ER visit

Since a little before Thanksgiving I have been having stomach pain when I eat. It has been getting progressively worse and over the weekend I knew something was wrong because the smallest bite or drink of water caused extreme abdominal pain. Jim took me to the ER on Saturday night and they did a CT scan and a gall bladder ultrasound. The CT scan showed that my colon was completely full of stool, but according to the doctors nothing was "wrong" with it.

When I saw Dr. Lerner on Monday morning he ordered a few GI tests to check for reflux and ulcers and a test to see how the gall bladder was doing emptying. So far everything has come back ok. I had a consultation with Dr. Conley and the notes are below. It still really hurts to eat, but I read the most perfect devotional today which gives me hope and strength:

"My UNFAILING LOVE IS YOUR FUEL- the best source of energy for you. The glorious source of strength is limitless, so it is always abundantly available. You tend to get quite focused on your health and energy. There is a plan for such concerns, but they can occupy more and more of your thoughts. When you are preoccupied with the condition of your body , I slip from the center of your mind to the periphery. At such times, you are unable to receive much help from Me. The remedy is to repent quickly- turning away from obsessive thinking and turning wholeheartedly toward me." -Jesus Today by Sarah Young

Phone call
(810) 230-0617

Stomach pain
Stop colonics for now
Keep going with magnesium, but don’t do the ultra-high doses every 7-10 days as previously suggested.
Increase dosage of probiotics up to 4-6 capsules a day
He fine with using Klaire Labs Vital 10 (recommended by Dr. Massoumi)
Increase incrementally—go up a pill every few days; stop if have any issues (not likely)
Doesn’t matter whether take with food or empty stomach
You can take them all at once or spread it throughout the day
Radiologist doctor at Beaumont reviewed CT scan and said he can’t believe how much feces was in the digestive tract. His opinion is that there is no room for more food and that is causing the pain
Conley doubts Lerner’s concern that this could be caused by Valtrex but said okay to go off.
If feel same when off Valtrex, stay off.
If feel worse, start taking Valtrex again.
This could all be a gall bladder problem…but pain by belly button means less likely gall bladder
He will review the hepatobiliary scan being done this week. If that is okay, then it’s not likely the gall bladder.
Eating fat can cause the gall bladder to spasm—sometimes immediately. Keep fat low for a while then add it in and see what happens
If hepatobiliary scan is negative and fat ingestion doesn’t trigger the pain, then it’s not gall bladder and these will be our next steps:
Get a colonoscopy to rule out Crohn’s, colitis, inflammation
Talk to primary care physician for referral
Ask them to do most extensive parasite tests possible (they won’t do enough tests unless we ask)
Eventually do an African stool test, but not yet
If all the above tests are negative, it is a mechanical issue and the plan will be to work on clearing you out and establishing regularity:
Continue with large doses of probiotics
Continue with magnesium supplementation
Begin supplementing with psyllium fiber
Do colonics again—maybe 1-2/month

Bleeding since starting progesterone
Conley says stop for now and we’ll revisit after addressing digestive issues