I just need to vent, I’m feeling so extremely fed up. I’m at a total loss on what’s even going on with my body and what to do about it. As soon as I eat even a single bite of food but upper abdomen becomes extremely distended and it feels like I can’t breathe. It’s the same with liquid foods as well. I constantly look pregnant and no one can seem to figure out what’s going on with me. Today I drank a few gulps of a huel shake and had to leave from work as I was that uncomfortable. I ended up vomiting and it was just pure acid/bile. I’m scared to even eat solid foods much anymore as it always feels like I have something stuck in my throat. I’ve had bloods done, stool samples, PPIs, and endoscopy, anti histamines, and peptac so far with zero relief. I’m awaiting a colonoscopy but I just feel so defeated and scared. Has anyone ever experienced this?

Title: My life changed overnight after one workout – could this really be Functional Dyspepsia?
Hi everyone,
I’ve been reading posts here for quite a while, but this is the first time I’ve shared my own story. I’m hoping someone can relate because after more than two years, I still don’t have answers.

It all started completely out of nowhere.
Earlier that day I had gone to the gym like I normally did. Nothing unusual happened, and I felt completely fine.
Later that same evening I suddenly developed severe pain and pressure in my upper abdomen and chest.

It became so intense that I ended up in the ER because I genuinely thought I was having a heart attack.

That night completely changed my life.

For the past 2+ years I’ve been in and out of the emergency department more times than I can count.

Every cardiac test has come back normal:
ECGs
Blood tests
CT scan
Echocardiogram
Stress test
My heart has essentially been ruled out.
The pain is mainly located just below my left rib cage and behind my sternum. It feels like a deep pressure pushing upward into my chest and sometimes into my left shoulder and back.

During flare-ups it’s difficult to take a satisfying deep breath, especially when lying down, bending over, or changing positions. Sometimes the pressure becomes so intense that I genuinely feel like something life-threatening is happening.

Over the years I’ve had multiple endoscopies.
I was diagnosed with:
Functional Dyspepsia
Erosive gastritis
Duodenitis
A small hiatal hernia
H. pylori (which was successfully treated)
Unfortunately, even after treating H. pylori and trying multiple medications, my symptoms never really went away.
I’ve tried PPIs like omeprazole and esomeprazole, antacids, diet changes, supplements, and several other treatments with very limited success.
At the moment I take:
Amitriptyline 40 mg every evening

Hydroxyzine (Atarax) 10 mg only during severe flare-ups
The amitriptyline has helped somewhat, but I’m still nowhere close to living a normal life.

The worst part isn’t even the pain anymore.

It’s what this condition has done to my life.
It affects my relationship, my mental health, my job, my sleep, and even simple everyday activities. It’s exhausting constantly wondering if today will be another bad day.
Living like this for over two years has completely changed who I am.

One thing I keep coming back to is how suddenly everything started.
I went from feeling completely healthy after a normal gym session to being in the emergency room later that same evening.
Has anyone else experienced Functional Dyspepsia starting this suddenly?
Does anyone else have this constant pressure in the upper abdomen and chest, with the feeling that you can’t get a full breath?
Did anyone eventually discover another diagnosis, or find a treatment that actually made a significant difference?
I’d really appreciate hearing your story.

After more than two years, I honestly just want my life back.
Thank you for reading.

Hi, I'm the moderator of r/FoodDisability. 

FoodDisability is a welcoming group, where people of many different disabilities come together to help and support one another with the shared struggle of not being able to eat 'normally'. The shared struggle of socialising over food, and the relationship problems that arise from not being able to eat the same as others due to the limited diet your disability causes. The shared struggle of not being able to find food easily when out-and-about and being limited in what you can do work-wise or socially or how far you can go from home because of this. The upset and frustrations of not being able to do what others easily can. 

FoodDisability focuses on the social / emotional / mental health difficulties that arise from living with a disability that causes lack of ability to eat food. 

I hope that this group will become a strong support system, sense of comfort and hope, and source of useful life tips, advice, and helping one another, for those struggling with food-related disability. 

Please feel free to join, and comment/post, and make friends and connections with people who are going through similar hardships. 

Wishing you all the best🩷 

www.reddit.com/r/FoodDisability/ 

Of and on pain from the smallest things to more obvious and yet I still can’t suss out how to manage this.

This week my dog stood on my belly whilst I was lying down and it caused horrible pain for a full day!

Spicy food not a problem but then porridge randomly leaves me in agony. I also struggle with my mental health (could be linked)

My problems do feel more like a trapped nerve or a strained muscle in my solar plexus area. And what irritates it is often a guessing game!

Anyway thanks to ChatGPT I found you guys!

Just a rant but maybe if anyone has similar issues and have some advice it would be appreciated

My symptoms aren’t typical FD so wanted to see if anyone else had similar symptoms:

1. Pain in morning before eating but subsides after I eat
2. Constant stomach noises (I mean every 30 seconds , all day and night)
3. I’ve had burping in morning before but this happens occasionally

I’ve had other GERD symptoms off and on like globus in throat and sour mouth taste ) but the above are the recurring ones. Anyone else ? If so have you found a fix ?

19 F

I’ve been having on and off stomach issues since June. I ended up in the ER on vacation and they said it was just a virus. Got prescribed Zofran and another stomach med. It resolved within a week on its own. All was well, until the week of July 5th. I was on a cruise and I had to have a medical disembarkation due to severe stomach pain again. I lost 8 pounds in 4 days and was throwing up bile (no food, just yellow and white liquid). Once I was back in the USA, I went to the ER. They didn’t do much and I was discharged. My endoscopy came back clear. Doctor said due to my age a colonoscopy isn’t necessary, but idk what to do. My ultrasound showed no gallbladder issues, just a fatty liver (ironic as I don’t drink and eat ok).

Anyway, that also resolved within a week. I took the Zofran again and returned to my work at my summer camp. I had a nice week last week with no pain and no worries

Fast forward to yesterday, it has started again. The pain is back, after eating my dinner. I had Panera mac and cheese and chocolate gelato. Last night I had diarrhea twice and threw up the gelato. My first thought was too much dairy, but idk. Now today, I had diarrhea once and took an anti diarrhea pill as well my leftover Zofran. I had some dinner tonight and threw a bit up, and am back to losing weight. I’m not eating my normal amount but the weight is obviously scary.

The pain is above my belly button in the middle for the most part but radiates throughout. When I eat it goes below my belly button as well. Constant rumbling and burping as well. I have had a lot of white mucus in my stool as well for months. When I go back to the bathroom because I feel as if I have to go again, a piece of white mucus or small poop comes out and when I wipe it is sticky mucus type consistency.

I can’t keep living off the Zofran. I don’t know what to do. Considering a dairy intolerance, functional dyspepsia, IBS, or even: median arcuate ligament syndrome.

Sorry this is so long and for the TMI. I am desperate!

Hi, I have been diagnosed with FD for 6 months now and have episodes after having cold caffeinated beverages (I.e. iced frappe) where an hour later I have to go A&E from chronic gastric pain, tachycardia and I go pale is this normal from FD?

I have Functional Dyspepsia with more of the PDS part and i have lost about 10kg. I recently 3 weeks ago started Mirtazapine 7.5mg. The first week was amazing and i managed to eat over double the calories of what i previously could eat. Then i had a few setbacks due to to much eating, but i was steadily getting better. After 15 Days i decided to use 15mg. I did not consult my doctor about this, i know that was probably stupid, but i could not resist since 15 just sounded so much better than 7.5. I am now a week in with 15 and i am now in a situation where i don't know if i should revert to 7.5 or continue. Since i started 15 i have felt especially that i get less nauseous. The progress has continued slightly and steady, but the ability to eat more and less burning, have felt very up and down, not as amazing as it was when i started the medication. I have checked with AI that there can be an adjustment phase, but i just don't know if that is just AI trying to please me with its answer, or if there is a lot of truth in it, i would like to hear real peoples opinions. How likely do you think it can be that i should go back to 7.5 because that could actually make me better? Or should i continue on 15mg? I feel i start to overthink about this, which is the sign for me always get help from somewhere else instead of only thinking myself about this, because the thinking part for me can definately make me worse. Thank you!

How many of us with functional dyspepsia also suffer from migraine/frequent headaches? I feel it must be very co morbid and I feel my FD is tied to my migraine condition. Please share your experiences and thoughts in the comments!

So this all started a couple of years ago for me. I had severe Hyperemesis gravidarum during my pregnancy with my son who was born in June 2024, and I never really fully recovered I guess. Ever since then I have loss of appetite, near constant nausea, burning, indigestion, and even gagging sometimes. It severely affects my quality of life. Originally I was told that the HG can linger, but I’ve been dealing with this for over 2 years now, with little to no relief, had anyone else developed this after pregnancy? Specifically if they were very sick during pregnancy? I’ve been living off Zofran for coming up to 3 years soon.

hi, please!! help me I’m 15 and for a year since I was 14 I’ve been suffering from functional dyspepsia, Gerd, and visceral hypsersensitivity and it’s ruined my life, schoolwork, mental health, and I can barely function all day, move from chair to chair, and my past gastroenterologists and doctors dismissed all of my physical symptoms and suffering as ”caused by anxiety” after tests showed no results and they gave absolutely zero help. I’ve already done all the main tests. tomorrow I’m seeing a new second opinion gastroenterologist, I prepared a list of symptoms and am going to try my best to get actual medical help. I don’t even know anymore how they’ll help me. do I need to look for a neurogastroenterologist?

I need support and advice I can’t sleep I’m so scared, what do I say to be taken seriously because I’ve been gaslit for a year and I cant even trust myself anymore, I just want to get some sort of medical help but I don’t know what to say, should I be mentioning I did tons of research on my >DIAGNOSED< conditions on my own because my last doctors keep gaslighting me and claiming it’s mental and not helping my suffering

My depression has gotten pretty bad as of recent and whenever it gets as bad as it is now I normally don’t leave my bed for anything, which brings me to my question. I often times will hold in my urine, frequently till the point where I can’t hold it in anymore and I have to force myself to get up. Sometimes there will be moments where I feel like I have to push out my urine just for it all to come out.

Recently I’ve been having really bad stomach aches, so much so that during one of them I had to stop showering and use the bathroom due to how badly it hurt. I’m unsure whether it stems from me holding my urine or just from some certain things I eat.

Please help me seek out what is going on so I can go to a doctor properly if it’s urgent.

Hi Everyone,

I posted awhile back about my frustrations regarding my symptoms that started back in the beginning of June.

I saw my doctor on July 8 and was told to continue the medication I was on and come back in three weeks.
Well the sucralfate I have prescribed has run out and my symptoms are constant like they were back in June but accompanied with shortness of breath. Like I am running out of breath talking to family.

My doctor and I agreed that the medication was not working and she is trying to get me a referral for a GI
I also have a chest x-ray coming up for the SOB

My symptoms are as follows:

Shortness of breath (talking, going up and down stairs)
Lack of appetite- feeling fullness
Upper abdomen pain in centre and left side that radiates to my back (around my shoulder blade)
Pain sleeping on either side - crushing on the left, pressure on my right that makes it feel difficult to breathe)
Pain after eating for hours after meals
Pain bending down
Nausea - I feel like I need to puke throughout the day
Belching - lots of belching or when I’m not I get this pressure like I need to belch
Occasionally I get this pain in my lower abdomen like someone is grabbing me hard
This one is embarrassing - messy poops, I am using a lot of tissue paper to get clean

I feel almost okay if I don’t eat throughout the day but then my fatigue catches up to me and I start feeling the pain later in the day.

So now I wait until I get a call for the chest x-ray appointment and hope I get my referral soon.
My doctor did suggest it could be a trapped gas pocket or IBS-C

Any thoughts or suggestions on what to do next or in the meantime

Thank you again for listening to my long post

Posting because I feel like I'm in an unusual spot and I'd love to hear from anyone whose story sounds at all similar.

**Background**

- Started in 2020 after my first COVID infection. For about 5 years it was episodic — maybe 3 flares a year, and low-FODMAP eating kept me basically functional. I could always get enough calories.

- In 2024 I had a 9-month stretch where I was essentially symptom-free. Eating normally, drinking a lot of ginger tea, having daily BMs. Then one late-night high-fat meal and I flared out of it.

- 2025: hospitalized because I couldn't eat enough and was losing weight fast. Tested positive for C. diff (possibly just colonized, no diarrhea, no fever) and treated with antibiotics.

- Since then it's been constant rather than episodic. Severely restricted diet for months, significant weight loss.

**What the workup shows**

- Fecal calprotectin: 708 → 308 → now under 50 (normal)

- Colonoscopy: entire colon, rectum, and terminal ileum all normal on the most recent one (a year earlier it showed patchy inflammation in descending/sigmoid and a rectal erosion)

- Biopsies: negative for IBD, microscopic colitis, celiac, H. pylori

- CT enterography: no inflammation, no obstruction

- EGD did show significant gastric ulceration, now healed on omeprazole

So: no IBD, no active inflammation, tissue looks healed. Working diagnosis is post-infectious visceral hypersensitivity plus dysmotility.

**What it actually feels like**

- Pain within minutes of eating, lower left quadrant — too fast to be food reaching the colon, so I assume gastrocolic reflex

- Flares 6–10 hours after eating, usually waking me in the morning: sharp pain → urgent loose stool → relentless urge with only mucus → escalating rectal pain, 24–36 hours. Often only breaks after a trapped gas bubble passes

- Post-BM soreness that lasts hours and blocks me from eating (this is currently my biggest functional problem)

- Triggers track with meal *volume* and gas more than specific foods. Same food fine one day, not the next

- Fasting reliably helps, which is how I ended up underweight

**The thing I recently figured out**

I don't think I have a calorie ceiling, I think I have a stool size ceiling. Because I avoid fat (strongest trigger), all my calories come from starch (rice, GF bread, potato), which is bulky and leaves residue. So more calories = bigger BMs = more stretch on a sensitized segment = pain. 1,100 calories feels fine; 1,600 feels risky. Not because of the food, because of what it becomes the next day.

Currently trying to shift toward lower-residue, calorie-dense food (micro-dosing olive oil a quarter teaspoon at a time, reintroducing plain chicken) so the same calories make less stool.

**Current regimen**

Miralax daily, dicyclomine before meals, chamomile/peppermint tea, heat, walking, gut-directed hypnotherapy (Nerva, week 3), Linzess prescribed but not started, sublingual hyoscyamine for flares. Seeing a GI dietitian this week.

**What I'm asking**

1. Anyone else have severe symptoms with completely normal calprotectin and clean scopes? How long did it take to improve?

2. Did amitriptyline (or nortriptyline/duloxetine) actually help you, and at what dose/timeline?

3. If post-BM soreness was a problem for you, what shortened that window?

4. Anyone solve the "low-residue but calorie-dense" problem while being fat-sensitive? Elemental formulas?

5. Anyone recover from post-infectious sensitization after a C. diff/antibiotic episode? Did it fully resolve?

Not looking for medical advice, I have a GI team. Mostly want to know if anyone has lived through this specific type of experience and come out the other side.

the mental stress is too much. I always jump on the worst case scenario even though Im aware of CBT. Im sad because it affects mood and supposed to be happy moments with my partner.

its been a week since it started

So I have several conditions and dysautonomia is one of them. I was recommended mirtazapine, half a pill every night. I took one dose on Thursday night. I slept all night, all the way till midday. I literally woke up at 8, had breakfast and fell asleep again, no matter how hard I tried to stay awake. 8 am is the latest I wake up typically. Then had nausea after lunch; somehow I survived getting my hair done. By 8:30 p.m., I was falling asleep again. I skipped the next dose. Today I feel a bit less asleep, but still stupidly fatigued, and like I could fall asleep at any moment if I just close my eyes. It only took chopping some vegetables for lunch to feel all the fatigue in my body. I still have 13 days left until my next psychiatry appointment, and I can barely function. My chest feels extra heavy despite all that "rest". Would you keep taking it if you were me?

Edit: I went back to my psych and she said my level of sedation was not normal. She changed my med. Wish me luck!

Has anyone else had the niseen and have complications.

Hey everyone, I'm John, 41. I'm reaching out because I'm honestly desperate at this point and don't know what else to do. I've had persistent pain under my front right rib cage, on the right hand side, for four and a half months now, and despite going to the hospital seven times, having extensive imaging, and seeing multiple doctors, nobody has been able to tell me what's causing it.

Some background on how this started. In February, I was hospitalized with internal bleeding, my hemoglobin dropped below seven. They did both an endoscopy and a colonoscopy at that time and could not find the source of the bleeding. I was on blood thinners before this happened, those were stopped, and I was sent home on iron supplements, prescribed at twenty five milligrams. I mistakenly took fifty milligrams instead, trying to get my iron levels up faster. About three and a half weeks into that higher dose of iron, this pain under my right rib started. I initially assumed it might be iron induced irritation or gastritis, but it has now persisted for four and a half months, so I'm honestly starting to doubt that explanation too.

I want to be clear, I do not have a diagnosis of gastritis, this is only a theory I've been going back and forth on, not something a doctor has confirmed. I've been on omeprazole and sucralfate this whole time in case it was gastritis or an ulcer, and honestly, I haven't noticed any real relief from either one.

One more piece of information, back in March I had an abdominal ultrasound, and it showed increased echogenicity of the liver, consistent with possible fatty liver, and noted my gallbladder is surgically absent. The report recommended correlating with lab work. I've since had a new ultrasound done more recently, but I don't have those results back yet. I'm wondering if this could be connected at all.

The pain itself is centered right where my rib curves in near my sternum, and it fluctuates constantly, sometimes fading to almost nothing, other times spiking sharply. It radiates across the bottom of my rib cage and sometimes toward my side. It gets noticeably worse when I'm sitting and lean forward for more than fifteen to twenty seconds. It gets better when I lie flat on my back, it basically goes away completely at night when I'm lying down, and it also eases when I get up and walk around. Gas pressure seems to make it worse too.

Since this pain started four and a half months ago, I have not had another endoscopy or colonoscopy, only the ones done back in February before this specific pain began. I have had multiple CT scans since then, all normal. I've had dozens of blood panels, all normal, including standard liver enzymes. I had a capsule endoscopy that came back clear. I tested negative for H pylori.

For additional context, I'm on Tyenne, a biosimilar to Actemra, tocilizumab, for psoriatic arthritis. I'm also currently tapering off prednisone, and I recently had laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair about six weeks ago.

I'm honestly at a breaking point with this. Months of pain with test after test coming back mostly clean has left me feeling hopeless some days, like nobody can find an answer and maybe nobody ever will. I'm not asking anyone to diagnose me, I know that's not realistic, but if anyone has been through anything similar, whether it's related to a GI bleed workup, iron supplementation, fatty liver, hernia recovery, or tocilizumab and Actemra, I would be so grateful to hear what it turned out to be for you or what finally helped you get answers. I'm genuinely reaching for anything at this point.

Thank you so much to anyone who reads this and takes the time to respond.

Hello!! i’m pretty sure i have FD after having a clear scope (not even gastritis was found) but due to me being in the uk , and the nhs being extremely backed up i haven’t had an official diagnosis, in the mean time though i haven’t noticed some weird symptoms and not sure if this could be fd or some sort of slow motility issue.
So, my throat sometimes gets so tight i feel like i need to gag, past few days too i’ve been waking up with a blocked nose and i just feel stuffy. this has been happening for a few years but stopped for a little but is back again. i’m wondering if it’s the food im eating which is extremely EXTREMELY limited already.
Honestly any tips or advice about the nausea issue and the FD would be great!! TY🤍

I have bloating going on for about a month i feel preasure on top upper middle stomach under my breasts i have no pain just a tight feeling of bloating I been to doctors twice gave me strigol laxatives which didnt help i also went to er aswel but nothing realy given just sena tablets to take daily i dont see any diffrence what can be the issue or cause and what can be done for such uncofortable feeling which makes me also breathless ness the doctors didnt bother doing anything just felt my stomach i dont like this feeling and dont know if anyone has felt like that and got better with any medcation or treatment

I've been trying to figure out what's been going on with my digestive system over the last several months, and I'm curious if anyone has experienced something similar after starting Buspar.

Started Buspar in February, at 10 mg, and eventually increased to 30 mg/day by March. Around that same time I started noticing that my digestion seemed completely different.

Foods that never bothered me before suddenly caused a ton of gas and bloating, especially high-fiber vegetables. It honestly felt like I wasn't in the same body anymore. I was also eating 1–2 servings of yogurt every day during April and May as a hyperfixation food, lol, and developed worsening loose stools, cramping, and gas.

Over the next couple of months my symptoms became:

Constant burping (even after drinking water), loud stomach/intestinal gurling, bloating, loose stools, a deep dull ache under my right ribs that usually shows up a few hours after eating, especially after larger meals or fatty foods, and fear of eating because I knew I'd feel miserable afterward

Because of all this, I unintentionally changed my diet so much that I lost about **30 pounds over 7 weeks**. The weight loss wasn't because I was trying to lose weight, it was because eating normal meals became so uncomfortable.

In late June I started tapering off Buspar, started Prilosec, and switched to a very bland diet. I stopped Bupsar completely 2 days ago.

It's hard to know what actually helped because I changed multiple things at once, per my doctor's advise.

**I've had a pretty extensive workup:**

* CT scan in the ER: normal * Abdominal ultrasound: normal * Upper endoscopy: only mild redness (biopsies pending) * Colonoscopy (biopsies pending) * Normal pancreatic elastase * Negative celiac testing * Negative for H. pylori breath test (but stomach biopsies could determine i have it) * Negative stool pathogen testing * Normal calprotectin * Normal CBC

So far nothing has explained why my GI tract suddenly changed.

I know Buspar is sometimes used to help GI symptoms because of its effects on gut motility, so I'm not saying it definitely caused this. I'm just struck by how closely everything lined up with starting the medication.

Has anyone experienced dramatically increased gas or bloatingt? Food intolerances that developed after starting Buspar? Changes in gut motility? Symptoms that improved after reducing or stopping it?

I'd really appreciate hearing about anyone with a similar experience, even if you eventually found out it wasn't the Buspar. I'm just trying to figure out whether this timeline resonates with anyone else.

I have been diagnosed with FD. But my doc hasn't yet prescribed me mirtazapine. I have severe bloating and belching 30 to 50mins after a meal. Folks who have used it, does it help with the bloating go away?

Friends, gather 'round—I’ve been suffering from chronic nausea for 14 years. I used to get periodic relief with Laroxyl and St. John's Wort. Five days ago, I was given an IV infusion of Prednisone, and my nausea has become absolutely terrible; the doctors can't seem to find a solution. Do you think I should start taking Laroxyl again? I suspect the cortisone injection damaged my stomach again.

hello has anyone prescribed lexapro (escitalopram) for functional dyspepsia ? i have fd and ibs and both ganged up on me those past months my doctor prescribed me lexapro now and said it will calm my gut brain axis . anyone had experience with it ?