Undiagnosed Illness - Second Gastroenterologist

My Medical Conditions

Excruciating Pain
Sphincter of Oddi
Found during a Hida Scan. Sphincter of oddi is situated in the upper intestine, or duodenum, at the site where the pancreatic and bile ducts enter. Normally, this sphincter functions as a one-way valve to allow bile and pancreatic secretions to enter the bowel, while preventing the contents of the bowel from backing up into these ducts.

When the sphincter malfunctions, it becomes overly tight and does not allow adequate drainage of the pancreatic and bile ducts. The result is a pressure build-up in the ducts, leading to recurrent episodes of pancreatitis or biliary pain mimicking gallstone disease.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Bad Stomach
Most people have Irritable Bowel Syndrome !

Endometriosis
Endometriosis Symptoms
2 Surgeries so far on my Endometriosis. Last surgery showed Endo has completely gone. Gyno said my Pelvis was crystal clear.

Costochondritis
Very Painful
Costochondritis is a form of inflammation of the cartilage where ribs attach to the breastbone. Pain caused by Costochondritis may mimic that of a heart attack or other heart condition.

Adenomyosis
Benign Condition
Adenomyosis is the growth of uterine tissue from one particular layer of the uterus (the endometrial glands) into the wrong layer (the muscle layer, called the myometrium). It is a benign condition, but it can enlarge the uterus presenting as a growth.

Splenic Flexure Syndrome
Very Painful
Splenic flexure syndrome refers to the trapping of gas at the splenic flexure causing distension and bloating.

Anal Sphincter Dysfunction
Constipation
I suffer extreme bouts of Constipation. Daily doses of Movicol and Normacol.

Neuropathic Pain
Damaged Nerves
Neuropathic pain is a complex, chronic pain state that usually is accompanied by tissue injury. With neuropathic pain, the nerve fibers themselves may be damaged, dysfunctional or injured. These damaged nerve fibers send incorrect signals to other pain centers. The impact of nerve fiber injury includes a change in nerve function both at the site of injury and areas around the injury. Symptoms may include shooting and burning pain, tingling and numbness or electrical pain.

Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
Cause of Constipation
Pelvic floor dysfunction, or obstructed defecation, results when the external anal sphincter and/or puborectalis muscles do not relax appropriately when defecation is initiated. People with pelvic floor dysfunction strain excessively in a feeble attempt to eliminate stool from the rectum.

Undiagnosed Illness

Gastroenterologist

Appointment with my second Gastroenterologist

So the second Gastroenterologist booked me in for a Gastroscopy and Colonoscopy. 2 Week wait, I know it doesn't seem like that long to wait for some, but when your in pain every minute feels like hours. The procedure went well, results showed a very tiny polyp and erosive gastritis. The polyp was not cancer, blood tests normal, stool results negative for any bad bugs I was prescribed medication for Erosive Gastritis and sent home to see if that fixed the pain.

Third Appointment with my Gastroenterologist

The pain didn't go away, the medication didn't help, so I returned to the Gastroenterologist roughly a month later for a chat about my progress. Even though I didn't have heartburn or reflux I was prescribed medication for it, rather annoyed at the Gastroenterologist for prescribing this when heartburn and reflux were nothing to do with my complaints. But as you do when it pain and it won't go away, you try anything for relief.

Everything in Your Life is Affected

Work continued to suffer, I slept alot, I was mildly depressed from lack of support from Doctor's. I Was Not Giving Up. I knew the Erosive Gastritis was not the cause, you know your own body, so I made a appointment with another Gastroenterologist.

Third Visit To The Gastroenterologist Although he listened to my complaints and offered advice on diet and medication (for the erosive gastritis) he could not explain the continued pain elsewhere in my tummy and ribs, so I asked for a referral to a colleuge of his in the same medical centre, he agreed it was a great idea, and perhaps his colluege could pick something up that he was missing. So I made the appointment and the wait was 4 weeks.

Undiagnosed Illness

I tried so hard to continue on as normal, but found it so hard to be active as the pain worsened, work suffered, social life suffered and I became a home body. While waiting for the next Gastroenterologist appointment I concentrated on rest and relaxation. I started to paint, read more and tried hard not to let the financial burden and time off work stress me. Bills are not something you can ignore, but we managed for some time to get by.

The Story Continues ....... If you would like to continue reading:

read my story

I hope you visit my Undiagnosed Illness Forum If you have any suggestion's or comments I would love to hear from you.

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Medical Tests So Far

I've had some of these procedures more then once

Ultrasound

CT Scan

MRI

X-Ray

Colonoscopy

Gastroscopy

Sigmoidscopy

Hida Scan

Barium Meal

Laparoscopy

Ultrasound

I know alot of people can relate. I hope you all have close families because they really do make a difference.

Exhausted From Pain

It's been 3 years and 4 months, and yep still undiagnosed. I'm extremely exhausted.

Exhausted

Journal

This website is meant to be therapeutic.. A place for me to vent and express my feelings. Somedays I find it frustrating because it brings back memories when doctor's gave up, saying it was all in my head, nothing wrong with me, yet I pushed on with different doctor's and GUESS WHAT ? they found more medical conditions!

Pain....Pain...Pain....Pain.....