My Stomach Problems: GI Distress or Galbladder Stones?

February 8, 2013 by

So I have some news on the health front today. You all know how I have had trouble sleeping for about a year now. Well, there are some repercussions of all those sleepless nights that are unfolding now that it has been this long.

About 4 months ago, I began feeling pain in my right side, near my rib cage. At first I thought it was indigestion or maybe I had worked out too hard recently. However, the pain persisted & even got worse. Being fascinated with anatomy and physiology, I tend to research facts about liver function in my spare time… you know, just because. ;)

 

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Source

What I found was that, if you sleep less then 5 hours per night on average, your liver can be damaged in the same way as if you drink too much alcohol. How is this so? You see, the liver helps to transport fatty acids out of the blood and break down HDL (cholesterol). When a person drinks too much alcohol, their liver is effected by the ethanol, causing it to fail in that cholesterol break down process.

 

Livestrong.com explains that there are 2 types of fatty liver. “Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a condition where there is an accumulation of fat in the liver even if you do not drink alcohol or drink only a little. This type of fatty liver disease is common, and often has no complications or symptoms. However, it can cause scarring and inflammation in your liver… This causes your liver to enlarge, which may lead to discomfort on the upper right side of your abdomen” They go on to say that this liver damage plays a big role in sleeplessness: “It is possible that liver disease causes alterations in how the body makes melatonin, which is a substance that helps you sleep”

 

After learning all this, I just assumed that I had a fatty liver. So yesterday, I finally decided to make an appointment with my doctor to see what was wrong. I was nervous at what he would find, but I knew that I needed to get it checked no matter how scary it was.

 

I headed to the doctor in between classes yesterday & learned a lot about what was going on with my body. My doctor was awesome! One of the things that reassured me that he knew what he was talking about was the fact that he didn’t once you a computer program to input any of my symptoms. I don’t know if you have experienced this, but lately doctors I go to seem to not use their brains and simply put my symptoms into a program on the computer to figure out what is wrong. There is just something a little sketchy about that to me-like how much can you trust a computer vs. a doctor who has had year of training?
Anyway, back to the appointment…
I was asked about 54 questions about my lifestyle by the doctor, including my family history, the type of pain I feel, my diet, exercise, medications I am taking, & any stress I am putting on my body. While most of the questions were easy to answer and thus easy for him to rule out (like the fact that I do not take any medication), some seemed a little weird. Either way, I went with it & in the end, my doctor explained a few possibilities.
gallbladder
The first possibility was that I might have Gal Stones- or calcified pieces stuck in my gal bladder. When I heard this, the first thing I did was exclaim, “LOVELY! :/ My mom and Pop Pop have had gal bladder problems. I guess I inherited that awesome gene, too!” The more he talked about the location of my pain and the causes of gal stones, it made sense. While my diet is really good, stress can cause this calcification, as well as just straight genes. So thank you to my mom’s side of the family. ;) Just kidding I love you mom and Pop Pop!
anat_colon_1.0
The second possibility was GI Distress. For those of you who know me, I am sure you are wondering how in the heck I could even be considered to have problems in the pooping department. I am a very regular girl! (TMI, I know :) ) But the doctor told me that constipation is only one symptom of GI distress. After I went into detail about the color, shape, and frequency of my BMs, (bowel movements… after working at a nursing home for 2 years, you get into the habit of calling them BMS) he said it would make sense that I could have some blockage. But, the blockage isn’t caused by poor diet. (again- yeay!) The blockage could be caused by an infection in my colon, which is caused by Diverticulitis- this time I would like to thank my dad for possibly passing on this gene! ;)
While he said that it is possible that I could have Type 1 Diabetes, he says the symptoms do not really match that disease. I was really relieved to hear this because I could not stand poking myself with a needle of insulin everyday!
After taking a blood test, an X-Ray, a urine sample, & eventually doing 4 – yes FOUR- stool samples, I should know for sure what the heck is wrong with my gut. So far, I have only seen my X-Ray. While I was super pumped that I could see how strong my spine and core are from the X-Ray, I could also see a lot of fecal matter… gross. Until I find out the rest of the tests, I have to stick to a “Bland Diet” & avoid the amazing things in life like chocolate and peanut butter for 7 days.
I wanted to write this post to say thank you to a few particular bloggers out there. You probably do not even realize how much you helped me get the ball rolling with this whole GI/Gal Bladder treatment. It was because I read so many blogs of lovely ladies who were experiencing symptoms from GI distress, constipation, or a Gluten intolerance. Because you all were SO open and honest about your experiences, I learned about the symptoms for this type of thing decided to get checked out. Your honesty means more to me then you will ever know!
I will be sure to keep you all posted and let you know how the results turn out! Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I will talk to you tomorrow!

My Question For You Is…

  • Have you ever had experience with any intestinal problems?
  • What stomach-friendly foods do you like to eat?
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Comments

  1. Alex @ therunwithin says:
    February 8, 2013 at 2:47 pm

    I am so glad you are getting answers to this. your doctor sounds awesome and while four samples may seem pretty lame it will be worth it in the long run. I hope you get answers asap!
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  2. Caitlin says:
    February 10, 2013 at 3:03 am

    Aww love, I’m sorry that you are having some rough tummy troubles, but I’m incredibly happy and impressed that you made the appointment and talked to your doctor. Going to the doctor is something I’m still working on (read: I avoid doing so like the plague), but I know it’s important, especially in cases like this! Fingers crossed for you…and bland diet wise…I’m a huge fan of bread and pretzels…I live on those and those alone when my stomach is upset
    Caitlin recently posted..Fun Facts FridayMy Profile

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