burning pain, and constant nausea, were so intolerable.
In my case what helped me in my miserable condition was a combination of antidepressants and tranquilisers. Yes, antidepressants. However, it took my docs a long time to find the right drugs, and I have gone through hell taking PPIs, H-blockers, sucralfate etc.
What woreks for me now is a combination of venflaxinum (Effectin) and mirtazapinum (Mirzaten) (small dose). I feel much better, my symptoms alleviated considerably. I hope that my body, deprived of the burden of stress, will regain its balance.
And yes, of course, we are not 'crazy', but it is often some anxiety disorder / depression that its manifested by such symptoms. When being under constant stress, our digestive tract just won't work properly. It is so prone to emotional condition. Therefore, IMHO, it is good to consider antidepression treatment. It helped me a lot - maybe it will be the right choice for you too?
I hope that you find my remarks helpful.
I wish the best of luck to you all!
I really thought I was the only one living this way. I'm a high school English teacher, single mother living in rural Ohio. I had my gall bladder removed a year ago on summer break. My surgeon made a mistake when attaching my bile duct. It was connected too high inside of my stomach. I have been suffering for over a year. All of the same symptoms all of you have mentioned. I remember standing in front of my classroom with a wastebucket tucked under my podium, holding my head up at the white board to lecture, having missed too many days of work. This summer my symptoms were not so bad but with the school year about to start, plus I'm teaching two classes at a local community college, my stress level has soared, and so gas my bile reflux. The problem is that I still can't get the doctors to take me seriously or to treat me correctly. They have given me Prevacid and that's all. I drink jasmine tea and it really helps me. Sometimes I have oyster crackers and they are plain enough to help absorb the bile but can lead to constipation if you eat too many. I really don't know what to do, except for what I'm doing now, to get help. There aren't many options in health care here. I have felt so lost. I didn't even really know this was a real condition until I read that other people have suffered. I'm so glad I read your article.
Hi April, It is a real condition, and doctors do look at you like you are crazy. The thing is you are not. The thing about Prevacid, Prilosec, and all the other OTC acid reducers is they reduce acid. This means the bile is still in your stomach even if they control the acid. I too had my gall bladder removed in 1999. Your pyloric valve may be damaged so the only way to know if it is is to see a Gastrointestinal specialist and have an endoscopy performed. Being in rural Ohio you may have to travel to a larger city to find a really good MD and specialist, ie: Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Lima, Toledo, or Columbus, etc... Mine are in Dayton, and I had to fire quite a few doctors before I found the 2 I am seeing. MD's are about the only ones that will study up on this condition aside from specialists. I can not tell you how lost I felt when my former DO told me he didn't know what to do for me. Stress is a BRD sufferers enemy, but there are ways to control it effectively. The main thing is to know you are not alone, and not let the doctors treat you like you are making this all up. I wrote another article with alot of people responding. Their comments might be able to help you as well. I started these articles so we wouldn't feel alone.
DrDavid,several months after having a choecystectomy, I started having episodes of the same severe abdominal pain. I waited to go to my Dr, thinking it would go away or that I was crazy. I was told it was possibly IBS or allergys and felt like it wasn't taken seriously. You are right about GI Associates, they are wonderful!!! After several proocedures I found out that I do have IBS, allergys, but also Bile reflux and gastritis! Keep looking for the right physician who WILL take you seriously.
Thanks for your comment Kris - You are correct always look for a doctor who will take you seriously and help to find the cause and treat it. BRD is miserable and to have other conditions flaring it up is twice as bad.
Stress is the main cause for Bile reflux.The nerves can become more active during stress, causing the intestines to be more sensitive.
I would agree that stress is definitely a major factor with BRD. Throughout the years each of my flare ups coincided with major stress episodes.However after many years it became a which come first, the stress or BRD? I do know stress can trigger and/or make the situation worse.I have a tendency to take all emotional situations in the GUT, good or bad. Fortunately my current GP doctor is aware of this fact.Biggest problem is finding anything to decrease symptoms, PPI'S do not help. Glad I found this site though, support is so beneficial. I have had healthy periods over recent years followed by horrible disabling episodes.
DrDavid6380 2 years ago
Hi,
I read one of your articles and then I found this one. I am in shock of how this sounds like me. I had a double ear infection and the pain symptoms were mind blowing. I was on my knees at one point and wishing someone would just hit me in the head to knock me out. I had a gang green GB taken out as a 14 year old kid and have experienced on and off again stomach pain. Over the last year, I thought I was crazy. I had a cat scan about a year ago and they found nothing at all. I began to think I was going crazy and it was all psychosomatic-I'm a shrink. Finally, about two weeks ago, I got up the nerve and went to the doc and had a colonoscopy and throat job done. LOL. Awesome staff at GI associates in Wausau, WI. I was so sedated that I didn't get to ask questions after the procedure, but will be meeting with them again in the future. Thank you for your contribution to my understanding of this disease.
In addition, I am dealing with a stone in my pancreatic duct that just developed. I lead a pretty normal life and have cut alcohol out of my life many years ago. I watch what I eat, but it can be something good for me or bad and it depends on how the stars align if it will have me on the toilet or not. Maybe TMI, but it is what it is. I look forward to reading more about what you know and your experiences.
Thanks,
Dave