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Chronic nausea

Messages
58
I suffer with 24/7 nausea, sometimes vomiting, stomach pain and pancreatic inflammation. I also have high coxsakie B antibodies. I read that nausea is a common symptom among CFE patients. What’s the pathophysiology behind this symptom? What is to blame, the stomach, the pancreas or the brain inflammation? Does it ever go away? Because it drives me crazy, it has been a year and I can’t endure the shock of waking up so nauseous anymore.
 

Wolfcub

Senior Member
Messages
7,089
Location
SW UK
@Kalina I am sorry you have to go through those horrible symptoms. I don't know what causes it. I sometimes get nausea, and did from the first day 2 years ago.
I can't relate it to any foods, time of day, low blood sugar, etc.
It seems to come with exhaustion, and most times I "crash". It seems like the kind of nausea you can get when you have just run 10 miles and it comes with a sensation of tremors (though internal, thus not visible tremors)

I find herbal remedies sometimes help. I chew on frozen ginger pieces. They really do help! I drink peppermint tea, and sometimes a shot of brandy with honey helps.
I have also tried black horehound tincture 3ml, and have felt a little bit of relief sometimes with that.

With me, this nausea seems to alternate with ravenous appetite. Then I get many days I'm just fine (so think it's gone away forever!!)

I hope you can find something that helps you.
 
Messages
58
@Wolfcub I am sorry for your suffering. It has been longer for you, I cannot imagine in what state I will be in another year. I hope that your nausea will completely go away at some point soon.
My nausea can’t be related to food, blood sugar, crashes or anything else. I used to chew dried ginger, but after several days my stomach hurt even more. Then I read that ginger contains salicylates that are bad for GI mucosa, so I stopped it altogether. I have already ordered peppermint oil capsules, the fact that peppermint tea helps you gives me more hope.
I have also more appetite when not much nauseous, it’s as if the body wants to compensate for the hours of nauseated anorexia.
I wish we knew where our problem lays. It would be less frustrating facing it.
 

Wolfcub

Senior Member
Messages
7,089
Location
SW UK
I have already ordered peppermint oil capsules, the fact that peppermint tea helps you gives me more hope.
I have heard that peppermint oil capsules may cause heartburn. But if they are the enteric-coated type, they will by-pass the stomach during digestion sparing heartburn.
Those are the kind usually used for lower gut complaints though.
However, the capsules may still help a lot, depending what is the cause of your nausea.
The peppermint tea is much milder, and never gave me any issues. But I would only have a cup when needed. I just used good quality tea bags.

I think there are as many different reasons for this symptom as there are people. With some it goes with migraine...with others it can be direct stomach problems....with some it's neurological.
 
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Rufous McKinney

Senior Member
Messages
13,249
I wish we knew where our problem lays. It would be less frustrating facing it.

One aspect of the feel nauseated maybe related to-Sickness behavior response. I really have trouble eating much of the time. Food tastes odd, off, too strong, might be contributing to some IBS issue, all that. But an anorexia type symptom is in the mix there.

When my bowel's are active...I also often feel waves of nausea. So its somewhat also tied into the IBS- type issues.

The chinese have some really good pills for - feeling mildly nauseated. A pill you can get in most health food stores is Huo Zang Zheng Qi...

If I am taking my chinese herbs for ibs-d, which work quite well, I have less issues with this.
 

Wolfcub

Senior Member
Messages
7,089
Location
SW UK
If I am taking my chinese herbs for ibs-d, which work quite well, I have less issues with this.
I'm glad you found something to help that dratted IBS, Rufous. :)

I wish we knew where our problem lays. It would be less frustrating facing it.
I was the least nauseated person all my life and loved my food -mostly any food! My guts were like cast iron.
But I always used to get queasy on the very first day of coming down with something (bad cold or flu type bug, as they were the only bugs I used to catch, and one of those only every 3-6 years) That symptom always came with the first day then disappeared as the bug took hold (and I guess, the immune system set up a fight and the other symptoms started.)

But with the mysterious flu-like thing I caught 2 years ago, it was like I never got past the first day in so many ways. I never got upper respiratory things or fever. I always kept feeling "I am coming down with something bad" and never seemed to move on from it, and it kept coming back.
Of course checks with the doctor turned up nothing, and because of some mysterious and very mild head pain on one side and a few "tics" (my head kept feeling like it wanted to turn slightly to the left!) I got referred to a neurologist who also found nothing at all.

So I remitted and relapsed re: symptoms as time went by, but that nausea did recur whenever I relapsed. It was never severe but unpleasant enough to put a damper on the day.
 
Messages
58
@Wolfcub, wow. I also got a flu like illness two years ago. I was nauseous for a few days back then and quickly recovered. The flu like symptoms reappeared 7 months after the first onset, but without fever this time. My stomach has been sick every day since then. My GI tract was completely healthy, until it just stopped being healthy. So strange, our stories are so alike. Did you get tested for enteroviruses?
 

lenora

Senior Member
Messages
4,913
@Kalina I am sorry you have to go through those horrible symptoms. I don't know what causes it. I sometimes get nausea, and did from the first day 2 years ago.
I can't relate it to any foods, time of day, low blood sugar, etc.
It seems to come with exhaustion, and most times I "crash". It seems like the kind of nausea you can get when you have just run 10 miles and it comes with a sensation of tremors (though internal, thus not visible tremors)

I find herbal remedies sometimes help. I chew on frozen ginger pieces. They really do help! I drink peppermint tea, and sometimes a shot of brandy with honey helps.
I have also tried black horehound tincture 3ml, and have felt a little bit of relief sometimes with that.

With me, this nausea seems to alternate with ravenous appetite. Then I get many days I'm just fine (so think it's gone away forever!!)

I hope you can find something that helps you.

Kalina, yes Wolfcub is absolutely right about ginger being the go-to for nausea. You can get a candied ginger, keep it in the fridge and cut it into tiny cubes for eating. It seems to help with the nausea more than anything else I've ever tried.

There's something about nausea and sugar, though. My second go-to is an anti-nausea concoction with a lot of sugar called Emetrol. It's sold over the counter and is in every drugstore. Apart from that you can, of course, get a prescription from your Dr., although I've found most of them knock me out for the day. At night that wouldn't be a bad thing, but I tend to feel sick during the day...if I'm going to. I went through a period of about 2 yrs. when I had it and then it magically disappeared. I never could figure out the connection, if there was one, to anything I did or didn't do. I hope you feel better. Yours, Lenora.
 
Messages
58
@lenora thank you for your advice. I am sorry you had this for 2 years, it must have been horrible. Did you have “only” nausea or was it also accompanied by stomach pain and indigestion? Do you happen to remember what medication or supplements you had been taking at the time?
 
Messages
58
One aspect of the feel nauseated maybe related to-Sickness behavior response. I really have trouble eating much of the time. Food tastes odd, off, too strong, might be contributing to some IBS issue, all that. But an anorexia type symptom is in the mix there.
When my bowel's are active...I also often feel waves of nausea. So its somewhat also tied into the IBS- type issues.
I can relate to that. My stomach feels off, my appetite is gone, anything I put in my stomach triggers pain, but the nausea is constant, waking me up in the middle of the night, sometimes leading to vomiting. Some would say it’s gastritis, but the gastroscopy revealed only mild chronic inactive gastritis. I am so tired of this. I need strong antivomiting meds such as Zofran.
 

lenora

Senior Member
Messages
4,913
Kalina, it sounds as if you'll probably need some tests done by your gastroenterologist (or even your internist could probably order them). Have you tried something like Emetrol? Each time I get ill with something and hospitalized I'm thrown back to the beginning of this problem. It could even be emotional, I don't know, but tests have long ago ruled out anything else and my anxiety is under good control.

I do have IBS and have had it since I was in my late teens. I'm now 73 yrs. old, so that's a long time for the digestive systems to be upset about one thing or another. Make certain you go ahead with trying to alleviate this problem...it's too important not to. Yours, Lenora.
 
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Messages
58
@lenora I have been to countless doctors, but noone can figure out why this is happening. I have high antibodies against coxsakie virus, so some of the doctors attribute my symptoms to this, but I am not sure. We don’t have Emetrol where I live, so I have to use more conventional medication.
 

lenora

Senior Member
Messages
4,913
Hi Kalina.....Where do you live? It doesn't say, so I wrongly assumed you were in the U.S. Sorry about that!!

Well, you have to get nutrition in somehow, so if tests don't show anything, then eat what you feel you can tolerate. I remember at one point, my gastro Dr. told me to go to McDonald's and get some french fries, a milkshake, anything to put some weight on me. Little by little (and I mean "little") I've been able to crawl my way back through being unable to eat to getting at least one highly nutritious meal/day, some fruit in between and even a bowl of soup. Of course I'm not supposed to have the soup. I just took something (prescription) for nausea...I've been battling 3 days of it, and it dissolves under the tongue. Sometimes it doesn't matter if you eat or you don't...you just feel nauseated. That's the way I've been, except that this time I seem to be hungry for odd things like soda crackers & soup. That's all, although I do force myself to eat a banana and orange for potassium.

Best of luck in finding something to stop the nausea...and go to McDonald's, if it's a nice day for a walk. Yours, Lenora.
 
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Messages
58
I live in Greece and we are still cautious about going out due to coronavirus, so McDonalds has to wait. 🙂 I am nauseous independently of having empty or full stomach and I can feel the stomach lining being in pain, even my diaphragm hurts. I feel generally sick, it’s so weird. How did your problem start? Mine started after taking one pill of Arcoxia last year. Thank you for your kind words, I wish you get better quickly.
 

lenora

Senior Member
Messages
4,913
Hi Kalina......Now this is just a "maybe" but since your diaphragm hurts, I'm wondering if you have something called costochondritis. Really it means inflammation of the ribs and yes, they hurt....a whole lot. I have it b/c one of my ribs at least was broken during my first surgery and no one told me. That means it healed wrong & I have trouble with this every year, usually from January through to the hot weather. It's common in people with ME. It would be helpful if you could get it properly diagnosed by a Dr. (umm....not Ben!). Muscle Relaxants can help, but I find they always have a boomerang effect on me....when I stop taking my robaxin, the doggone things hurt worse than ever. Still, since I also have allergies, there's no choice since I always get bronchitis in the winter mos., and of course my ribs are then further aggravated. Now that's the only explanation of your painful diaphragm that I can think of.

Seriously, if you can't go out, whip up something good for yourself and drink it very slowly.

That's all I can think of for now. But start today....it's important. Yours, Lenora
 
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Messages
58
@lenora 🤗 it’s possible, it could be costochondritis or pleurodynia, but I have noticed that it gets worse after meals, so I could have mixed problem. Who is Ben, lol? I could try Lyrica, but I want to investigate my pancreas first. Is your nausea better now?
 

lenora

Senior Member
Messages
4,913
@lenora 🤗 it’s possible, it could be costochondritis or pleurodynia, but I have noticed that it gets worse after meals, so I could have mixed problem. Who is Ben, lol? I could try Lyrica, but I want to investigate my pancreas first. Is your nausea better now?

Yes, my nausea is quite a bit better....until the evening round of meds again I'm sure. That little worked, and it didn't knock me out. That's great. Thanks for asking. (Ben....don't worry, for a moment my mind wandered.)
 

Wolfcub

Senior Member
Messages
7,089
Location
SW UK
@Wolfcub, wow. I also got a flu like illness two years ago. I was nauseous for a few days back then and quickly recovered. The flu like symptoms reappeared 7 months after the first onset, but without fever this time. My stomach has been sick every day since then. My GI tract was completely healthy, until it just stopped being healthy. So strange, our stories are so alike. Did you get tested for enteroviruses?
Now the weird thing is that whatever "bug" I caught in March 2018 which started this whole thing, was never revealed. I didn't go to the doctor until the 4th week of it. He did a full health work-up but no nose/throat swabs. I asked about that, but he said swabs wouldn't show anything by that stage anyway.
I'd never had throat symptoms.
Bloodwork revealed nothing at all untoward and no signs of infection; only some very slight anomalies re: electrolytes. Those were not even bad enough apparently to warrant a "red flag" but the lab did mention them.

At the time I endlessly searched for clues as to what virus may have caused the weird "flu-like" illness (yes, flu-like....but not quite.) It was constantly afebrile, with no respiratory symptoms, just an endless (and then recurring at intervals) malaise just like I had flu.

So -no fever and a lack of other classic symptoms according to each infection, meant the illness matched no viral profile including the whole list of enteroviruses, and believe me I examined every single one. Any kind of flu was almost ruled out as there were no respiratory symptoms. Nobody knew what the heck it was.

What I had, which happened suddenly at a certain time on a certain date was:
shakiness
weakness
nausea
slight but persistent head pain over right eye
a "fluey" malaise (a constant feeling of the first day of coming down with flu)
heart palpitations
sudden exhaustion
upset lower gut (in the 4th week)
loss of appetite (and sometimes incredible ravenous hunger and food cravings for canned sardines, butter, bread, chocolate, eggs....very often in the middle of the night, alternating with nausea.)
exercise intolerance
Sleep disruption
occasional "tight chest" which would pass within minutes, with some sharp chest pains.
weakness in leg muscles and sometimes complete spasticity in legs which brought me to the ground literally for about 3 mins. each time.
And a feeling of "sentimentality" where things would bring me to tears so easily. (music, movies, memories etc) This alternated with an empty feeling where I found it hard to connect with anything heart-felt, and instead felt a bit robotic, just enduring each day and plodding on with things I had to do.

(Heart checks were all okay) It was not a cardiac infection either, apparently.
So -what virus caused all that....I don't know. But it came on suddenly out of the blue and I had always been fit, strong, well, healthy, athletic, had a strong digestion....etc

My doctor also grilled me about possible clues as to it being poisoning of some kind, but that was kind of ruled out. Again it fitted no poisoning profile (and again, I researched every single one, including possible organophosphate/herbicide/fungicide/ or other toxicity from neighbouring farmland.) No profile described what I was experiencing.
And have been in a remitting/relapsing cycle for 2 years since.
 
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Messages
58
@Wolfcub , I would suggest you specifically ask for neutralizing antibodies against enteroviruses in blood, especially coxsakie group B. The doctors won’t usually test you for those, unless you specifically ask them. By browsing in this forum I found out that the most reliable laboratory to do this test in the US is the ARUB laboratory. It’s mind-blowing how your initial symptoms were similar to mine. The only thing I didn’t have was the spasticity in legs.
 

Wolfcub

Senior Member
Messages
7,089
Location
SW UK
@Wolfcub , I would suggest you specifically ask for neutralizing antibodies against enteroviruses in blood, especially coxsakie group B. The doctors won’t usually test you for those, unless you specifically ask them. By browsing in this forum I found out that the most reliable laboratory to do this test in the US is the ARUB laboratory. It’s mind-blowing how your initial symptoms were similar to mine. The only thing I didn’t have was the spasticity in legs.
Thank you @Kalina When I get the next chance, I will ask my doctor about that. But I am in UK. We are still in lockdown here.

Thinking of you, Kalina...have you any problems with your gall bladder? That can cause nausea.

I don't know if it will be the same for you, or not, but that symptom did dwindle a lot as time went by. I only occasionally get it now. Usually when I have pushed my body way too hard, and it doesn't feel like a "stomach" thing at all, more like part of a full-body response to tremendous exhaustion.