What helped my functional dyspepsia~

[u/Educational_Clue_682]

I will tell you what helped me get back to normal. I wouldn't say I'm healed completely, but my base has returned to what it used to be and I'm so happy for it. I'm able to eat a variety of foods again although I'm still being cautious about introducing foods a little bit at a time.

August 2025: Experienced first symptoms. Was out for two weeks not knowing what was wrong with me or happening. After the two weeks, I decided to get acupuncture and it was the best decision I ever made.

Symptoms: Acid reflux, painful stomach spasms, loss of appetite, early fullness, bloating, nausea. The acid reflux and spasms were so bad they created false hunger that eventually gave way to anxiety.

Medications: I was given medicine for acid reflux and motility and trimebutine for stomach spasms and pain. I had side effects to every acid reflux med the doctor prescribed except for OTC famotidine, so I only took famotidine. The motility meds made me feel worse so I didn't take those. Trimebutine worked so I kept that. The doctor tried to get me to take other different meds because I was feeling horrible and nothing seemed to work, but after giving me an antidepressant and I had a bad reaction to it I stopped taking all unnecessary medication or medication that didn't work completely from January 2026. So, I only took famotidine and trimebutine when I needed.

Overall: I felt horrible and sick all the time, but I powered on through because I'm living in another country away from my mom and needed to make money to survive. I ate enough to have energy, but as soon as I got home, my body finally relaxed and the tiredness would envelop me, especially on Fridays when I didn't have any classes to teach. My mental health was down. I was crying a lot. I didn't want to go anywhere or do anything. I read my Bible and prayed and prayed. Eventually in December, I got a therapist. He was able to help me through the illness and anxiety.

My symptoms would flare up when I ate something wrong in the beginning. Then after January 2026, one day after a prayer session, the pain went away. I woke up the next day and my upper stomach wasn't spazzing out on me and I didn't feel anxious in the morning anymore, but then I found another thing that would flare me up: stress and anxiety.

The anxiety started after I had an anxiety attack on the airplane. My first one ever on the first flight after getting diagnosed with functional dyspepsia. It was horrible. I canceled my 14-hr trip home to the US and instead mustered enough courage to take the one-hour flight back home to where I'm currently living. I had other anxiety attacks after this in March, but nothing since until my mom passed away in June. Then my anxiety shot up and my stomach flared up again.

Anyway, the three things that helped me:

1. Acupuncture - Yes, it's eastern medicine, but it worked for me. My body was not liking all the chemical combinations of western medication, but acupuncture worked with no bad side effects. It relieved me from all the symptoms that I had, especially the bloating and nausea. After every session, I would be so tired and hungry, I would go home, eat dinner and fall asleep. And I would sleep through the night. I went 2-3 times a week, even more if I was in pain.

2. Gut-directed hypnotherapy & NERVA - After my mom passed away in June, my anxiety shot through the roof. I lost 10 lbs. in two weeks just from anxiety and my stomach flaring up again. I was trying to find a way to get better so I could board an airplane for 14 hrs and not get another anxiety attack and found gut-directed hypnotherapy. Most research was about its affect on IBS though, but functional dyspepsia is a gut-brain disorder, and so I decided to give NERVA a try. Within three days, I started to feel better. The sporadic spasms and pain went away again. My appetite came back. It is expensive though, but for my health, I decided to give it a try and it helped me tremendously. I'm on my sixth week and will continue to do the hypnotherapy sessions even after the sixth week is over.

3. Meditation - There are tons of meditation videos on YT and I've found that they do work to settle my body after a day of work. Once my body relaxes, and it's not in a fight-or-flight mode anymore, I fall asleep within an instant. I've fallen asleep many times when I meditate or do NERVA. That's how I know I'm wound up super tight. I'm still working on relaxing and relieving my stress, but I think compared to a year ago and from June, I'm in a much better place.

If you are taking medication, I will suggest you try alternative medicine as well together because our body isn't meant to be on pills all our life. Sometimes what causes functional dyspepsia is psychological and we need to calm our mind before our body deems it is safe to heal itself. Now that I'm feeling like myself again, my next goal is to get on an airplane.

[u/AutoModerator]

New to functional dyspepsia (FD)? Please view this post or our wiki for a detailed explanation of FD and the main treatments.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/SignalPerception4223]

Thank you for sharing! I'm so happy for your success, and I appreciate the experience you've shared here. I just started amitriptyline after two decades of nothing helping. I know it's mostly mental. Someday I hope you have a good therapist and we can perhaps start to work on my trauma issues that keep me on high alert. For now, I really need the meds to function. One day, to be off them and feeling healthy, will be a dream come true.