Stomach Pains After Eating only Diagnosis (FNH)?

Question

Hello,

About 8 months I began to have stomach pains after eating (bloating, nausea and tenderness in the upper abdomen). I thought it was indigestion but acid reducers didn't help. The only way I could ease the pain is by placing a hot water bottle on my tummy for hours. Later I sought a GI specialist and I took several test and only to discover I have a hiatal hernia and FNH. Focal nodular hyperplasia (in the liver). In the end my doctor tells me I have IBS. Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I don't have problems with going to the bathroom and the symptoms for IBS aren't the same symptoms I'm experiencing. Has anyone had this problem? I'm in the process of getting a second opinion because I've lost confidence in my GI. Please share.

Answer 1

Your gastroenterologist could be right, and there are functional disorders that fall under the category of irritable bowel syndrome, and which can present like the symptoms you are describing.  However, other causes of your symptoms include gallbladder problems.  Unless you have already had one, you should have an ultrasound of your abdomen and if normal, it would be worth following it up with a HIDA scan (a nuclear medicine study that can measure the rate of your gallbladder emptying) to make sure that you do not have gallbladder dyskinesia.  Since you have already been diagnosed with focal nodular hyperplasia, I assume that you have had an ultrasound, CT and/or MRI already.  Another possibility could be gastroparesis.  This means your stomach is not emptying properly.  Although usually seen as a long-term complication of diabetes, gastroparesis can occasionally be observed in nondiabetic patients, sometimes after viral gastrointestinal infections.  Occasionally, people with celiac sprue (gluten intolerance) can develop similar symptoms like the ones you are describing.  Your gastroenterologist may have already obtained biopsies from your duodenum in order to address this possibility (assuming your hiatal hernia was diagnosed with endoscopy that would also allow biopsies to be obtained).  The symptoms that you are describing would not be caused by focal nodular hyperplasia, however.  I suggest that you would follow up with your existing gastroenterologist in order to ensure that these other possibilities have been adequately excluded.  This would be the fastest way to get any additional tests done, unless they have already been performed, or your gastroenterologist who knows you better then I do would think that they would not be useful for you.

Please note that this information is provided for education only, and it does not represent a substitute for obtaining healthcare through a qualified professional.  

All the best.