Gastroenterology and Me

I haven’t written about my health for awhile. I had intended to get all oversharey and post movies of my CT scans and whatnot, but I have failed.

Since the last installment: I’ve had some more tests. I finally was able to see a Gastroenterologist. My omeprazole dose was doubled and an endoscopy was ordered. I had the endoscopy last week and saw another gastroenterologist yesterday. Here’s where we are:

  • Esophagus: Appeared normal. Biopsies were also normal.
  • Stomach: Some erosion. Biopsies were normal. I thought they saw small ulcers and mentioned them to Heather after endoscopy. Yesterday, the doctor didn't say a word about ulcers.
  • Duodenum: Normal.

Diagnosis from yesterday: Doctor feels it’s most likely costochondritis.


© Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

I do have many of the symptoms. I did not take omeprazole this morning for the first time in a long time and I took ibuprofen 800mg yesterday after seeing the doctor as well as before bedtime. I took another this morning as well as one this afternoon. Still some pain. It hasn’t completely gone away and last night after dinner, I had severe pain. Can’t decide if over the counter antacids help or not.

I’m scheduled for a HIDA scan tomorrow. I’m hoping that this and the esophagus test they want to do will let us know what’s up. I think something’s going on to cause this pain, and after reading page after page of articles and tips about gallstones, GERD, IBS and other digestive issues, I’m hopeful that it’s simply a case of costochondritis.

I’m at a point where all the doctor visits and testing are eating into my desire to do more with this site. Grrrr.

  • http://twitter.com/jdiettrich Jessica Diettrich

    I was diagnosed with costochondritis 2 years ago — for me, it manifested itself as shooting pains down my sternum that came on while I was at work, scrubbed into surgery. Half an hour later, I got my first EKG — I thought I was having a heart attack. They gave me anti-inflammatories for it but I would have occasional flare ups until I had a breast reduction 3 months ago. I hope that they are able to find something that alleviates the pain for you!

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      Thanks for responding! Unfortunately, I don’t have breasts to reduce…

      If it is costochondritis, I’m hoping it’s not caused by viral or infectious means. I spent the night in ER and had all kinds of tests and observations ruling out serious issues (heart/lungs). Maybe the answer for me is anti-inflammatory meds.

  • http://twitter.com/bethany7726 Beth A. Paul

    Have they tested you for celiac disease or gluten intolerance? Whatever it is, I hope you get answers quickly and you are feeling better soon.

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      They have not tested me for either of those. I’m really hoping that whatever I have, I don’t have to have something removed or have invasive surgery to correct.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Amy-Jacobs/590861439 Amy Jacobs

    I WAS RIGHT!!!!!!!!!! Yay me. David will be so proud!!

    All those years of dating and being married to a med student/resident/doctor have paid off! : )

    Glad they think it’s nothing too serious Jon. It can be quite painful. Feel better soon.

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      Enjoy this time, as you may not be right for too much longer. If you are right, I’ll be gracious.

      I will not be gracious about the Tea Party. The lies they told about healthcare reform need a lot of redemption. One possibly correct diagnosis isn’t going to cover it.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Amy-Jacobs/590861439 Amy Jacobs

        Whoa…you sure do hold a grudge, lol. We have the right to disagree, no? I called truce a while ago : ). I guess you didn’t agree : (.

        Besides, I’m not a Tea Partier Jon. I’m something…not sure what. Not Republican. Not Tea Party. Not Libertarian. I’m just me : )

        Either way, hope you feel better soon and that I am right and it’s nothing serious. You’re of an age where something like this could end up being serious and I do not want that for you or your family. They need you…and need you feeling well. So if it’s something like this, that is easily cured over time with just NSAIDS and rest, then that’s good!!

        Whether you believe it or not, I do only wish you the best…despite our political differences. I hold no ill will towards you whatsoever. I may think you’re stark raving nuts sometimes on your views, but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect you as a person. You seem like a good guy.

        This response wasn’t because I made fun of you not knowing what Tea Bagging was!!? LOL…I was KIDDING Jon…because Heather thought she’d called you out and you were mad and well…it was cute.

        Feel better and please lighten up…I fear that is adding to your pain…STRESS! ; )

      • http://blurbomat.com blurb

        No grudge! I’m going to avoid talking about how awesome Obama is right now. As a concession to being nice and lowering stress levels.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Amy-Jacobs/590861439 Amy Jacobs

    Hey Jon…

    There was some syndrome that I told you about that had to do with inflamation of the chest wall…related to this, but different. I can’t remember what it was…if you look back at my comments before you will find it. YOu might ask the doctor about it. Seems like it was relieved with muscle relaxers, not NSAIDS (which can be bad to take daily…had a friend’s sister die yesterday from Ibuprofen overdose after using it daily for headaches…she went into kidney and liver failure!).

    Ask them about something called Mobic.

    This is all coming from me again…not my hubs.

  • Anonymous

    Gastroenterology can be so frustrating! I’ve had… digestive issues for several months and ended up dropping weight pretty fast. I did all the very unpleasant labs and then had a colonoscopy and endoscopy. They saw irritation in the colon, esophagus and stomach but all the biopsies came back fine. So guess what they said after all that testing? Take fiber tablets. Maybe we could have tried that first???
    Gotta say, I am relieved that it doesn’t appear to be cardiac.

  • http://4junkdna.blogspot.com/ Elaine

    Ha! I guessed right. My comment from your health status post on 2/24: Not that you’re looking for unsolicited medical advice, but maybe it’s Costochondritis (inflammation of the cartilage between the ribs). The symptoms sound very similar to what you are describing. The good news is that even though it feels serious, it’s not. Just my two cents. Hope you get to the bottom of it soon.

  • http://alltheshinythings.wordpress.com/ andi

    if you’ve never tried Traumeel (tablets) from someplace like Whole Foods, I would highly recommend it. Taking that much ibuprofen can really wallop you after a while — it’s quite bad for your system. Traumeel is wonderful for that type of pain (muscle, aches, tendons, inflammation, etc) and may help you. (Arnica is also supposed to be good, but doesn’t work well for me.)

    Have you ever seen a chiropractor? There might be some underlying structural issue that’s causing it to be inflamed and a good, principled chiropractor might help out a bunch. (If they insist on x-ray after x-ray, I’d walk away. I’d find a more holistic one.)

    Regardless, I hope you can find some answers and some relief! Scary stuff. Went through some similar things with my hubby. Not fun!

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      I’ll look into Traumeel. I have been seeing a chiropractor, but have held off since before our New Orleans trip. He does an adjustment for my shoulder blade area that stops the pain for a short time, but after a few hours, it comes back. He’s only done two x-rays; one back straight on, one back from the side. He’s very good and I really like how I feel after the adjustments. He has suggested that it sounds like a musculoskeletal problem, rather than something upper GI or cardiac.

      What’s weird is that after I eat sometimes (once or twice a day), the pain returns. I don’t know if it’s because my dining posture is horrible or something else is going on.

      • http://www.sugarleg.com sugarleg

        takes a long time for the bod to get in the crinked up place and therefore some time and many, many bodywork treatments to un-f**k it. stick with it and sorry I spazzed before and added a link. (disqus yelled at me and I got send to Moderation…) just was reminding you to look into craniosacral massage therapy and included a link to some local in your area via Google. I’d suggest doing that before you get an adjustment, your body will be in full relaxation mode. you will get well, hold on to the positive :-)

  • http://twitter.com/SaintAcia Stacia Sidlow

    I have a really good family friend who is a gastroenterologist. I can’t believe I didn’t think of him before. If you are interested, I’ll pass along his info.

    • http://twitter.com/SaintAcia Stacia Sidlow

      Oh yeah, and I think that diagnosis is bullshit. It basically means, “we have no idea what is wrong but we know you want an official diagnosis.”

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2KGL2N67M3NMBSUPJAU262RUSY BrittanyH

    I truly empathize with you and the difficulty and getting an effective diagnosis. Keep us posted.

  • http://profiles.google.com/carolsaha Carol Saha

    My 17 yr old son has/had constochondritis. He missed school for over a month because he couldn’t carry his back pack or even walk very far. The pain killers and anti-inflammatories helped with the pain but didn’t cure it.
    I got him some liquid vitamins and minerals from Vemma and the essential greens from New Vision (same company sort of). He finally got better. Still flares occasionally. Especially when he doesn’t drink his greens or take his vits and mins.

  • Anonymous

    Happy it’s not a cardiac thing and not to make light of this diagnosis and condition, but dude, when I first read your post, I swear I thought you’d typed “Costcochondritis”, and I was all, “What’s that, a morbid fear of warehouse discount stores?” ;)

  • http://twitter.com/Sadandbeautiful Sarah R. Bloom

    Glad more serious issues are being ruled out, and I really hope they can confirm what it IS sooner rather than later. That mystery bit is so frustrating (any time I’ve had something weird going on, it usually concludes with “You have something weird going on” and it resolves itself without me ever knowing what it was).

    Most importantly, I just hope you feel better soon.

  • http://profiles.google.com/ljdeviny L.J. Deviny

    Dr. Cooky thinks you need one hour of Jon time each and every day. I think the stress of managing Dooce and three females (four if you count Tyrant) is making you ill. Seriously.

    Whole foods. Bland diet. Limited grease and spices. Limit coffee, pop, etc. to eliminate irritants there.

    Now — for that one hour per day of Jon time — meditate, yoga, sit on the mountain and let the sun shine on you. Peace. Quiet. Serenity. Spin old vinyl. Enjoy a Polygamy Porter. Huff an herb of your choice. You deserve sixty minutes of peace and quiet each day.

    Do it for you. Do it for Heather. Do it for the girls. Do it for Dooce. The Doctor has spoken :-)

  • http://twitter.com/tallnoe Noelle

    I know that ibuprofen isn’t the best, and since I’ve been on high doses of it for years (b/c of my knee), I have started taking high doses of Naproxen Sodium (aka Aleve). Much better for my tummy…

    I hope it all gets resolved and there is an aha moment!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=533665374 Jennifer Harrell

    I get bouts of costochondritis. It feels like someone is putting a vice grip on your chest. Hurts like hell. Muscle relaxers help for me, whenever a bout strikes. Flexeril works great. The 800mg Motrin that I take routinely doesn’t seem to take care of the acute costochondritis attacks.

  • http://twitter.com/wombatcentral Wombat Central

    I hope you’re feeling better soon! I have The GERD and I’ve had costochondritis. The first one made me feeling like I was having a heart attack. The second felt like stabby pains in mah ribs. Both make me feel like an old fart. We’re too young for this crap, aren’t we? Crap. Where’d I put my glasses?

  • http://twitter.com/BeckyCochrane BeckyCochrane

    I have absolutely no wisdom to offer or similar experience to share. Just wanted to say I’m sorry you have these ongoing health issues because I know they’re scary and screw with a person’s ability to enjoy life to the fullest. Hope it all gets resolved and you’re better soon!

  • http://twitter.com/yammerin Lauren

    Dude, my comment recommending a book written from a doctor’s perspective that you should check out never showed up :-/ I gotta know, what did I say wrong? I swear I have nothing to do with the publisher/author/etc., just a good book! :)

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      Disqus held it for moderation. Thanks for the recommendation and I’ll take a look!

      • http://twitter.com/yammerin Lauren

        Ahhh excellent, no faux pas on my part :) And glad to hear it… I really do think it could help guide you in finding answers.

  • Anonymous

    I think you should be tested for Celiac Disease. It can manifest in MANY different ways/symptoms. If you do have CD it’s just your diet you have to change–no drugs, no surgery.

  • http://painkillerawareness.org/ NSAIDs

    Thanks to sharing a well post.The  absolute aesthetics was in no child way afflicted by the controversies surrounding non-opioid drugs and what was perceived as a achievement storm for agents with corruption potential.