Ulcer? - Lima,OH

When I went to the doc for stomach issues he just asked me questions. Then he ordered some meds for me. I took Tagamet and Levsin.

I tell you what, Levsin was a miracle drug. It felt like it numbed my stomach and all the pain was gone.

The Tagamet helps the ulcers to heal.

If the meds don't work or something else is suspected they might do a scope. You go in, get an IV in, get sleepy and then wake up. In the mean time the doc has inserted a scope down your throat and looked around. He has seen exactly what is going on. This is a good test. They should know exactly what to do at this point.

I would roll in the floor in pain before Levsin. Then the doc's at OSU student health clinic fixed me right up.

I hope you go to a good gastro doc. They will know the most about your symptoms.

That part of the body has SO MUCH going on.
Not only that but you don't always feel the pain from a problem in the area that has the problem.
I thought my throat had a problem but it turned out to be acid reflux and my esophagus was irritated much further down from where I was feeling it.
It could be an ulcer but it could also be a lot of other things.
Acid reflux
gall bladder
hernia
heart
pancreas
etc

Go see a doctor and let him figure out what's going on.
It could be multiple issues.
None of us can give you any sort of an accurate diagnosis let alone tell you how they will treat it.

When they diagnosed my dad (after several years of dealing with the pain), they just evaluated his symptoms and lifestyle, and put him on a pill (can't remember what it was though...). He didn't make progress at the speed they thought he should, so they stuck a camera down his throat to see what was going on in there. They found out that he had 7 ulcers. :/

Unfortunately, he couldn't afford to stay on the medication (no insurance, and at the time he was raising 4 kids at home by himself, while paying child support on another.) until his ulcers were completely healed, and they just got worse... until one of them ate a hole completely through his stomach and nearly killed him. (literally. We were told that if he had been 5 minutes later getting to the hospital, he would not have survived.) It took several weeks in the hospital with a little hose in his stomach sucking EVERYTHING out immediately, and him not being allowed to eat (he could sip water, that's it. His body received nourishment and hydration through IV.)

Definitely get it checked out, and follow through until cleared by the doctor!

My husband had an ulcer diagnosed by endoscopy. Doc rx'd Prilosec which seemed to help the ulcer but apparently was a catalyst for kidney stones. It has taken 4 different doctors to finally have a complete answer. He started with a PCP, saw 2 different GI docs, then on to a urologist. He has had blood work, urinalysis, x-ray, CAT scan, endoscopy and colonoscopy. It's horrible how ineffective the 1st 2 doctors were. Good luck!

My M. had symptoms of an ulcer. Her doctor didn't do any kind of testing but gave her meds. She said if the meds worked it was an ulcer.
Go to the doctor.

There are good, inexpensive drugs out there that will help tremendously.
Ask for generic.

On the other hand if you put this off, it could cause major problems and be terribly expensive.

Pain can be referred from one area to another, so it's hard to know.

You can go the medication route, or you can go the route of a balanced supplement that helps with digestive issues (reflux, GERD, whatever). I work with this a lot, and some people get results in 2 days but others can take weeks - depends on how much damage has been done inside as well as other factors. (The body doesn't heal overnight and that doesn't mean the product doesn't work.) I wouldn't use anything from the supermarket or health food store - those aren't tested necessarily and they aren't patented. (Patents are proof of safety and efficacy.)

However, you need to be sure you don't have something acute going on. If you think you are in crisis, be seen immediately - but medications don't cure things like heartburn or ulcers, they just treat them.

Probably a physician will do some trial-and-error with medications before doing a diagnostic test like an endoscopy (which would require referral to a gastroenterologist). In the meantime, keep a food and activity diary - not just what you eat, but how much, and how long after you get this pain. Rate the pain each time on a scale of 1-10 - 1 is nothing, 10 is excruciating. That will be helpful to your doctor.

But there are other things going on in that area. I'd say to stop diagnosing it yourself - the internet can be helpful but can scare you to death.