constant nausea

[serenity]

Hi, I am just wondering if anyone can help me with these symptoms...

The past few months I have been through extreme amounts of stress with health worries (heart concerns and a long story but all appears okay). that went on for a few months... Prior to that I had been put on Protonix (Proton Pump Inhibitor) for severe burning in my stomach which fixed that and I have been on the Protonix ever since.

Recently a close relative was killed by a car as a pedestrian and that was so tragic and emotional and stressful a time as you can imagine. He was only 32 and was a lovely guy.

After that incident I started getting heart palpitations which really worried me and I went to see a cardio guy who has now set my mind at ease.

Then out of the blue 3 weeks ago I had intermittant bouts of quite severe nausea. At first I thought I was pregnant because it is the sort of nausea that makes you sick to your stomach, the thought of food is very off putting and I even have trouble cooking at times because of the smells. Well I am definately not preggers as tests came out negative and I had a full and normal cycle between all this. then the nausea became more and more frequent and for the past week it has been constant and very debilitating. I have never been emetophobic and have never been a 'nausea' sort of person. Even with my two pregnancies!

So I am now very worried as to what is causing this. Do you think it could be anxiety? Have others experienced this sort of thing?

I think I will have an endoscopy because I need to check out the stomach burning thing and I have had H.pylori in the past and don't know if the last treatment was eradicated fully (that was in 2002) and I am also worried about an ulcer so I want to get it checked out. I think, with the sedatives I could cope with an endoscopy......(eek)

Basically, sorry this is long, but I am wondering if you think this could all be a residue from all the emotional stress I had before? Magically the heart palps went as soon as the nausea set in but I am confused because I have never experienced nausea as an anxiety symptom before. I have also been getting severe stomach bloating in the evenings after main meal especially. Also, I don't feel particularly anxious (apart from over this) at all and I thought nausea went with anxiety when you were really stressed/fearful over something?

Please help, any advice or reassurance would be much appreciated.

[yorkylover]

Im so sorry to hear you are going through such a bad time at the moment and Im sorry to hear about your relative.:hugs: I think your nausea could well be due to stress.You are going through alot of stress at the moment.

If you are really worried get it checked out for peace of mind.But anxiety and stress can give us alot of unwanted horrible affects,nausea being one of them.:hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs:

[sammyj]

when I found out my grandfather had terminal cancer just before xmas, I constantly felt sick and as soon as Iw ould wake up in the morning and get in the shower I would just heave. I wouldn't be physically sick but all the stress, fears and thoughts had me thinking the worst. It was in part due to my anxiety about something being worng with me and how would I know etc.he has since passed and I still feel sick at times because of the worry. I have never experienced anxitey or stress like I am now and I acutally believe now that it can play havoc with your body

[rocklover]

It most certainly is anxiety. My main anx symptom is nausea and sometimes it can be constant and debilitating, it gets worse when I panic. I have been to the drs numerous times about it and I have been told that nausea is not a sign of serious illness. They did blood tests for anaemia and hormonal imbalances and all came back normal. My nausea does decrease when I am having a good day or if i distract myself, and it kind of proves to me that it really is just the anxiety.

Please don't worry, just try to eat properly, make sure you keep hydrated. You may want to try nausea remedies such as peppermint tea/ginger biscuits etc, or get some Seabands from the chemist to wear on the accupressure points on your wrists. I am sure your dr would also be happy to prescribe a short course of anti-sickness pills.

Hope this helps!

[justbananas]

whenever i get like this it helps to have a bowl of plain yogurt with berries and slivered almonds. the bacteria in the yogurt settles my stomach, then i lay down for a bit.

[serenity]

Thank you for the replies, they were/are much appreciated.

I am still having a hard time convincing myself that this nausea is anxiety as I don't feel I am very anxious..the nausea is making me anxious and depressed but otherwise I feel as though my stress levels are at the lowest they have been in awhile... I dunno, I guess I take a lot of reassuring and especially since I have never experienced nausea with anxiety before and have never been one to experience nausea at all unless I am unwell with food poisoning which has happened once in the past 10 years.

I will try some probiotic yoghurt and am drinking ginger ale all the time but the nausea has been with me for most of the day and when I am out doing stuff too and distracted. I feel a bit at the end of my tether at the moment and am getting quite weepy.

thank you for your compassion guys, it really helps when you are feeling so down :hugs:

[PoppyC]

Hi
I am sorry to hear what you are going through. When I was really ill last year with a breakdown, I was constantly sick and nauseaus every single day for months. I would be sick on average 4 times a day. It was horrible. I could not eat and lost lots of weight. My mouth was filled with little ulcers due to constantly being sick and the acid it caused. I think I lived in the bathroom most of the time back then! I didnt believe the doctors when they told me it was 'anxiety sickness'. I thought there must be another reason for it as surely anxiety could not make you feel nauseaus and sick to the extent I was. I told myself I didnt feel that anxious but looking back I can see now how bad I was. I had every test imaginable including an endoscopy and they all came back clear. Eventually I admitted it was anxiety and that I had a breakdown. I read lots on the subject and it is very common to be nauseaus and vomit with anxiety. I found the mornings to be the worst time. I could not eat anything or I would be sick straight after and just the smell of foods made me ill. I had anti sickness medication which helped a lot and I also found eating mints would settle my stomach a little.The best thing for a sicky stomach whether it be from anxiety or a stomach bug is flat coca cola. The hospital gp recommended this for me! He said no one knows why it works but it does. It really does work. I would also just have dried toast/dried cracker biscuits and also bananas - which are very good for nausea. I would drink a lot of cordial too. Water is too harsh on a sicky stomach, so drink diluted cordial, constantly sip at it, rather than drinking a lot in one go. My gp told me this. Stay away from milk drinks as this aggravates it. Dont underestimate how unwell anxiety can make you feel. It really battered me physically. I am now lots better thankfully. I never thought I would feel better again back then and it was hellish. Its the worst thing I have ever been through. Gradually over time I began to get better. My dad died at christmas and I felt the anxiety getting worse again so this time I took medication for the first time in my life and it is really helping me so far.
I hope you feel better soon.

[serenity]

Hi Poppy,

Thank you for that response, it really made me feel much more reassured to read it...and I am so sorry about your dad dying last Christmas. My mum is very unwell and I know how that affects me and I am worried as to how I will cope when it is time for her...

Just a question or two..when you had the nausea with the breakdown had you experienced anxiety really badly before and if so had you experienced the nausea with it? The reason I ask is that a couple of years ago I too had a breakdown and had awful experiences but no nausea and that is why I am so concerned about it. And I seriously don't feel too anxious at present although I do realize that anxiety can do so much to us phsically. I have come to the understanding with all my recent 'health' issues that I kind of internalize my anxiety in many ways and that it may not show on the outside or even to me but that I am creating some physical problems...

Anyhow, today so far I have felt slightly better and been able to get on. I am trying to keep a positive mind throughout today and to give myself positive self talk etc. I am seeing a gastroenterologist later today (eek! I hate seeing docs!) and may have to have an endoscopy at some stage as I have had H.Pylori in the past that we don't know if it got erradicated and I am on proton pump inhibitors so may be wise to check out what is going on down there I guess. I hate the thought of an endoscopy or any test. I really dislike going for tests etc, apart from the intrusiveness of them I find they bring everything (health anxiety) to the forefront of my mind too much when I am doing tests, waiting for results, going for follow ups etc etc.

thanks also for those tips...I will follow them and see how I go.
:bighug1:

[justbananas]

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