Sudden Nausea and Gerd

An off and on day today in terms of my gut, and I can't figure out why!   My symptoms today:

• food in throat feeling (very pronounced today)
• stomach pain (just above my naval, nowhere else)
• "heartburn" sensation that feels like it's radiating from my stomach upwards
• sudden nausea (oh no, not this again...)
• belching 

I should also note I am:

• less gassy than yesterday, thank goodness
• not constipated

The sudden nausea is something I have experienced off and on for years and years.   I will be fine, doing whatever, and suddenly a rush of nausea comes over me.  Sometimes I think I will faint, it is that bad.  I may eat a small bite of cracker or cereal, but nothing helps except "riding it out."  Then, instantly -- I mean literally INSTANTLY -- it goes away, as if nothing happened.   This comes on with no apparent connection to anything I am doing, and stops with no connection to anything, either.

The rapid onset is shocking -- out of the blue, this comes along and I "talk myself through it" now, telling myself, "It's that nausea thing.  You won't throw up.  You'll be fine."

My searches online suggest causes: acid reflux, gastritis, gall bladder disease.   Has anyone else experienced this sudden nausea?

Monday Stomach Issues

It's 10:40 AM and my work day is being interrupted by stomach pain!  It is a sharp pain that feels like it is just under my navel.  I am also feeling very full -- as if I've had a huge meal, though I have eaten modestly today.

For all my gut issues, I hardly get "stomach pain."  Pains are usually centered around my intestinal area or back.   I am feeling a little "gassy" today despite no issues in the motility area.  Perhaps that's it?  Here is what I've eaten so far:

Breakfast - 6:00 AM
1 Wheetabix square
1/4 C. raisins
1 C. almond milk
1/2 graham cracker square


Snack - 9:30 AM
2 water crackers
1 wheat cracker
(I thought about eating these with almond butter, but did not want to open a packet as I was going to eat just a bit of it.)

Snack - 10:15 AM
1/3 C. green sugar grapes

Water - 10:49 AM
Decide to have a bottle of Poland Springs water (part of our office supply).
Pain is subsiding.  A while later, had some leftover corn from the cob (from last night's dinner).

Lunch - 1:00 PM
Decided I did not want the tomato-based dish I brought, so I went to the cafeteria and bought a veggie burger.   Perfect.   Also had two pickle spears.

Snack - 4:00 PM
1 apple from greenmarket -- super delicious!
1 small hunk of semolina bread

Dinner - 8:00 PM
I had a late function after work, so my dinner was subsequently late, too:
2 small halves of delicata squash leftover from roasting last night
2/3 - 1C. pinto beans
small hunk of semolina bread
1/2 C. frozen mixed vegetables with Earth Balance

I had stomach pain around 10:30 PM and later in the evening.   There is definitely a gassy issue going on, too (I was not going to dwell on this, but it's becoming a factor).  I wonder if the sudden appearance of squash -- a high fiber food -- is triggering this.  I doubt it's the squash -- that's an easy to digest food.   I'll keep monitoring my gut issues…

Tuesday Morning: Woke up slightly nauseous, some stomach rumbling, food in throat feeling greater than usual.   This is demoralizing!

GERD Update: Earthquake Arrives, Symptoms Return

On Monday and Tuesday, I noticed an upswing in my GERD symptoms: belching, food in throat (FIT) feeling, some acid feeling (not heartburn but I noticed "something" was brewing in my gut).  And, yesterday, on my afternoon walk to the subway, I had sudden nausea, something I haven't experienced in a few months.

DIET?

My diet was excellent yesterday in terms of the so-called trigger foods and portion size, though on Monday, my work colleagues held two birthday cake parties.  I got by with very small slices (one of which I did not entirely eat).  (I am ready to feign a "dairy allergy" to avoid eating cake and other dairy infused products at work.  People seem to respect "allergies" more than "I choose to not eat dairy.")  In any case, I had a few bites and felt immediately ill -- stuffed and refluxy -- that I think was more about the "richness" of the food.

On Tuesday, I ate an eggplant-chickpea-tomato dish I had cooked.  Too many classic GERD trigger ingredients?  (Do I even believe I am sensitive to them?)  I also had green tea in the morning and a black tea from the new Starbucks after lunch.

STRESS?

As for yesterday's nausea attack, and even Monday's FIT, there definitely seems to be a stress trigger going on.  I'm catching myself grinding my teeth.  I've been very anxious at work about the massive number of projects that I am responsible for getting done NOW.  There are other stressful office issues underway as well.  Coinciding with this is my excitement over possibly adopting a new cat or cats -- or the more likely possibility and agony that this is not a good time to do so and I'll delay adopting.  (Either way, I'm an emotional wreck about this.)   And, I'm healing from a minimally invasive procedure that has me in stitches and on antibiotics.   

EARTHQUAKE?

On top of that -- NYC experienced an earthquake Tuesday afternoon.   My desk, computer screen, chair all rattled!  I thought I was losing my mind until all my coworkers streamed in to the hall corroborating they had felt this, too.   A few people mentioned their bodies felt "scrambled up" and "hung over" afterwards, and maybe I know what they mean.

BANANA!

I bought a banana on my walk home yesterday, in the middle of the nausea, and immediately felt better after eating it.  It's possible I was lacking nutrients or didn't eat enough that day.

Looking forward to my morning walk (if I can squeeze it in -- I am running late)!