(Is this the right forum to post asking for medical “advice?” My apologies if it isn’t. Disclaimer: my aunt is under the care or several doctors on a regular basis. I am questioning their diagnosis and treatment.)
My aunt is 67 and has some sort of mystery gastrointestinal illness that has caused her to wither away to 93 pounds, but her doctor doesn’t seem worried. Can anyone give advice?
Background: Aunt is 67 and has COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) from a lifetime of smoking. She regularly sees a pulmonologist for this and takes several medications for it. She has bad shortness of breath and cannot walk too far without getting out of breath, and cannot climb a set of stairs. The COPD means that any cold or cough she gets will be more severe and last longer. But other than this, she was in decent health.
In mid-December, she got what she assumed to be the norovirus, which resulted in vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, dehydration. She actually went to the ER for the dehydration. It took her a while to recover and while recovering, she was on a very bland diet. After about a month, she was eating fairly normally again. But a few weeks later, the abdominal pain came back. It seemed to be a combination of indigestion and gas pains. She thinks that this re-occurrence correlated with her taking a dose of NyQuil, but I am not sure if it’s the cause or just a coincidence.
For about 8 weeks now, she has been pretty much incapacitated and not able to leave her house. She is plagued by really bad gas and periodic abdominal pains. She is extremely weak and takes several naps a day. She started out at about 110 pounds and got down to a low of 93 pounds (she is about 5’ 5" tall). She is now stick thin.
She saw a gastroenterologist and he ordered a CAT scan, an endoscopy, and blood tests, and none of the tests revealed anything wrong. There was no intestinal obstruction. He diagnosed her with the vague diagnosis of “gastritis” which apparently was triggered by the norovirus episode.
She has been eating a very bland diet with no dairy and minimal vegetables or fruits. She has managed to gain about 3-4 pounds recently. But she is still getting these bouts of pain where she will get excruciating pains in her abdominal area (not her stomach, but her intestinal area). She says it feels like really bad gas pains. She has no diarrhea and is even slightly constipated. She has also been having what she describes as very painful “indigestion” in her esophageal area after eating. She said it feels like her chest is going to explode.
In the meantime, the gastroenterologist doesn’t seem too worried. He says to just keep doing what she’s doing. I, however, feel like there may be something more wrong with her. She seems dangerously thin, and cannot perform basic functions without someone helping her (my mom has been staying with her to help). She barely has enough energy to take a shower more than once or twice a week.
Any ideas on what could be wrong? Should we get a second opinion? Ask for more tests? Any input is greatly appreciated!!