September 27, 2011

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?

3 comments:

  1. I haven't, and I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling well.

    But looking at your food logs, I wonder if you're eating too little protein, and feeling nauseous/faint is a symptom. I know that if I ate that many carbs without substantial protein, I would barely make it to my next meal!

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  2. Thanks! Assessing my protein intake is probably a good idea just in general, as I've been shifting from vegetarian to a more vegan diet. I don't feel faint except for extreme moments of this sudden nausea (usually it's just really severe nausea). My energy level is good and my annual bloodwork shows no anemia, so I've no reason to think I'm protein-deficient. If anything, my food logs are demonstrating that I could use more vegetables in my diet!

    Regarding the nausea - this has been an ongoing off/on issue for YEARS for me. Other possibilities might be a hiatal hernia, though my upper endoscopy showed no sign of this. Something is going on because even with a "Gerd Elimination" diet and eating slowly, de-stressing, etc. I still have that "food in throat" feeling, constantly. Or, at least when I'm aware of it, it is usually there (if that makes sense).

    A few times I did notice it subsided -- and all of these times I was working at the animal shelter in the cat loft, or with another homeless cat. Go figure. :)

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  3. Anemia is iron deficiency, not protein deficiency, though, and on most days it looks like you don't have any protein until lunch. I wish almond milk had more than 1-2 grams of protein, but since it doesn't, I usually opt for soy milk in the AM.

    Of course, you don't need three-servings-of-meat protein, but for blood sugar regulation and satiety, it might be worth trying to get more in. (The feeling faint issue is what made me think of protein - I feel faint if I haven't had enough myself...)

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