You've Got That Burning Feeling...

[GFNoob]

Here's my first post...which is probably in the wrong place. (Dear Moderator...please feel free to move at your whim...I am at your mercy) Bear with me while I get all this out...I promise my next post won't be so burdened (if you'll all put up with me for a second post) . Yes...I am using humor to get me through this...feel free to laugh with me...or at me if need be

I've always had complaints about food. "It hurts my stomach" was my mantra at the dinner table. I managed through the aches and pains as we do. Years later I was tested for allergens. Low and behold most of the things I recall making my stomach upset are those that I'm allergic to. They range from the traditional (sesame, soy, egg yolk, crab, a few nut varieties) to the downright puzzling (watermelon, every blade of grass imaginable and lake perch). So, I avoided some foods and ate others in very small doses. Overall, I felt better. Fast forward a few years to pretty much overnight I realized "something isn't right...and it doesn't feel like it ever will be". That wasn't a fun realization to have. I didn't realize until recently, in reading over the tests, that gluten and dairy were not tested for.

Back in April, after six years of chronically feeling "not so hot", I finally went to see a doctor about all this brewhaha with my insides. My cheif complaint? "It feels like my abdomen is on fire all the time...like menstrual cramps but not as sharp or pinchy/grabby...just a dull slow burn that never fades. So hot it can feel cold and numbing at times". It's purely a surface feeling, there's no "depth" to it...it simply radiates (that makes sense to someone out there...right?). Apparently, these symptoms are not unusual (?). Adding to that the lethargy and insomnia, the incredible ease with which I bruise, the bloating, one medium sized sandpaper like skin patch and the general malaise one gets with all this dietary fun...it was time to bring out the vials.

Full blood panel showed there were antibodies present in very, very low numbers. Doc was concerned by that. Given a strong family history of GI issues, including Crohn's, Colitis and Colon Cancer, Doc sent me to a Gastro. Gastro read the tests and said scheduled me for the fun stuff.

I had an upper endo and coloscopy on Wednesday morning (can I just say, I haven't slept that well in years!). Since coming out of it, the abdominal burning is horrible. HORRRIBLE. It has not stopped since I woke up from my oh so welcome sedative induced slumber on Wednesday. I'm eating 100% gluten-free and DF and it is just NOT backing down in the least! Has anyone else had this happen after upper/lower? I don't want to call the doctor until I've gotten a feel for "this is normal..." or "that's not right" from those in the know (all you folks). I've somewhat convinced myself that it's because there was nothing in there and now all this food reintroduction is making my insides irritated and flare up because...well, because there was nothing in there!

Can anyone sooth my mind on this one? Or should I pick up the phone and call the Doc and get some help on this?

Thanks a thousand times over in advance for your feedback!

[Marz]

Can anyone sooth my mind on this one? Or should I pick up the phone and call the Doc and get some help on this?

After my upper/lower I had a bit of pain... Ah, going to bathroom was seriously painful, burning pain... My throat was also incredibly raw, and I figured if my throat felt like that, I imagine my intestine was not happy at all. And I'm guessing they use air to inflate your intestine for the colonoscopy, are you feeling bloated and windy as well? Does lying down, on your side, help ease the pain? Ibuprofen?

But if it's seriously painful, you might just want to give the doc a call and check, you shouldn't have to suffer through it