I went to the gastroenterologist today with low expectations of getting help with my stomach issues. I had been dealing with the pain and intestinal distress since I was eighteen years old. I had been given a lot of medications to try without too much support. The only doctor that really took me seriously and helped at all was Dr. Mulry. The medication he had given me back then was no longer available, so I felt like I had been in a holding pattern for the last fifteen years. On my last visit to the gastroenterologist in December, the PA spent most of the time shaming me on what I was taking and what I was eating. Her advice helped a little bit, but I could never get over how negative she made me feel about myself.
All of that changed this afternoon. Dr. Brown was one of the quirkiest guys that I had ever met, but his advice and recommendations were by far the most helpful. He told me immediately that I was dealing with a nerve issue that was creating intense pain in my stomach. The gastritis didn't help but wasn't the main cause. The stress that I was under these past couple of months was. He explained that the nerve ran from the brain to the ear to the stomach and that the extreme stress that I had been under since last June was causing the pain. He couldn't fix my life situation, but he had several holistic recommendations that would help my stomach as well as a medication that I could try if I wanted.
The doctor wrote everything down and I walked out of his office the happiest I had been in months. I not only had an answer, but a way to fix the situation. I planned to "destress" my life, start on his holistic recommendations and go back to walking anytime I felt upset or in pain. It was nice to have a correct diagnosis after all of these years of struggling. Just knowing that made my stomach feel a lot better. It also answered why my sciatica was the worst when I was under a lot of stress. I couldn't wait to tell everyone else.
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