Is it normal?

[jm2450]

Is it normal that a doctor just says you have IBS and sends you off with PPIs to take to see if it helps?

I began getting upper abdominal pain a year ago, and sometimes I don’t feel it for a couple of weeks and then it comes back. It’s not accompanied by anything else, I do suffer with constipation but really it’s mostly just upper abdominal pain/pressure and bloating/gas etc. It is sometimes relieved by eating, sometimes not. I do suffer with heartburn. I had a H Pylori and Coeliac test when the pain started but they were both all clear.

Currently can’t wear anything around my waist or stomach and sat with a hot water bottle, not really sure if this is normal or not. I don’t like the thought of just being told I have something and take this if it’s not that, if you understand? I also have Hashimotos which is auto immune thyroid disease. Because of this, I am not comfortable with taking PPIs if I don’t need them because of the effect on thyroxine absorption.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Iggls]

PPI s are for reflux, not IBS. You almost certainly need gastroscopy to check upper GI tract ?. Bloating around the waist will not be helped by PPI s.

[jm2450 in reply to Iggls]

Thanks for your response. This is what I thought. I initially went in with upper abdominal pain. It’s been a year now and it is still coming and going but initially I was sent off and told to try antispasmodic (it’s not spasms) and then told to try a PPI (I only spoke of pain). I’m not really sure how to approach it with my gp that I want to be checked because they are very reluctant to refer!

[Caeliann in reply to jm2450]

BTW, have you had your gall bladder checked out?

[jm2450 in reply to Caeliann]

I haven’t had anything at all checked out, that’s the point…. I have sent an e consult in today to get a referral to gastro to start with but your point about the gallbladder is valid too, do gastro deal with the gallbladder though?

[Orchard33]

I have just come off PPIs after 5 years. I would never recommend them for use and they did nothing that I was aware of to help IBS, possibly the opposite. I now take H2 blockers for reflux which I much prefer. PPIs are very powerful drugs and may well be responsible for the Pernicious Anaemia I now have.

[jm2450 in reply to Orchard33]

That is why I am reluctant to take them. I gave a short trial, still had the stomach pain. If I have reflux I can generally take Rennie and it gets rid of it so I don’t think PPIs are nescessary. As I said I already have other reasons for not wanting to take PPIs but I am just really confused as to why they’d give them to me for stomach pain. His words were “try these for three months and see, we don’t have the resources to refer you”. But this has been going on for a year, it’s not something that has just popped up.

[Orchard33 in reply to jm2450]

The"we don't have the resources to refer you" is a shocker. Why are they there? Try this and see if it helps is just bad doctoring. I think I'd try again and push for a consultation.

[jm2450 in reply to Orchard33]

I think you’re right. I was appalled that they’d just shove me off with some tablets for something I wasn’t even complaining of…. When I’d been having upper abdominal pain for months at that point. I think I’m going to just directly ask for a referral if they clearly can’t find out what’s going on with me. If they don’t find anything then okay, but I really don’t want to leave it any longer. Since this started all I’ve heard is you have IBS, you have IBS, but nobody has done any tests to rule out anything else which is what concerns me. How do they know I just have IBS when they haven’t checked for anything else!

[Orchard33 in reply to jm2450]

Agree. Push for referral.

[Iggls in reply to jm2450]

that’s rubbish… a very uncaring and lazy GP ! Ours has done multiple referrals for both my husband and myself in the past couple of years..he says himself he’s a GP, not an expert! Be assertive.

[jm2450 in reply to Iggls]

I know deep down that you’re right, I’m sometimes not very good at being assertive! But I will give it a go thank you

[Fergie53 in reply to Orchard33]

Oh interesting, I’ve been diagnosed with mild anaemia an feel it’s cos I’ve been taking PPIs for ages ..

[Ummlulu]

Hi, have you tried modifying diet?

I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in August 2021 and given meds for that, then developed awful gastrointestinal issues in Jan 2022. I too was told it’s IBS but only advice I had was follow Low Fodmap diet. I appreciate with Hashimotos as well you might be juggling a bit but for me the Low Fodmap has been the best route. My gut seems to have healed and as long as I am careful with what I eat symptoms are under control.

The autoimmune disease is still active. I administer methotrexate and Imraldi to keep it under control but I feel there is a correlation between gut health and other disorders of the body so I try keep everything in balance.

There is some good information on the web if you can find the energy to search. Good luck.

[jm2450 in reply to Ummlulu]

I haven’t modified my diet no, but I know with autoimmune issues sometimes it’s best to try. If I was certain there wasn’t anything else going on I would be more inclined to try and modify my diet but I have never had any issue with gluten/dairy etc. I feel like high stress is probably worse for my Hashimotos, and food stresses me out to be honest with you!

[Wilwak]

Is the pain across your front just under your rib cage?

If so, I had the same a few years ago. Hot water bottles and I even bandaged my chest as that helped.

If that sounds the same as you I can explain how I fixed it.

[jm2450 in reply to Wilwak]

Yes it is literally right in my stomach area, upper abdomen middle rib cage area. I currently use hot water bottles to help but I’m sick of it and not knowing what the problem is.

[Wilwak]

It sounds very similar to what I had.

I had an endoscopy and they found that my stomach lining was inflamed.

I was put on omeprazole and told not to drink alcohol or coffee.

I also drank Ole Vera juice to help repair.

I also didn’t eat after 6pm and tried to sleep on a slight incline.

Over the course of 6 weeks it slowly got better.

When you come off the omeprazole do it slowly…. Go to every other day then every third day etc.

I still get flare ups and a week or two of Nexium over the counter and being very careful seems to sort it.

[jm2450 in reply to Wilwak]

Did the pain feel like it radiates through to your mid back as well? If they found my stomach lining was inflamed then I would be prepared to use PPIs for longer and a set amount of time but I don’t want to be on them forever. When I tried though it didn’t seem to make a difference to the pain, although maybe I hadn’t tried for long enough I don’t know. How long were you on them? If you still have flare ups of it I guess you’re still inflamed?

[jm2450]

also, I already don’t drink alcohol and only decaf!

[Luisa22]

It seems many doctors have a crush on PPIs. My old auntie was prescribed them. I asked her if she needed them because of heartburn or indigestion, and she said no, she'd never had indigestion or heartburn or acid stomach!! She told me the doctor said "they would be good to take to make sure she didn't get heartburn or indigestion!.

I mean....what??

They prevent proper digestion and normal stomach acid, especially of proteins and they can allow H pylori to get a hold. The stomach is meant to be very acidic!

And then of course when we stop taking them we get rebound reflux!

[jm2450 in reply to Luisa22]

Absolutely! Which is why I will not take them without knowing what is going on in my body first. The amount of time I took them didn’t seem to help anyway. When I questioned the GP on the PPIs and said why would I want to turn my stomach acid off? He said, who told you it turns stomach acid off, it does not do that. I was like okay…. That’s literally what it’s for and I haven’t come to you with a reflux problem either, pain is not a reflux problem to me!

[Luisa22 in reply to jm2450]

Strange when doctors don't listen to the patient, isn't it? Maybe if you have another health clinic where you live, you could get a second opinion from another GP? Or change GPs? So I hope you get help for the actual pain.

[angelwings52]

You need to be referred to a gastroenterologist to be diagnosed correctly - IBS is diagnosed by a process of elimination and shouldn't be diagnosed by a GP. I can recommend that you get your gall bladder checked as that causes a lot of upper GI symptoms - if your GP is being difficult or obstructive speak to the manager of the surgery, this shouldn't be ignored.

[jm2450 in reply to angelwings52]

Thank you for your response, I am currently awaiting my GP to get back to me. If I don’t have any luck I will be asking to speak to somebody else. Would gall bladder problems also be diagnosed by a gastroenterologist or would that be somebody else?

[SwimSooz]

Hi!

I had gastritis and esophagitis and GI doc prescribed PPIs. I had taken them in the past and had rebound reflux so I researched for an alternative and found that studies had been done with success with d-Limonene and melatonin. I took 1,000 mg of d-limonene 30 minutes before breakfast and 1,000 mg 30 minutes before dinner and 6 mg if melatonin at bedtime for 6 weeks and then weaned to 1,000 mg if d-limonene daily with 6 mg of melatonin at night for 6 weeks and for maintenance I’m taking 1,000 mg of d-limonene every other day and 6 mg of melatonin at night. This regimen really helped. I recently added Silver Fern brand “upper GI relief” and that has out the icing on the cake — almost nonexistent gas and bloating

[jm2450]

Update everyone: after being told by a new GP at the same surgery that living with abdominal pain is entirely normal (!) and experienced by many people as a hallmark of IBS, I demanded to be referred to gastro and asked how exactly we know I have IBS when nothing else has been checked. My new GP is insistent that gastro probably won’t see me as I only have abdominal pain (!) but she has reluctantly said she will refer me, even though apparently an endoscopy is invasive and they don’t usually want to do it JUST for abdominal pain. I had to literally fight for 15 minutes on the phone stating my case over and over again. What on earth is going on with our health service? I asked her how many more years do I have to be in pain to qualify for the necessary medical checks!? She had no answer for me. Thank you for all your support on this. Now to wait a few months.