Mystery Symptoms - Anyone Else?

[shootershanem]

Hi everyone, I could really use your help. I experience burning in the stomach along with reflux, and usually mild sweating too, nearly every night between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. It wakes me up to the point that I am unable to go back to sleep and has been going on for over 4 years. Needles to say the constant exhaustion affects every single aspect of my life.

I'm on my 3rd gastro doc and none of them have been able to identify the cause, and much less a solution, to the problem. I've had an endoscopy, HIDA scan, and CT scan and none of them found anything helpful. I've tried various elimination diets to no avail. The low FODMAP diet helped with other symptoms like terrible-smelling gas, bloating, foul-smelling loose / watery stools, and post-meal reflux. The early-morning stomach burning and reflux remain though. This is on a completely empty stomach, as I typically eat dinner around 7:00 p.m. I've taken every OTC and prescription medicine available and none have helped.

Has anyone else out there experienced these symptoms, and if so, were you able to find the cause?

I appreciate your time and consideration.

[Yannia]

I can relate to most of what you say except the reflux. For me it is always on the food I eat. If I my dinner consists of a meal with coriander and cumin powder in it I wake up sweating. How I worked this out is having the same meal only at lunch time has not affected me. So it is always what goes in last into the stomachs. Some type of chocolate ( yet to find out which) gives me Bloating and smelling gas. FODMAP helped me. Keep a note of the last thing you eat at night so you can avoid it. Hope this helps. You have to figure out what affects you - it has been trial and error for me. Unless very well cooked raw onions a no no.

So you see keep a food diary. Good luck.

[shootershanem in reply to Yannia]

Thanks for your insight Yannia.

To add, I have kept a food diary for over three years now, but it hasn't helped identify the cause of the overnight stomach burning and reflux, which again, happens on a completely empty stomach 6-7 hours after I last ate. Since the issue doesn't happen soon after a meal it's impossible to know which meal had an ingredient(s) that could be the offender. I'm shooting in the dark, which is why neither I, my three gastro docs, nor my dietician have been able to pinpoint the offender.

[Clarrisa]

A Breast Surgeon I see for yearly evaluations told me to sleep on the right side to prevent reflux. Are you doing that? This is the recovery position in CPR so it makes sense to me.

I am experiencing IBS features after a food poisoning episode. Following the Internist's recommendation to take Align, a prebiotic & Benefiber also a prebiotic I have reduced my sweating significantly. This by only taken Benefiber once a day.

My circumstances of course are very different from yours, but maybe others may have noticed a change with similar medications & will respond. It is very reassuring to me to read your post, that you can have many symptoms & it isn't the end of the world as I've been thinking (My MRI workup starts next week).

[shootershanem in reply to Clarrisa]

Hi Clarissa, thank you for your insight.

I have tried sleeping on both sides, left side seems to work better than the right, but it doesn't stop the fireball sensation in my stomach or the reflux.

I took a daily fiber supplement for years until a little over a month ago when I started the FODMAP diet. The fiber was derived from wheat, a big no-no for the FODMAP diet. I've just started taking Sunfiber 3 days ago due to constipation caused by the FODMAP diet.

Within the past year I have taken a prebiotic (Hyperboitics) and probiotic (Pro-25) twice, for 2 months at a time each.

[Clarrisa in reply to shootershanem]

Thanks for all your helpful tips. I forgot to mention I also take a teaspoon or two of Mylanta in the evening before retiring. Minor detail! What do you use as your source of calcium on the FODMAP diet, if you don't mind my asking?

[shootershanem in reply to Clarrisa]

I take a multivitamin daily.

[Susan72 in reply to Clarrisa]

Lots of calcium sources on the low FODMAP diet. This is a good chart - instagram.com/p/B9xHqHIgAvY/

[Clarrisa in reply to Susan72]

Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.

[Clarrisa]

An additional idea came to mind. My younger sister told me that hunger will wake you up at night (she reads up on these things more than I). I don’t know about you but I am very hungry on this FODMAP meal plan.

Diabetics are told to eat complex carbohydrates with dinner, any evening snack in order to hold them over night. Do you eat ample complex carbohydrates with your evening meal?

[Kennydog]

I haveca similar sort of thing. I was diagnosed with gastritis and lymphocytic cholitis. I get the burning in my stomach early morning too. The only thing i do, which seems to help me, is when i get up (usually about 5 or 6 o'clock ) is too have 2 or 3 cups of either normal tea or peppermint tea. It seems to ease the burning and i go back to bed for another couple of hours.

[shootershanem in reply to Kennydog]

Thanks Kenny, much appreciated.