Hi Doc,
I am a white male age 56. I suffered severe heartburn on Labor Day it lasted for two solid days. This was after months of intense physical work including a lot of stress on the job (I am a carpenter).
This all started back in August when during the work day my stomach (lower part) would start to burn, I ignored it, kept eating a late lunch and would then go home and drink a few beers, (dumb, I know) since then I have been eating a bland diet, am on Prilosec and the symptoms have abated somewhat but the burning in my stomach still acts up (a little) if I drink a couple beers (which I have stopped doing) eat something too spicy or miss a meal. I do a lot of physical work that may account for my weight loss in the last few months but through July and August I felt rundown as well (got lots of cold sores), I now weigh about 152lbs from 165. My stool color is yellow (significant?) which may or may not coincide with my taking Prilosec?
I just had an endoscopy (11/14) and all the doctor found was a small hernia. I was biopsied for pylori and celiac both negative. I suspect I had the hernia for a while but there was no evidence of ulcerations. I still feel twinges in my stomach and I feel like some kind of “bug” still has a grip on me. It was recommended I get a CT scan but would rather extinguish all other options first as I find the idea of all that dye being injected into me extremely objectionable. I had a colonoscopy in 09 and will schedule one for this coming January.
Is it possible the doctor missed something microscopic? Is it possible I waited too long between the onset of the severe heartburn attack on Labor Day and my endoscopy on 11/14 allowing visual symptoms to disappear? I don’t think a small hernia is responsible for all of this?
Any advice or education would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Mike W.