OK, I know this is a shot in the dark, but here it goes. My girlfriend is a veteran of Afghanistan and later returned to the middle east for 2 years as a contractor in Iraq. She developed severe abdominal pain/cramping while in Afghanistan and it has continued for the past 3 years. She has pain in the upper left quadrant where her spleen would be than stems down to her lower abdomen on the left side. She vomits after eating and has constant almost immediate diarrhea. Her belly swells up after eating and turns hard. She has poor circulation and is always cold during these "attacks". If she gets a cut, it seems to take longer than usual to clot and she bruises easily. Her fingernails are brittle, she gets the hiccups easily, and her breath sometimes smells like vomit during these "attacks", even if she has not vomited. She describes her burps as tasting like bacon. She doesn't eat bacon. The condition seems to get worst with food with a lot of fat or preservatives.

We have been to a gastroenterologist and he found nothing on the top half and just decided to treat the symptoms (which isn't helping). He checked her gallbladder and abdomen with an ultrasound and did an endoscopy but not a colonoscopy. He also discovered that her white blood cell count has been high for at least the last 6 months since we started getting her checked out. She was given antibiotics but the infection (if it is an infection) still remains.

I have spent days on the internet researching this and it sounds like liver disease or a problem with her spleen, but the ultra sound showed nothing. To make things worse, her mother just died from unknown medical reasons, sending her stress level through the roof. We are still waiting on the autopsy tests. She is very depressed right now.

I don't know what to do. The oilfield has not been kind this year and I am pursuing another career where I can be home every day to take care of her until she gets better. She just got fired tonight for missing too much work due to her stomach problems, she has no health insurance and we are 3 months behind on morgage and things have gotten critical. I am not asking for money, I just want her to get better so we can get on with our lives. She has had a rough year with PTSD and her mother dying, not to mention going through a divorce. I was just curious if anybody could point me in the right direction with her health issues. I am in the El Paso TX area. Thanx......

 

Chris, I can't help with the diagnosis but I have said a prayer for y'all and added you to my list. Hope it turns around for y'all real soon.

 

prayers go out man alot of stuff comes back from the box, ask the docs to do heavy metal testing the dum rounds they use there have lead to alot of issues in soldiers and contractors. hope you figure it out best wishs

 

depleted uranium maybe.

 

She should be able to go to the VA hospital. If she gets any static contact her Congressman.

 

Go Here -> here. I know it sounds crazy, but it works. I had severe abdominal pain, bloating, bleeding, the works. Stuck me under the tractor once for about an hour, I could not move. Thank God my neighbor decided to drive by, or I may have still been there. Doctors found a couple of polyps, but otherwise said everything looked fine. His solution was to give me drugs. I don't take any, so that was out of the question. After about 10K in medical expenses, I found the site above. Changed my diet to as much organic and all natural as I could. I am not a tree hugger by any means. But that was about two years ago, and things are going quite well. If she does have heavy metal poisoning, or a parasite (what it sounds like), this will help. do the 90 day, with the toxin out program. It does work. Don't waste your money on the 'quick' two week programs, they are garbage. Take your time and do it right.

Hope this helps

EDIT - WARNING GRAPHIC MEDICAL PHOTOS ON THE SITE ABOVE

 

Thank you all so far, I really appreciate your prayers and input.....Wyododge, I wish I had ate lunch before looking at that site. I think I will give it a try though.

 

I used to have a lot of belly, burping, bloating, irrregularity type problems after I injured my back and went through a couple of major surgeries. I would leave town for a few days and just shut down. My wife is kind of a health nut and is always researching this kind of stuff.

She put me on Psyillium. It is a husk from a seed. I understand it is mostly pure fiber and is the main working ingredient in products like metamucill. I asked an old gastro/rectal doctor about it and he said he takes it everyday. He was about 80 and still working full time. I figured he has looked up more colons than anyone so I started taking a heaping tblspoon every morning in a short glass of water. It is cheap, you can get a pint sized bag of it at the health food store for a couple of bucks. Make sure you get the husks.

The first day or two I was a little gassy but things started getting real regular after that and I have not had a problem for years now. I heal quickly, seldom get sick, and am mean as an old wet rooster. Changed my life.

I don't know if it would help your wife, but I can't see how a high fiber supplement hurts anything. When I first read your post, I thought gall bladder and I might take another look at that but I am no doctor. Best wishes to you guys and I hope things start going in a better direction for you. Good luck and God Bless

 

ChrisG, I'll keep you and your girlfriend in my prayers. Thankfully I've had no issues after being over there.

WyoDodge, I'm glad to see that the stuff works for you, however, you could have put a warning in your post. Who in their right minds would post up those pictures. And if something like that came out of me, I would be on the way to the doctors. Or at least donning a pair of gloves to put it back.

 

Take a look at the following story. Parts of that sound similar to your wifes symptoms.
I am all in favor of natural cures and only put chemicals in my body as an absolute last resort.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...urt-drink.html

 

I'm no medical expert, but have had similar problems. A few blood tests would show how her liver, kidneys and blood sugar look.

A stool sample to check for giardia, and for signs of blood, I would think would also be in order.

Other than that I'd imagine a colonoscopy would be in order, to rule out an infection or one of the nasty inflamatory conditions (like crohn's disease).

Food allergy could also be a possibility. It might be worth trying living only on rice and water to see if things improve.

If all that is negative, I'd think she might be diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. It is kind of a diagnosis of exclusion, when just about everything else has been ruled out.

It can be related to stress. In my case, I could eat a fairly bland meal, and 20 or 30 minutes later I'd be stuck in the bathroom, with extremely painful cramps. It took a while to find the right medication, but I eventually found one that helped. I'd still have problems sometimes, but I usually got a couple hours notice that I'd be needing to find a bathroom, which was a whole lot better than the 2 minute warning cramps I had been having.

After several years, the problem seemed to go away and I ended the medication. Aerobic exercise regularly (say 2 hour bike rides a couple times a week) helps a great deal. Stressful situations in both my personal life and professional life also reduced during that time.

Anyway, good luck.

 

Thanks for the links to the photos. The only reason I haven't gouged my eyes out is that those pics would be the last things I saw and I couldn't live with that.

To everyone: if you haven't seen them, please do so. Have your barf bag and fainting chair ready.

 

Chris,

If she is not already going to the VA, have her paperwork transfered to the Albuquerque VA hospital. I have not had ANY issues with this hospital and they have very good staff there. If you guys need a place to crash when you are in town, just let me know, the door is open! You guys are in my prayers. I will PM you my phone number if you need to chat at ANY time.

Chris

 

My Bad,

I guess you kind of get desensitized to those things after a while. I'll try to be more careful!!!!

 

If been downrange 3 time twice to afghanistan and once to iraq and never had anything like that. What medical center is she going to? If this is any help at all if she is in "severe abdominal pain" I know that the ER at WBAMC will see civilians and will treat her. As much as i dislike working there the Doc's there are really good for the last few years i have been dealing with chronic back pain for " unknown reasons" and no one has been able to find the cause and ive been to DeWitt at ft belvoir Womack at Bragg and even BAMC at ft sam and they found the problem here so ill be going under the Knife Feb 12th. but back to the point we have some really good Doc's here and if she is seen by Dr boe, pena, rincon, or lee better yet Dr smith she will be in great hands Hope this helps