It's good you went and I'm glad it doesn't appear to be anything serious thus far. As to what can cause it, It can be any number of things, a change in your eating habits or diet, a change in your weight, nerves and stress, not eatting regularly enough, even a combination of things. If you really want to understand better, try keeping a log of your eating activity, stress levels and so on for the next couple of months to see if there is a pattern that corrulates with it.

So should I not start taking the Nexium? If I start logging food and taking the Nexium at the same time, I'm not going to know what may be triggering it. Personally I don't want to have to take Nexium daily if I don't have to. Even the probiotics is a stretch for me. I'm weird about taking medicine, vitamins or whatever.

My sister struggled with stomach/intestinal issues for months, including tons of tests. Her doctor wasn't ever able to pin down a cause. On a whim my sister decided to stop taking her vitamins and the problem went away. She'd been taking the same vitamins for years and assumes they must have changed the formula and one or more ingredients were causing the problem.

I'm glad you saw a doctor, though, and that they are eliminating some things. :)

Donna

It sounds like she is thinking acid reflux or imflammation in the stomach (I have dealt with that in the past). You need to ask her why she gave you the Nexium. Did she tell you to take it? Did she discuss diet? Not eating several hours before lying down is good advice. No caffeine, chocolate, etc. is also good advice for acid reflux. Perhaps wait until you get all the lab results then you can have a list of questions to go over with her.

Do NOT take Nexium. My advice based ONLY on my research and experience.

Firstly, none of your symptoms sound like acid reflux or heartburn, which is main reason for taking Nexium. and, if those are your symptoms, you would first try an H2 blocker such as Zantac, Tagament or Pepcid....or even, Tums or baking soda( works well for heartburn). None of these have the more serious side effects of a proton pump inhibitor, like Nexium.

I had/have heartburn, not acidreflux. My gastro doc put me on Nexium. After reading the possible side effects, I stopped taking it after about 6 mons. BAM! My heartburn returned with a vengeance. That was two years ago. My hB has never returned to its previous lower level. Finding the cause of your nausea will likely be difficult. There is this you can look into. My friend with some gastro issues takes on an occasional as needed basis: Ondansetron.

I have acid reflux and have done a lot of reading about stomach issues. My first thought in your other thread was peptic ulcer when you mentioned that the nausea went away with eating. Then mdln, who is an MD, responded with ulcer being one of the possibilities.

I just remember that I had a few bouts of queasiness a few years ago and was able to connect it to eating fried foods (after a meal of tempura), so go easy on greasy foods.

Do you drink diet soda? Artificial sweeteners can take a huge toll on your gut. I drank Diet Coke for years and had terrible gut issues. It took two years to feel normal again after stopping.

No diet soda. In general, I don't like artificial sweeteners. Don't like the weird fake flavor. I'm going to google peptic ulcer, thanks May.

OTC Pepcid treats ulcers and relieves symptoms and is not a PPI. I took it for a year after being on Tums for most of my life and it did help my reflux. Now my internist has had me on Prilosec for 6 weeks because I have noncardiac chest pain. That relieved all my reflux symptoms but now I'm concerned about taking a PPI. I have an appointment with a gastroenterologist in two weeks and will probably need an endoscopy to diagnose GERD.

I would call the Dr.'s office and have them answer/clarify any questions/concerns...

My GP says my taking 2-3 Prilosec OTC's a week is just fine. No issues with it at all she says! All the recent Docs I've had also had no problems with it. I've been using it for a few years now. Can't seem to do without it unfortunately!

Have they ruled out anything Cardiac related??

Faron

She didn't say anything about it possibly being cardiac related. I wonder if her checking first to see if Nexium works for my issue eliminates something cardiac related...?? I wonder what they look for in the blood, urine and stool samples. I wish I would think of these things while there at the appt.

I personally was on PPI medication for years. It took a toll on me. Research before getting on it once on its hard to get off. My current gastro doc is trying to get all his patients off of PPI drugs. He helped us do that. Using Apple cider vinegar. It is like a miracle drug. Try drinking a little bit in a cup of water every day. I love vinegar on my food. If I get a feeling of reflux I take a dose.

I would never get on PPI drugs without definite reflux damage. I would definitely start with one of the non PPI drugs like pepcid or Zantac.

Some of the medication I take can cause queasy nausea feelings I have a prescription for Zofran. Wonderful drug it cures it in minutes especially the version that melts under the tongue. Often the drug of choice in the ER for those symptoms.

Write down a list of questions for the doctor. I always have one because I just don't remember like I used to.

I'm sorry for having to tell this story, but hearing about any persistent stomach ailments requires me to do so.

In 2002 my husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 stomach cancer and he died 21 months later. Given the virulence of the disease, he was lucky to have had that much time.

It started with heartburn. He took Tums or some other chewable OTC thing. It didn't seem like that big of a deal. I mean, we all have some indigestion, right? It went on for months to some degree. He went to the doctor. Discussing possible causes, he even asked directly if it could be cancer; she assured him it wasn't a big deal. Eventually he was prescribed Protonix.

Finally an episode that resulted in having an upper GI. Hmmm, they saw something. Then an endoscopy. Unfortunately that's when they found a mass.

We were stunned and shocked. At least I was. It was the worst day of my life. It was worse even than the day he died because by then I had made peace with the reality (at least I thought I had).

Again I'm sorry for having to tell about this worst case scenario. Could we have discovered the cancer before it was at Stage 4 and terminal? Would his survival chances have been improved? Maybe, maybe not. But it was a question that haunted us. I had to do some serious grief work to put that one to rest.

Linelle, I'm so sorry for your loss!

My Dad ate TUMS all the time; it turned out he needed quintuple bypass surgery!

Donna

Sorry to hear about your husband Linelle. I have scared myself thinking the worse too..."what if". Any ache and pain these days, you wonder if it means anything more serious.

ETA: I thought for sure she'd say it was time for a colonoscopy. I had one about 12 yrs ago and I turn 50 in a few months so I figured she say it was time. I have had issues with staying regular and the first time I went to see a doc about it, I was set up to do a colonoscopy. I figure anytime you complain of stomach issues they want to send you to the butt and gut doctor LOL

I'm so sorry for your loss, Linelle.

It can be difficult to take in new, often confusing, info from the doctor and know what to ask. I saw these questions in a magazine article and keep them as a note in my phone for when visiting doctors. They use the word 'test' but some of the questions could be adapted to 'medication'.

What is this test looking for? What will be learn from it?

What will happen if it's positive or negative?

How will the results change what we do?

Is there an alternative to the test?

What can we do to lower the risks associated with the test?

Is this test based on a national recommendation? If so, what is it?

Does it apply to all women, or is there a special reason for me to have this test?

Why now?

How often will I need it?

I appreciate everyone's kind words.

Always1, I do apologize for telling my tale because it's extreme and probably isn't your situation at all. Just make sure no stones are left unturned.

One thing I learned about stomach acid and reflux-if you sleep on your side-sleep on the left side. It will reduce stomach acids from going up into the esophagus.

I took Prilosec for 2 weeks when I had recurring nausea related to stomach acid. I also upped my intake of water. And I swear by probiotics for gut issues.

Linelle, that is heartbreaking and I'm so sorry for your loss. Sadly for some reason, your experience with his physician doesn't seem to be all that uncommon.

My husband had back pain that he kept seeing his doctor about and all his physician would say is that he needed to exercise and "loose the belly". As do most men his age he does have a belly, but it's not THAT big, certainly not like a huge beer belly or anything. When it got so bad that he literally could not sit down, she still refused to acknowledge that maybe there really was a problem to be addressed. I was so angry I made arrangements for him go to my physician the next day. She ordered scans and an MRI which is when we learned he has stage 4 Multiple Myeloma.

Always1step, to answer your question above, I would never advise you not to do what your Doctor has recommended. Still it doesn't hurt to monitor your activity. I also think that it's important that you do go back or call to get answers to your questions. And, if you continue to have problems, it wouldn't be unreasonable to go to see a Gastro doctor. As you can see from Linelle's story (and even my husband's) it's important for people to be proactive with their care and it's better to be safe than sorry, especially when that little voice inside is telling you something just isn't right.

Lukki, I'm sorry your husband has had to go through a similar experience with doctors. I pray he has a good outcome.

Despite what my husband went through, I do not feel at odds with the medical profession. I chalk it up to a doctor with a busy practice who missed or overlooked some warning signs. She was really a lovely person and profoundly saddened when he got his diagnosis. No fingers were pointed because it was too late for that. She later left her practice to join a university staff, but I'm pretty sure she never failed to take similar symptoms more seriously than she had with my husband.

Thank you for the kind words Linelle, we are unfortunately part of a club that no one should have to be in and my heart really does go out to you. You are right. I love your perspective and have learned something from it, thank you.

My husband is currently in remission which is the best we can hope for right? The lesson I personally walked away with from this entire experience is that we, as patients (and advocates) need to be involved with our care and not just accept what a doctor says as gospel.

ETA: I also am in a lot of clinics for work and chat with a lot of doctors. They really do want us to be involved and proactive too.

Oh, Linnelle. I'm so sorry. And lukk, remission is the goal, for sure. Those are terrible, horrible times that you both went through.

I got a call yesterday with results of lab work. Everything was fine. So that is good. I did tell the girl who called that the doc never really said what she thought it was, what the nexium was for or what it did. That I had to get my info from the internet. I did ask the girl what they were looking for in the lab work which she did explain. At this point I'll just keep tract of everything and I plan to schedule with a gasto doc in a couple months after the kids are out of school, unless things get worse.

I'm glad to hear your lab results were good!

Yeah....that's good news! And I think that's a really good plan!!!

Glad your news is good.

I'd like to add that there may be a link between proton pump inhibitors and Alzheimer's. That's enough for me to eschew them. My very conservative doctor suggests raising the head of the bed for acid reflex, though diet usually eliminates it,

Glad to hear the good news. Scary stuff before.

The only thing I might ad is, if your doctor can't tell you why you need to take a medicine, I would be cautious of taking it without further consultation. Doctors get free pills all the time and are encouraged to prescribe them. Some are more pill pushing than others. I know there isn't a problem my dad's doctor won't prescribe a pill for, often with very little thought to how they interact. But I'm sure you know this already, just my .02. You always have to be your own best health advocate nowdays, IMHO.