09-04-2012, 07:38 PM
(09-04-2012, 06:23 PM)Kat Wrote: Honestly PZ, all those things have been running through my mind, so you're not scaring me more then I've already done to myself.
Pain has been gone and been feeling better since midnightish. I kinda don't even know what my body is doing anymore asdfghjkl.
Decreasing pain is a very good sign, assuming it wasn't a sudden relief and doesn't involve any numbness, that rules out a lot of the more serious worries.
(Feel free to have a nice big sigh of relief, I know that always makes me feel better)
I hope you don't mind but I had a short consult with a friend of mine who also has a head for medicine, didn't name any names or anything else identifying, but the outcome was that the back pain could be just be a knock-on effect of the stomach pain.
It sounds counter-intuitive at first, but essentially if your stomach hurts you'll naturally be putting more strain on your back, which won't be doing it any favours, and because your back hurts you'll rely more on your stomach muscles, then they'll start to hurt, and so on.
Since we know you have stomach ulcers, let's assume that's the cause of everything and see if we can't at least get you a little relief and a chance for some sleep if nothing else.
Unfortunately there is no obvious course of action, but there are always a few tricks up my sleeve.
(I'm actually not wearing any sleeves but hopefully that shouldn't make it any less effective.)
First and foremost, I'm not sure about your personal drugs of choice, but you're going to want to avoid smoking (as much as is realistic), drinking alcohol, eating spicy foods, dairy products (milk, cheese, etc), and sadly, caffeine.
That last one sucks a lot and I'm sorry.
Next, and this is where the magic happens, you need antacids.
An ulcer is like an open sore, it can be aggravated by various substances, but I don't think I need to tell you that stomach acid on an open sore is not a happy time.
There are various antacids you can get over the counter, but you should be aware they can have side effects, the ones you need to look out for are the ones that contain aluminium (can cause constipation) and ones that contain Magnesium (can cause diarrhoea).
If you do a little bit of logical thinking, it doesn't take a great mind to see that your best bet would be to alternate between them.
There are also H2 blockers which you can get and do the job much better, but you need a prescription for those so we'll ignore those for now.
Ok, everybody brace yourselves, I'm going to break out the cane and take some vicodin for this one.
Peptic ulcers can be caused by a bacteria known as H.pylori, which almost everyone will have swimming around inside them, most of the time it's no big thing but in some unlucky people it burrows into the stomach or intestinal lining and causes ulcers.
Luckily there is a magical substance called bismuth subsalicylate, which not only coats stomach ulcers and shields them from stomach acid, but also kills H.pylori, unfortunately as you can imagine with it being that good, it's only available to highly qualified medical researchers and specially trained doctors.
Oh no wait I lied. It's Pepto-Bismol, go and find some and get it in you.
Interestingly enough, if peptic ulcers are the root of the problem, aside from prescribing you antibiotics a doctor will most likely give you more-or-less the same advice, just follow the dosage instructions on any medication you take and you'll be fine, and it won't mess up any future treatment if you're worried about that.
(actually in reality you'll be cutting some time off the treatment by getting a jump on it, hurrah)
So in summary, watch your diet, take antacids, Pepto-Bismol is your friend. Hopefully you can enjoy a good nights sleep and some relief from the pain and nausea, I imagine you could do with it.