Chronic bouts of nausea with no fever (colonoscopy, food allergy, blood)

[rlrl]

Hi. I am a single male in my late 40's. I have had bouts of nausea with no fever for the past 20 years, or since i have lived on my own. There has never been any fever associated with it, but with really bad episodes occasionally some wretching and heaving but no actual vomiting occurs

Some of the attacks have clustered around a specific time or years or certain years, then subsided, then come back.

I am a chronically anxious type. everything worries me and i have morbid thoughts about death and illness

I was diagnosed recently with Type II Diabetes (a1c is 6.3 but has been decreasing with medication), i was always hypertensive, i have a small amount of protein in my urine from metabolic syndrome and i also have fatty liver for which i may need a biopsy or soon

i do not drink, smoke or use drugs

A lot of stress at my job and we're preparing for an audit this summer which can make us or break us

I live alone and don't have a lot of social supports

Everything was fine this past fall. I had a minor stomach(no vomiting) and flu bug (nothing too bad just tired and slept a lot)in january, which produced a lingering cough for almost 2 months until it basically went away. Now it's just an allergic drip but sometimes the drip gets so bad and irritating it can cause some nausea

I took codeine for it which caused nausea and i took augmentin for it which also made me very nauseous(i probably didn't need the augmentin to begin with). when the nausea attacks came on i would go into the bathroom at work and heave(no vomiting tho) and my head would be pounding and i would feel hot in the head and dry mouth, tho i realized it may have been the augmentin and codeine before that

with the codeine and augmentin out of the way, i had another attack last week. same thing. nausea, heaving, head pounding, tired, can't function, dry mouth after i came out of it i spoke to a nurse practitioner on my job who asked me if i have been taking my metformin with enough food(metf can cause nausea). she had a point, and also i have been having 2 Starbucks Venti coffees around the time i take the metformin. this time i have been taking smaller doses of metformin and will try to cut down on the coffee

today i am at home and a nausea attack just came on. i did have a diet soda which might have irritated me. i expect this to pass just like the others

i saw my internist yesterday who told me it could be either my diet of even the possibility of a virus going around. i asked him if a virus can cause nausea with no fevers and he said it could(but i just had a small virus 2 months ago)

the diet is one thing but the idea of a virus is scary. this nausea is so crippling it just freaks me out.

is it possible one could have a virus that causes some nausea but no fever or other symptoms

the nurse practitioner also told me all the meds i take for the Diabetes, BP, (also take a diuretic and potassium) can also make the GI tract irritable

I am going to see my GI doctor next month so i will discuss this with him to see if it's related to the fatty liver

if it's just from the meds i would feel better than the idea of a virus.

or maybe it's just acid reflux?

any ideas?

i am seeing my GI doctor next month so we can discuss this

i do have IBS and diverticulosis but i had a colonoscopy and everything actually looked good, very healthy colon otherwise

[rlrl]

to come on all of a sudden. in the past if i was going to be sick i would wake up with nausea from a stomach virus, and those things rarely happen to me (maybe once every 15 years).

sometimes i notice i may feel queasy when going from a warm environment to a colder one or vice versa

is it possible i'm not drinking enough water? I now take 2 medications with diuretics, maybe i need to increase fluids?

something just does not seem right

[Jukesgrrl]

My humble opinion: you should concentrate your thoughts away from your body. You already know way more about your health status than 99% of the 40-somethings on earth. Get some relief from your stress, much of which might be self-induced due to your constant worry about your health and your job (which you might do more effectively if you felt better).

Take yoga or tai chi. Meditate. Walk daily. Get massages. See a therapist for talk therapy. If you don't already, do volunteer work at your church or a homeless shelter to get out of the house and see people. Lots of non-profits need the talent you obviously have. And join a club or work on a hobby if you have one.

And by the way, your health status shouldn't be a deterrent for doing mood-elevating exercise. My 84-year old mother with mega-health issues takes yoga and she uses a walker -- they have special yoga classes suitable for people with health-, age- or weight-related issues. Check out your local community college adult ed or your local Y. Best of luck to you in calming your world.

[rlrl]

about the talent. I'm embarrassed to tell you what my profession is (since others might say "you're a and you don't know how to take care of yourself?")

yes i was planning to do some volunteer/training in.....disaster relief preparation, of all things!!

yesterday i biked which is something i couldn't do with this awful weather we've been having.

[Mel2882]

Have you ever taken anything or done anything to work on your issues with anxiety? I have issues with anxiety and have had times where I've had unexplained nausea as well. You sound like me in that you go through every little detail to try to find the problem. But it honestly sounds like your stress about the nausea and anxiousness about your overall health might BE the problem. Maybe something to ask your doctor about. I'm not in the medical field at all, just wanted to tell you that in my experience.Once I began anti-depressants for my anxiety, my nausea completely went away. Now I'm off them (for no other reason except that my prescription ran out, I moved across the country, and didn't find a new doctor) and am constantly worried that something is going wrong, which I believe makes my symptoms worse. Might be something to think about, mainly since you mentioned stress and the fact that you don't have much support.

[laidbackhippie]

It's a food allergy.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Anxiety can form a never-ending circle. You worry about your health, you make yourself sick/rapid heartbeat/clammy/whatever, then you worry about the symptoms your body created. The key is to deal iwth the generalized anxiety, usually a combo of meds and therapy.

[DewDropInn]

Ask your doctor for a blood test that will check your liver enzymes.

[laidbackhippie]

And also check for celiac

[rlrl]

have improved since I've been on metformin, they were so high the GI doctor wants to do a biopsy but now the readings are much better, one or two of them is actually in the normal range

why do you ask about the liver enzymes can they cause nausea?

i agree about the food allergies too