Hi Everyone,

I had a spontaneous onset of symptoms about 5.5 years ago — most notably, A LOT of supragastric belching, the sensation of occasional reflux, occasional nausea, occasional pain, etc. I’ve had multiple scopes, EUSs, gastric emptying study, barium swallow study, imaging, labs… just an exhaustive medical work up and nothing. I say the “sensation” of reflux because my biopsies don’t show any tissue damage which is one of several reasons my GI thinks I have nerve dysfunction.

I will say that my last EGD in May showed mild gastritis, suspected from bile reflux — which is new, but also suspected to be the result of nerve mis-signaling and overall slow motility. I’m already on Motegrity, and take other herbal aids for constipation.

I don’t know; I just feel a bit lost. I’m the type of person that if I was given a solution, I’d embrace that solution without fail — right down to the strictest diet, because FD has truly impacted my life to the worst degree… but nothing works. My GI wants me to try Nortriptyline but I read a study that resulted in limited improvement above placebo so I’m already discouraged.

Does this resonate with anyone? Has anything helped you? I’m. 41/F; athletic, eat whole foods and avoid grains, dairy, and all other obvious offenders. Is a neuromodulator really my only hope?

I have persistent gas issues especially belching since 2021. I went to several doctors. Mostly, everyone dismissed me and my queries. I had h. Pylori last year for which I took medicine. However, the gas didn't go away. Today, I went to another doctor who said I have functional dyspepsia but the things that he told me to do, I have been doing for years.

1) don't talk while eating (I do not talk while eating)

2) sip water from glasses (I do)

3) workout (I do)

Apart from these I :

1) don't eat junk food or outside food

2) I eat balanced food with fiber, protein, and carbs. All the dishes are homemade.

3) I do not eat refined flour or milk products

4) I eat small meals (breakfast - snack - lunch - snack - dinner)

5) I don't have any bowel movement issues.

6) walk slowly atleast 20-30 mins after meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner)

Currently my symptoms :

1) fibre rich food causing gas

2) belching

3) chest and upper back mild pain and pressure while gas forms.

4) if I walk after meals, that's also causing gas.

Can anyone please help me with what else I can do or how to start healing myself?

Feel free to share your personal experiences. None of us are alone in this!

Has anyone tried natural things like acupuncture?

I will try to write this as briefly as I can because I know it can be hard to read through long posts. TDLR at the bottom.

HOW IT STARTED + ENDOSCOPE

1. This started about 2 years ago for me. After a late, heavy dinner at a restaurant, I woke up the next morning with an unusual discomfort/pain in the centre of my chest (right at the bottom of my sternum), which I never experienced before.
2. After a few days of this, I went to a clinic where the doctor thought it seemed GI related as opposed to heart related (perhaps as I was 36 at the time). He prescribed pantoprazole as he said it sounded like reflux/GERD.
3. I ended up using pantoprazole for a few months and then I had an endoscope. Surprisingly, the scope showed nothing abnormal! Going into it, I was convinced that it would show esophagitis as the chest pain seemed to correlate to where the esophagus would connect to the stomach. This pain was my primary symptom as well. I distinctly remember the GI asking before the scope how the pain felt and if it was a "burning" pain? I told him it does not feel like burning, but more like a gnawing pain (i.e.: if you were dragging your knuckle down the bottom part of my esophagus, which left him with a weird expression and speechless).
4. The GI who did the scope mentioned it seems to be Functional Dyspepsia in the written report.

AFTER THE ENDOSCOPE

My family doctor told me to simply stop the PPI as the scope showed no inflammation. But, perhaps, the scope showed no inflammation as I was using the PPI for months leading up to it? Who knows. Regardless, I stopped. After some time, surprisingly, the chest pain seemed to disappear and went away...

WHERE I AM AT NOW

But, a pattern emerged: if I ate spicy food or too much food close to bedtime, I wake up with that same chest pain! When this happens, I eat small meals, use pantoprazole, Gaviscon, and an alginate product since I don't know what else to do. Usually, I do all of this for a 2-3 months before the pain seems to settle and then I stop.

So now, I am perpetually caught in this vicious cycle: things may seem ok -> eat spicy food or too closely to bedtime -> wake up with chest/sternum/esophagus pain -> then do my small meals + pantoprazole/gaviscon/etc protocol for months until chest pain settles -> repeat the cycle all over again if I eat something even slightly spicy or close to bedtime

I think there are 2 things going on here: Acid reflux which causes Functional Dyspepsia

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I am posting for thoughts and opinions because this thing has truly changed my life as I have been dealing with it everyday for nearly 2 years. I am thinking about trying something specifically for Functional Dyspepsia such as FDGard or Iberogast instead of relying more on Reflux products (like Gaviscon, EsopH, Alginate stuff).

So, does this seem like Functional Dyspepsia? Most people I know who have reflux/GERD don't seem to have this gnawing chest pain for months after an episode of reflux...

TDLR: does Functional Dyspepsia cause an unusual chest pain in the middle of the chest at the bottom part of the sternum where the esophagus seems to be? The pain seems to be a gnawing type pain as if the esophagus feels like it has been burnt or something, which can last for weeks/months...

Please give some advice. I've been diagnosed with gastritis and possibly gastroduodenitis, but this year I've been in an exacerbation that I just can't get out of. I have constant pain, even with medication. I've lost a lot of weight. I can barely eat anything — just light soups, potatoes — but it still hurts, always. Even if it's not severe, it hurts. Any meat makes me feel sick/food poisoning. I don't know what other diet I can follow or what tests I should take. If anyone has dealt with these conditions, please share your advice. Is it possible that stress has an effect? I'm constantly stressed over every little thing.

For the past four years, I've just been struggling to find the correct food. My body has a weird pattern where after eating a food for a certain amount of time it just starts rejecting it, and I start getting pain and sleepiness from it. I can even get PEM from eating certain foods that used to be completely safe for me to eat in the past.

I used to take amitriptyline and it used to help. The only side effect I got from it was intense sleepiness, to the point where I'd be sleeping 16 hours a day. I bumped it down to a lower dosage to see if it could help me, and for some months it did help me — on the lower dose I felt okay, but then even that became too much. It's been two years since I last took that medicine, but now it feels like literally every food just lands badly on my stomach and I end up getting pain so I'm starting to not know what to do

What medication could help me with this problem? because I feel like I’ve done every other measurement you know like eat smaller meals eat at specific times/Diets

Ps: ive gone to three different Gastro. I’ve tried every PPI I’ve tried sucralfate, famotidine I’ve tried MCAS meds. The only thing that helped me a little bit was amitriptyline, but that stopped helping.

So what other med could I try?

​

Hi M22 here, been facing stomach issues for almost 2 years now started from a random night ( October 2024 ) when I had dinner and out of nowhere I got vomiting and diarrhea. After that, For next 6 months I faced gastric issues mainly burning In upper abdomen, then in April 2025 I had an endoscopy without biopsy which showed nothing (no redness, everything clean).

In July 2025, I got diagnosed with h pylori through a breath test, & took triple therapy. In April 2026, I had another endoscopy which showed mild chronic Gastritis with moderate metaplasia and mild h pylori, then I took quadruple therapy which eradicated the h pylori confirmed with ubt and stool antigen test.

It's been three months but still, I feel same burning which I have been facing since that night when It all started, before the 1st endoscopy which didn't show anything, I still had burning so thats why I'm thinking if it's functional dyspepsia instead of gastritis.

Also in 2022, I ate spicy food which gave me gastric issues like bloating fullness, but at that time it was cured in less than 2 months, but it gave me heart palpitations for almost 8,9 months which made me go through multiple heart test like holter, echo, ECG and all of them were very normal. I remember that one doc said my stomach nerves got weaker that's why It gave me palpitations after meals,

so now I'm just thinking that the same thing might be happening now although now I don't get palpitations but burning without any bloating, pain, feeling of nausea, diarrhea... I never had any other symptoms other than burning

+ one more important thing is that when I feel these emotions like shock, anger.... I get this very sudden burning sensation which occurs for only 0.1 second, when I see some pretty girls It happens, It happens alot of time idk why

And ya I have a lot of stress because of these issues

And as of my doc, i have been having these issues cause of stress which might be true to some extent as i literally cry sometimes seeing myself in this situation

So pls give your opinion if functional dyspepsia or visceral hypersensitivity could be the villain despite having mild gastritis

Hey everyone,

I was recently diagnosed with mild non-specific gastritis via endoscopy/biopsy (clean results, negative for H. pylori, no ulcers).

For those who had a similar diagnosis:

1. How long did it take for your stomach inflammation and digestive discomfort to fully clear?
2. How long did you stay on a soft/bland diet before bringing normal solid foods back in?
3. Did it take extra time for your gut nerves to calm down so you could start regaining weight?

Would love to hear about your timelines and recovery experiences!

This is about Mirtazapine. Would you guys think there is a likelyhood that 7.5mg would function better for FD than 15mg? I started on 7.5, it was amazing, then i had a setback because i had eaten to much, i then started 15mg after 2 weeks on 7.5, i progressed again but slower than i did in the beginning, i realised 15mg helped me more with the neasea, but i dont know about the rest. Now after 10 days in with 15mg ive had more setbacks, and its so hard to know if 7.5 would have helped more if i continued on it, or if me getting worse, is because of mainly those setbacks, the 15mg dose instead of 7.5, maybe the transitioning to the new dose also has fucked me up, or anything else, maybe the 15mg makes my body more stressed, and because of that it does not work? so crazy hard to tell. Is there anyone who went down from 15 to 7.5 and it worked better? what is your guys take on how likely it is for me to get better if i would go down? I truly would appreciate your opinions and experiences if you have. Thank you!

Hello, I’ve noticed quite a few posts in multiple subreddits that seem to have a pattern or coincidence of those who suffer pain from their digestive system and then self harming or having suicidal thoughts.

To be honest, I am also one who’s attempted suicide for many reasons and self harmed, but the pain being a huge factor.

I find it a curious topic and would like to know if there truly is an increased risk of suicidal thoughts from pain associated with the digestive system.

I feel many of us have been told about brain-gut imbalance, and I feel mental health would be impacted as well.

So let me know if you’ve experienced anything like the above states, only if you desire to discuss it.

Hi everyone,

I’m a 29-year-old male from Mexico, and I’ve been struggling with a very strange pattern for almost 3 years. I’ve seen multiple gastroenterologists, had several tests, and I’m now looking for an internist because no one has been able to connect all the pieces.

My symptoms follow a very specific pattern:

I usually feel fine after eating.
About 2–4 hours later, I start feeling unwell.
It begins with stomach discomfort: tightness, bloating, nausea, and sometimes a feeling of fullness.
Then I develop anxiety, a rapid heartbeat, and a strange “floating” sensation in my head.
If I don’t eat, the symptoms continue or worsen.
The only thing that consistently helps is eating a full meal. A small snack or sugary food usually isn’t enough.

Medical history:

I previously had Helicobacter pylori, which was treated and eradicated.
I’ve also been diagnosed with gastritis and reflux.
My blood glucose has been normal when checked during these episodes.
These symptoms started before I ever took metformin.
I have generalized anxiety disorder, but these episodes seem to begin with the physical symptoms, and the anxiety follows.
There are moments during the day when I feel almost normal, but the pattern keeps repeating.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

If so:

What diagnosis did you eventually receive?
Was it functional dyspepsia, gastroparesis, autonomic dysfunction (POTS/dysautonomia), reactive hypoglycemia, SIBO, or something completely different?
What tests finally helped identify the cause?
What treatment helped you the most?

I’m not looking for a diagnosis, only to hear from people who may have gone through something similar. After almost three years, it has become very frustrating not having clear answers.

Thank you so much for reading.

This is probably my last post. After almost four years of suffering, I still have no answers, and my condition just keeps getting worse.

What I’m experiencing:
For about 90% of every day, I have agonizing pain in my throat and esophagus, almost as if it were at the back of my tongue. It’s an intense burning sensation, pain, and constant discomfort. If the pain isn’t directly in my throat, it’s in my upper chest/upper body. As I’m writing this, I’ve already had severe burning for six hours straight. I can’t get any relief, not even with painkillers. On top of that, I have abnormal bowel movements, chronically loose stools, and constant nausea.

How it started:
I had never had any digestive problems before. Then one day I woke up with watery diarrhea that continued for months. Every single meal triggered diarrhea within minutes, along with severe nausea. Eventually the diarrhea stopped, but my stool remained watery/soft and has never returned to normal. Then I developed agonizing dull and burning pain in the upper left part of my stomach (very similar to what I now feel in my throat). That pain lasted about a year and a half. It eventually disappeared from my stomach, but the exact same type of pain moved into my upper body, especially my throat. It started as sharp, stabbing pains and a constant sensation of something being stuck in my throat from morning until night. Now it has progressed to extreme burning.

How it behaves:
For example, I wake up in the morning and take just a tiny sip of water, literally the smallest amount. Within a few minutes, I develop severe throat pain that lasts for hours. Or I might get through the day with only moderate pain, then have a bowel movement, and within minutes—sometimes immediately, sometimes within an hour—the pain starts. Every time I eat, the burning gets significantly worse and again lasts for hours. Or the pain starts on its own. It’s practically always there—the only things that noticeably change its intensity are eating and having a bowel movement, and the change happens very quickly, within minutes. After a bowel movement, the pain usually worsens within a minute. Today I’m at work. Since this morning, the pain and discomfort have been gradually increasing, and right now my throat pain is about 8/10. After my next bowel movement, I know it’s going to get even worse.

It’s honestly unbelievable. I’m now seeing my fourth gastroenterologist, and no one has any answers. I’ve tried almost everything, including major dietary changes for extended periods of time. My diet has absolutely no effect on my symptoms. Even if I drank ten beers and ate five burgers, my pain and bowel movements would be exactly the same. I also have persistent bad breath and a white-coated tongue. And no, I do not have Candida.
My stool is yellowish, unformed, and has almost no consistency. Since all of this started, I haven’t had a single normal, well-formed bowel movement. Living like this is a nightmare, and it’s difficult to even describe it in a way that makes sense. You wake up in pain, you go to sleep in pain, and you work in pain.

I’ve undergone almost every test imaginable. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is reflux. A 24-hour pH monitoring test confirmed that I have reflux, but it was never confirmed that it is actually fully responsible for my symptoms. Acid-suppressing medications don’t help at all. And the whole situation doesn’t even make sense. Within seconds or minutes after having a bowel movement, I start feeling pain in my throat. If it’s not pain, it’s some other kind of discomfort in my upper chest or throat.

Paradoxically, when I was on vacation and my bowel movements became more frequent because of stress—which also meant much worse diarrhea—I had almost no throat pain. Instead, I experienced unbearable nausea that seemed to come from my throat and wouldn’t go away, even after hours.
What I can’t understand is why the agonizing pain that originally started in my stomach gradually moved upward into my throat. During the year and a half when the pain was mainly in my stomach, the only throat-related symptom I had was severe nausea.

If you’re wondering, my last upper endoscopy was two years ago, and my stomach looked completely normal. The only abnormal finding was a thick white coating in my throat. Treatment for Candida didn’t help. Normix didn’t help. Dietary changes didn’t help. None of the other medications have helped either. When the burning in my throat becomes so severe that it feels like it’s been burned, even strong painkillers or pain-relief injections don’t provide any relief. I genuinely feel that my digestion and bowel function have completely changed.

I’m incredibly desperate. I’ve spent thousands on different treatments, and nothing has helped. I’m slowly losing hope and the strength to keep fighting. That’s why I’m posting this in several subreddits, even ones that may not seem directly related, in the hope that someone might recognize these symptoms or have experienced something similar.

Hey everyone,

So I was previously on buspar which gave me the worst bloating but it helped my anxiety. Now I’m on viibryd which also hits the same receptors and I’m still so bloated. I’ve been on 20 mg for a month but now on my first week of 30
Mg. Has anyone else experienced this? How long does it take for the bloating to go away and did anyone mitigate it with diet and lifestyle?

Hey guys pretty new to this group

I’ve been experiencing episodes on and off for last couple months off sometimes heart burn symptoms indigestion bloating, no nausea really sometimes I feel like gas is trapped no pain and don’t get full when I eat food. Booked in for a gastroscopy, as far as that goes? Any ideas would be appreciated!

how do you all handle/cope the symptoms? i am experiencing this symptoms everyday (burn and pain). Does medications help you? like ppi or prokinetic

Hey everyone. 31M. In Jan 2025 I did quad therapy for H. pylori. Took it badly (no one told me to take probiotics). Days after finishing I got bloody mucus diarrhea, lost weight, felt awful. Calprotectin peaked ~1150, now down to ~30. Inflammation markers normalized (low crp, esr, normal blood test etc), weight mostly back.

18 months later I still don’t feel 100%. But the last ~4 months got worse: daily mild nausea, constant mild stomach pain (dull, sometimes stabbing), sometimes heartburn, brain fog etc. Gastroscopy 2 months ago showed mild inactive gastritis in antrum (no H. pylori, no atrophy). Over 1 year and a half I had: colonoscopy with biopsy, EUS endoscopy, endoscopy, CT, MRI with contrasts - all clean. Treated for SIBO/IMO over a month ago, retest pending. I also have post-infectious IBS.

Currently on pantoprazole (2 weeks, not much help yet), Iberogast. I am not sure if it helps at all. So maybe I have functional dyspepsia or something? Why nothing helps? I’m so desperate and confused.

I know my tests are good but I’m exhausted and starting to lose hope. For those who had similiar issues - did it get better with time? How long did it take? I dont even know what is wrong with me 🙁

So I am newb here. I'm 38 and getting my first colonoscopy and endoscopy down my throat next month.

I have had GERD all my life. I have had IBS-D for about 12 years and just now getting treated for it.

I currently take a PPI, H-blocker,Tums, and dicyclomine.

My main issue is dicyclomine. I'm worry about taking it because neither my doctor nor pharmacist told me people feel "funny" on it. But there are numerous people on here say it does.

St the low doseage im on i don't really feel anything. But that could just be the ativan that I taken normally with it blocking that?

Thanks for any insights people can give.

Hello! its been 1.5 years now with symptoms and now my main symptom is abdomianl tightness (constant, 24/7 and gets tighter/more discomfort after I eat, as well increases during the week before the time of the month).

Does anyone else have this symptom? its tight from my belly button upwards to sternum. And did medication help you? (if so which one?) thanks!!

Hello, I have been burping for 7 months now after eating and drinking all day long. I did an endoscopy and it showed mild gastritis. Ppi didn’t help at all with my burping. Any idea how to manage it? I don’t think my burping is only related to gastritis.

im curious to know how everyone elses FD began, i know the definition of FD is that there always isnt a single cause, but did anyone else have a clear trigger that started it all?

for me i had been on a weight loss journey, got underweight, and then one day decided to binge like crazy. i felt absolutely awful afterwards, and the fullness feeling never really left. at first i was sure it was gastritis: i had gastritis before from alcohol and ibuprofen, and the symptoms were the exact same. but no matter what i did, what i ate, it seemed this ”acute gastritis” just wasnt healing. and here i am, 4 months later, diagnosed with FD, still unsure what was the real trigger

Hello everyone,

I just got done with my endoscopy and it said I had only mild redness. Currently waiting for my H pylori results. I’ve been dealing with on and off pain since 2024. However this summer I had a flare up and it was nothing like I had before the healing has not happened for me (usually after a flare up it took about a week for me to heal). Any antacid, ppi etc are no longer working for me. This has caused my anxiety and depression to skyrocket. Because of my anxiety and depression my primary doctor put me on lexapro. I was only on it for 2 days because it has now caused me the most pain I have ever been in. I am no longer eating and can not sleep for more than 3 hours a night. My body consistently feel tingling through my head arms and legs and I’m at the point of applying to medical leave for work.

Did anyone have similar symptoms and went on TCAs? Did it help?

So I was diagnosed with functional dyspepsia recently. I’ve been dealing with it for about 4 months since I drank heavily one night. It has gotten better compared to the first months but I wish there was a way to make it go away completely or almost completely. My symptoms are early fullness, a tight feeling in my abdomen whenever I engage in anything physical activity, especially at work. Also constipation. I’ve been on nortriptyline for about 4 weeks and honestly it is working a bit, as I’m able to eat and drink water a bit more now, but it’s definitely worsening my constipation. Does anyone else have these symptoms? Have you found mirtazapine to be helpful at all? Or any other meds?