posted
I am presently on IV Rocephin and Zithromax and am experiencing stomach burning that wraps around both sides of my waist. It feels like swollen lymph nodes but I can't be sure. Along with this I have days where I can't stop belching-sometimes 50 times a day.
I am also getting severe muscle spasms over this area. I don't think it is really my stomach because I can eat raw garlic without any problem . My LLMD has no idea what this is. I also get this without being on any antibiotics but now that I have been on antibiotics almost three months it is worse again. Stool cultures and ultrasounds show nothing.
Does anyone else have this? Thanks!
Posts: 425 | From NY, United States | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
CD57
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11749
posted
I've been told that bartonella/BLO attacks the gut. I had lots of belching a few years ago before starting to treat it. IV Zithromax may be hitting it, so that could be what's up.
Posts: 3528 | From US | Registered: Apr 2007
| IP: Logged |
Starfall1969
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 17353
posted
Well, bear in mind that I'm not diagnosed yet, but I've had some weird gastro issues myself lately.
I had my gall bladder out July 2007. Now like a year and a half later, I'm having what feels like gall bladder attacks (never had them before surgery). I get sharp pains in my upper right abdomen that wraps around to my back and shoots up into my shoulder.
I've also had bouts of diarrhea, that sometimes seems like a stomach bug, but other times just comes out of nowhere.
Also nausea. I get hungry, but when I eat, no matter what I eat, I get so sick to my stomach.
I'm forever chomping Pepto.
I've called the surgeon who did the surgery, and he didn't think it could be related to my gall bladder this long after my surgery and recommended I see the gastroenterologist.
I did see the gastro. He did bloodwork to test for celiac disease and whatever else, stool samples to test for parasites, and a CT of the abdomen. All came back fine.
I've also lost more than 30 pounds in 6 months, with no known cause (I had a colonoscopy and endoscopy last year, all normal).
He's at a loss to know what to think either.
Posts: 1682 | From Dillsburg, PA | Registered: Sep 2008
| IP: Logged |
glm1111
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 16556
posted
Parasites and Worms are a MAJOR part of Lyme disease.
This is what came pouring out of me and many others.
Hope this helps,
Gael
-------------------- PARASITES/WORMS ARE NOW RECOGNIZED AS THE NUMBER 1 CO-INFECTION IN LYME DISEASE BY ILADS* Posts: 6418 | From philadelphia pa | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged |
TerryK
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 8552
posted
I agree with Gael. I was going to suggest empirical treatment for parasites. Testing is inaccurate.
My tests were negative but I clearly have parasites. We keep treating them and my EOS on my blood test responds everytime. Symptoms flare when they come back.
I am so thankful for my doctor's willingness to treat. I think parasites are a big part of leaky gut for me which is huge for allergies.
Long courses of herbals and short courses of prescription meds did nothing for it. Longer courses of strong anti-parasitics have helped my gastro symptoms a lot.
I hope you get it figured out.
Terry
Posts: 6286 | From Oregon | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
I ended up in the ER twice whle on Iv rocephin-I never before had set foot in a hospital other than to have my kids!
I think now it was a bart herx-many of my horrible stomach pain went away after bart tx
Posts: 561 | From eastcoast | Registered: Aug 2006
| IP: Logged |
lyme in Putnam
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11561
posted
My son has had 2 episodes and both times he had c-difficile. the first two times he had bad stomach cramps. Last week I had to pick him up from school with his stomach hurting, but it hasn't hurt since then. He's been off antibiotics since March, but called Dr. J. and he sent me a prescription today to get him tested for h-pylori, c-diff again, salmonella, pathogenic ecoli and shingella (I'm not sure of the spelling of the last one on the script). I've been giving him my Ultimate Flora every nite and he hasn't been belching that much, but the other night he didn't stop. I'll let you know what comes of it.
Feel better.
-------------------- He took u to it, He'll you through Posts: 2837 | From NE. | Registered: Apr 2007
| IP: Logged |
lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
my llmd days bart is often the cause of gi symptoms when all the tests are neg
i had lots of test and procetures-all neg
i do have reflux and a hiatle henia
my pain is upper abdomen under ribs
when i take rifampin it gets much worse-so i think that suggests llmd is right and it is attacking bart
doc says he has had patients have a hard time with drug but then respond really well with pain and nodules going away
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thanks for the replies. If it is bartonella and I am not taking Levaquin or Rifampin why would it react to Rocephin? For those who had this problem what treatment for Bartonella worked for you? Thanks.
Posts: 425 | From NY, United States | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'd check out the gall bladder. Lots of lymies lose their gall bladders (including me!) The pain of a gall bladder attack can be in your upper right abdomen, up under the ribs, or it can radiate to the center of your stomach, or around your back.
I had all three. Prior to getting attacks, it would feel like I had eaten a rock, and I had a lot of acid reflux.
I think Rocephin can do a number on the gall bladder (if I remember correctly) so it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to make sure that nothing is brewing in this area.
Good luck. kp
Posts: 394 | From tinton falls nj | Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged |
klutzo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5701
posted
startfall1969, Please check out gallbladderattack.com. It is a dirty little secret that 40% of people who have their gallbladders out will end up with the same symptoms again within months or years.
This is called post-cholecystectomy syndrome, but it always has an underlying cause which needs to be investigated.
Sometimes it is a permanent inability to metabolize fats properly. Suspect this if you have oil slicks in the commode after a BM, or your BM sticks to the side of the commode, or your cholesterol and triglycerides have suddenly dropped.
Sometimes, your liver continues to make stones, which get stuck in ducts. Suspect this if you have high cholesterol, and a trial of bile salts makes you feel better.
Sometimes it can be a bowel absorption problem. Have a celiac panel run to check for this, and if you are lactose intolerant, make sure to take Lactaid with dairy products or avoid them.
Small bowel bacterial overgrowth can be a culprit and a Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis from an alternative doctor, or an EGD with bowel biopsy from a conventiional doctor can find out.
GB surgery almost always makes IBS much worse, permanently. Before surgery, I had my IBS uncer control, but now I have to take Librax now to prevent unbearable stomach cramps.
I also have bile reflux now, which is far more dangerous in terms of potentially causing esophageal cancer than gastric reflux, and almost impossible to treat. I have to sleep sitting almost straight up.
Another little gem they don't tell you is that having your GB removed raises your risk of bowel cancer by 10%.
I had my GB out in April 2007. Five months later, after eating one slice of carrot cake, the attacks started again.I later found out that one slice of carrot cake has a whopping 84 grams of fat! My GI doc did stool fat content tests, a CAT scan of my abdomen with contrast, and an MRCP.
It seems during all those years they kept telling me it could not be my gallbladder because the ultrasounds and HIDA tests were normal, I had lots of tiny gallstones that never showed up on the ultrasounds.
Those tiny gallstones were backing up into my pancreas, blocking the ducts temporarily so enzymes could not get out, which caused the enzymes to eat my pancreas. My pancreas is 95% destroyed, and I cannot metabolize fats at all without help.
The very high dose prescription enzymes barely help, and I must follow a low fat diet to prevent symptoms,and take a PPI as well.
This does not mean the pancreas is the problem in your case. It depends upon your symptoms. If you have steatorrhea (greasy stool), then fat malabsorption is the problem, and it could come from the pancreas, or problems in the small bowel.
Good luck getting to the bottom of your problem. Be assertive, and maybe try another GI doctor who will keep looking.
klutzo
Posts: 1269 | From Clearwater, Florida, USA | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sorry to hear of your experiences but I still have my gall bladder and would like to keep it. This problem started in 1999 after three weeks of IV Zithromax. I went to the ER as the pain was intolerable then and they told me it was probably colitis but a colonoscopy and endoscopy showed nothing as did ultrasounds.
It got better over the years while I was on and off treatment and got really bad last year when I was on no treatment. When I started the IVS several months ago it got bad again and comes and goes in severity but I have to figure out what this is. It feels like I am being eaten alive from the inside out. That will last one or two days and then it gets better.
Thanks for the ideas!
Posts: 425 | From NY, United States | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
timaca
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6911
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[confused]](graemlins/confused.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic