So I have a weird stomach issue that has now recurred 5 times over the past 2-3 months, but I can’t figure it out. I have a light latex allergy - after 5 years in a lab using latex gloves before discovering nitrile and reacted 2x to Downy fabric softener as a kid; but otherwise never had any recognizable allergy nor do I believe I have ever had food poisoning. This is to say that I have been generally healthy and a stomach of iron.
Symptoms:
11.pm go to bed with a stomach “ache”
1.am wake up in irritable pain (1st time thought was gall stones or kidney stones)- can’t lie on either side (right is worse) and absolutely not on stomach
restlessly try to get comfortable and disstract myself
Between 2.am-5.am pain gets bad enough to induce vomiting which brings up 100% of supper in a powerful torrent
10 minutes later pain subsides and i return to sleep - no additional GI problems and no diarrhea- literally done and gone other than exhaustion
Tums has no effect, and Milk of Magnesia high dose (recommended by doctor after 2nd episode in attempt to flush my system) has NO effects and I could taste it during vomit four hours later
I can drink lots of water (1/2 gallon) which seems to be absorbed just fine
I had urinalysis and blood work 24 hours after 2nd time and no sign of gall or kidney stones (no blood in urine and normal enzyme levels in blood), etc.
The conclusion was food allergy but here is where I’m confused as I can’t find the suspect. The other crazy thing is that all 5 times have been Saturday nights!?! even though Friday and Sundays tend to be fairly similar with regard to food and activities.
Mexican food truck burrito, cider at brewery
Leftover from same mexican food truck, cider at brewery
(mexican food truck WAS one of my favorites and I like me some cider; Thoughts at this point were avocado due to latex allergy)
Don’t recall food, but canned cider at home
Domino’s Pizza and cider
(New thought was histamines in cider! and maybe after long time I’d finally become sensitized)
Caprese salad (had on Friday night too) and pepperoni chicago deep dish pizza (eaten there 100 times before) - no alcohol but I did have 2x Diet Dr. Pepper which I hadn’t had in years
So something is making my stomach go nuts and stop functioning but ???
My alcohol consumption is near 0 and pizza and mexican food terrify me currently and I’m scared of what leaves next! The only other thing I can think of is from a Radiolab-discussed topic where they talked about ticks giving people a meat allergy, but there really aren’t ticks around Seattle. Nitrate/sulfate allergy? I can’t fathom any other connections.
Any thoughts or questions given the wide knowledge from you Dopers?
Are you a female on birth control? I ask because my daughter is on it for the horrible periods she has. We came to realize that a brand of pill the doc had her on was causing horrible nausea, constipation, diaherrea, bloating. She was miserable. She switched pill brands and is much better. The other thing is, she can tolerate milk, but has switched to almond milk which really seems to help. Feel better!
Other than #3 have all of your drinks come from a tap? I have a friend who has a bad stomach reaction to draft beers and fountain drinks. He’ll only drink from a bottle or can.
My mom has the alpha-gal meat allergy you mentioned. Do you eat any beef or pork during the week, or only on weekends? Poulty and seafood do not trigger this allergy.
I was gonna say Hiatel hernis, too. Get rolaids and ranitidine. If it is allergy why don’t you see an allergist and get tested. It could be any number of things in the food you described.
We eat more healthfully and chicken/fish (if any meat) during the week and try to restrict beef/pork to eating out which would explain the correlation there and thinking of the alpha-gal. That being said, I just had a company picnic with short ribs galore and had no effect.
The hiatal hernia is definitely a new idea! Looks like I definitely need to check it out more.
I looked up tomato allergy and it can cause vomiting and stomach distress. You could test it out by eating a tomato. I wouldn’t do it, but you may be braver than me.
ETA do you have any skin rashes?
The tomato allergy would tie everything together- but I’ve eaten them my whole life without any previous hint. I know that some allergies are acquired later in life though.
When you say “stomach” are you referring to the abdomen (where the intestines are) or further up, where the actual stomach is? I have GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) mainly caused by hiatal hernia, and the pain is very localized and higher up, near the bottom of the sternum. You wouldn’t mistake that for an intestinal problem.
You can develop a food allergy/intolerance at any time, and it’s not uncommon. I ate tuna my entire life with no reaction, and now I have to carry an epi-pen everywhere I go, because I’m very allergic to it.
Tomato certainly does seem like a common element for you. I’d avoid it, and see what happens.
Actually, pretty much any food allergy can cause “vomiting and stomach distress”. That’s not even the worst they can give you, but yeah, regardless of whether or not something is a “true” allergy or not, as a general rule, if something upsets your stomach to that degree you’re better off not eating it.
Could it be anxiety? Do you hate going to church Sunday mornings, or does the end of Saturday make you realize that the weekend is half over and you didn’t get things done that you wanted to get done? If I fall asleep anxious, I almost inevitably wake up feeling miserable in the middle of the night.
Another idea: gastritis. I have had issues with that being triggered by alcohol or rich foods. It’s an infection of the stomach lining. I have to be careful because I never know what I’m going to have a flare. One time, I could be totally fine drinking a bunch of red wine. Another time, 2 glasses and I’m clutching my gut.
Look into lectins, my friend was having severe stomach issues like this with diarrhea and was trying all kinds of eliminations until she read about lectins and that seemed to be the culprit.
There was a book I read years ago called Eat Right For Your Blood Type or something like that, I think the author was big on lectins.