Not GERD, but bile coming up from the small intestine into the stomach.
I've read this could be caused by problems with the vagus nerve.. which controls stomach processes, stomach emptying, etc.
Has anybody successfully treated it with Lyme treatment?
Thanks
Posted by renny1985 (Member # 25222) on :
I do have this problem. They saw it during a capsule endoscopy because the capsule kept going from my intestine back into my tummy, back to intestine, back to tummy for about an hour. This is indicative of bile reflux as that is what was carrying the capsule.
It is very uncomfortable. I am treating lyme right now but have had many hang ups and no success YET. I hope other people respond.. I think this contributes significantly to my nausea.
Posted by momlyme (Member # 27775) on :
I don't know if this is the same thing or if it will help.
Background info... I was diagnosed with chronic reactive arthritis at age 23. I have never been diagnosed with LD... for lack of a test, ever!
I never suspected LD... until my son got very, very ill. Then, I started looking over the last 20 years of strange illnesses as ah-hah moments.
A couple of years ago I had this stabbing pain on my right side, just under my rib cage. I went to the doctor and explained it as feeling as if someone had stabbed me with a double edged knife and left it in...periodically twisting it.
They sent me for an ultrasound of the gallbladder and found some substantial stones. They said they might clear up on their own or they could take the gallbladder out and this would go away. They explained that the gallbladder is not a necessary organ.
I opted for the surgery... the pain was excruciating!
Had the gallbladder out... recovered. Still had the same pain.
I went back to the doctor. They said it was post op pain... take more time to recover.
3 months later... it was nothing. All in my head. It would resolve on its own. Phantom pain.
Then one day... I started throwing up. No warning... no tummy ache like when you get the flu... no fever. Just throwing up. Every 1-5 minutes. No breaks.
I wound up at the ER where they put me on something that stopped the throwing up. Tests found high liver function tests and not much else.
5 days in the hospital all kinds of tests. My insurance company was screaming for my release... but every time the doctors would take me off the IV to stop vomiting... I started upchucking within minutes. Consistently... every few minutes.
They finally came up with a diagnosis. Sphincter of Oddi. Basically, a bile duct was spasming and pushing bile into my blood stream and poisoning me.
They transferred me to another hospital where a scope was done which did not confirm or deny the diagnosis. The solution was 5 muscle relaxers a day and this medicine to stop the throw ups if they started. I had oral and suppository.
I had the option of surgery but supposedly there is a high instance of pancreatitis from the surgery... so I opted out of that one.
I still have the pain. I don't take the muscle relaxers. They made me loopy. I take acidophilous and it stops with enough of that.
So, I have a pain indicator that tells me if I have taken enough acidophilous.
Again, not sure if this is related. I guess it would depend on how your bile is escaping the small intestine. If there is a sphincter that is malfunctioning... it may be the same thing that happened to me.
I have since found out that I have a major parasite issue. I herx badly on anything with acidophilous and see major 'evidence' in the toilet with salt/c.
I tend to think this is what causes this pain.
Posted by chastain (Member # 34236) on :
I have bile reflux. It is awful. Mine was discovered during an upper endoscopy. I haven't found symptom resolution yet with lyme treatment, but I know of someone here in CT where I live who had it SEVERELY and it resolved with proper treatment.
Bile reflux is about as miserable as it gets. My nausea is literally skin crawlingly bad. My heart goes out to anyone suffering from this like I am. Jess.
Posted by PhillyLyme (Member # 26468) on :
This is interesting. I had my gallbladder remove pre lyme. It had stones due to a lot of weight lost (40lbs).
After the sugery I sometimes saw this yellowish mucus looking stuff after a bowel movement. My doctor told me it was Bile but that my body will reduce production of it now that I did not have a gallbladder.
The Vagus nerve connection is interesting because many thing this cause the heart skip / adrainaline rush some people feel even when their heart check out fine.
Last week after taking HUMAWORM with little water and the when to sleep, i walk up the next day and had a lot of the adranile rush / heart skip feeling. I had a BM and saw a lot of the yellowish stuff (bile). So I wondering if that his the connection...I dont have any of the other sx mentioned about but it makes me wonder.
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
My personal opinion is that bile reflux, and many other gut dysmotility issues in those with Lyme/co's is mostly due to Bartonella... Bart. really likes to mess with the nerves that control the gut...including the sphincter of oddi.
I have "bile stains" in my stomach. The doctor who told me this could not tell me why I had these stains. Well, I know why now - Bartonella!!!
But at the time, I did have gallstones and had the gallbladder removed (about 6 months after the doctor told me about the bile stains). I have not been told I have bile stains with subsequent endoscopies...
My stomach is way, way happier on Bart. treatment. I have finally convinced my doctor (today) to let me take something for Bart. at the same time as I'm on something for Lyme Posted by chastain (Member # 34236) on :
Wow Razzle! I was told that I had "bile stains" too in my stomach. Interesting to think bart could be the culprit. Jess.
Posted by Life+Lyme (Member # 33568) on :
I have eerily similar problems. Seen 8 gastro doctors in a year and a half with procedure, after scan, after test. Major liver enzyme spikes have halted treatment for me countless times. The pain and nausea is terrible. After my second ERCP, they were able to perform a sphincterotomy and "fix" the sphincter of oddi. Well, I still have pain...
Hoping a new LLMD can better address my Bart, which seems to be the heaviest load on my body. Interesting that those are related. Bart does all sorts of nasty things, doesn't it?!
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