Insomnia with GI issues
October 17, 2016 7:18 AM Subscribe
I know YNMD and I'm going to see mine but not for a week, but what could be making me have GI issues only at night? Again? Lots of details inside...
So, almost a year ago I started getting bouts of stomach bug / food poisoning symptoms at night several weeks apart. I'd be up all night, and after a few of these bouts I started having severe insomnia on other nights... to the point of sleeping about an hour or two every third night. My GI issues started up all the time, and I lost a lot of weight. Many specialists / ER visits / medications later, I was diagnosed with a Blastocysits Hominus parasite. The doctors were divided on whether this caused my symptoms, but after an extra high dose of Flagyl, my GI problems disappeared. The insomnia took some time, and I found good results with a combo of Remeron and Clonazipan. After a few months, I was able to wean off the Clonazapan, and two months ago I decided to wean off the Remeron, as the side effects were getting to me.
Now! It's been less extreme, but last night was the third night in a month were I was up most of the night with vomiting and diarrhea. I'm going to get into see my doctor, and I'm thinking of preemptively starting the Remeron again.
So, what I'm asking is: is this another parasite? Is this a chronic illness like IBS, and I just need to symptom manage? Could this be an anxiety disorder? The bad nights have all been weeknights where I have a stressful day coming up. Anyone else deal with something like this?
Thank you
So, almost a year ago I started getting bouts of stomach bug / food poisoning symptoms at night several weeks apart. I'd be up all night, and after a few of these bouts I started having severe insomnia on other nights... to the point of sleeping about an hour or two every third night. My GI issues started up all the time, and I lost a lot of weight. Many specialists / ER visits / medications later, I was diagnosed with a Blastocysits Hominus parasite. The doctors were divided on whether this caused my symptoms, but after an extra high dose of Flagyl, my GI problems disappeared. The insomnia took some time, and I found good results with a combo of Remeron and Clonazipan. After a few months, I was able to wean off the Clonazapan, and two months ago I decided to wean off the Remeron, as the side effects were getting to me.
Now! It's been less extreme, but last night was the third night in a month were I was up most of the night with vomiting and diarrhea. I'm going to get into see my doctor, and I'm thinking of preemptively starting the Remeron again.
So, what I'm asking is: is this another parasite? Is this a chronic illness like IBS, and I just need to symptom manage? Could this be an anxiety disorder? The bad nights have all been weeknights where I have a stressful day coming up. Anyone else deal with something like this?
Thank you
IA also NYD, but (maybe):
1. food allergy? Food allergy reactions are often quick, but could be delayed. You said it was only on nights where you had a stressful day coming up, but maybe it was coincidence? Maybe you ate something on those particular evenings that caused it.
2. yep, could be anxiety disorder, although it sounds pretty severe if it is just that (vomiting! and! diarrhea. Oof. That sounds terrible. Here are some healing vibes through the interwebs for you [ ] : ) .
3. Sleep apnea (which can definitely cause digestive distress and add to /amplify anxiety disorder). If it only happens at night, a sleep study or two may be helpful figuring this out.
4. reflux - regular GERD or LPR (aka 'silent reflux'. Lots of people are unfamiliar with silent reflux... basically you still get acid leaking into your throat, but you don't necessarily get heartburn or pain. Instead your body wigs out in other ways as a result). You can in fact (and many people do) only have reflux symptoms at night, usually because acid leaks out of your stomach and up into your throat since you are lying down, and it may be due to a weakening of the sphincter muscle that keeps it in there during the day. There's a variety of things you can try to lessen this possibility (Google around for more tips) - such as raise the head of your bed with block a few inches, sleep on your left side (seriously!), do not eat anything within 3-4 hours of bedtime. None of those are a guarantee to fix the problem if you have nighttime reflux, though. Some reflux meds taken before bedtime might help, as well as dietary changes.
Any of those above could exacerbate the others, and then you get to play the chicken-or-egg game deciding which thing is the cause and which is the effect.
So yes, you could certainly have a chronic condition of some kind. Good luck!
posted by bitterkitten at 8:06 AM on October 17, 2016
1. food allergy? Food allergy reactions are often quick, but could be delayed. You said it was only on nights where you had a stressful day coming up, but maybe it was coincidence? Maybe you ate something on those particular evenings that caused it.
2. yep, could be anxiety disorder, although it sounds pretty severe if it is just that (vomiting! and! diarrhea. Oof. That sounds terrible. Here are some healing vibes through the interwebs for you [ ] : ) .
3. Sleep apnea (which can definitely cause digestive distress and add to /amplify anxiety disorder). If it only happens at night, a sleep study or two may be helpful figuring this out.
4. reflux - regular GERD or LPR (aka 'silent reflux'. Lots of people are unfamiliar with silent reflux... basically you still get acid leaking into your throat, but you don't necessarily get heartburn or pain. Instead your body wigs out in other ways as a result). You can in fact (and many people do) only have reflux symptoms at night, usually because acid leaks out of your stomach and up into your throat since you are lying down, and it may be due to a weakening of the sphincter muscle that keeps it in there during the day. There's a variety of things you can try to lessen this possibility (Google around for more tips) - such as raise the head of your bed with block a few inches, sleep on your left side (seriously!), do not eat anything within 3-4 hours of bedtime. None of those are a guarantee to fix the problem if you have nighttime reflux, though. Some reflux meds taken before bedtime might help, as well as dietary changes.
Any of those above could exacerbate the others, and then you get to play the chicken-or-egg game deciding which thing is the cause and which is the effect.
So yes, you could certainly have a chronic condition of some kind. Good luck!
posted by bitterkitten at 8:06 AM on October 17, 2016
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On one of these bad nights, aside from the GI issues, what's your mental state like? Are you constantly thinking about the upcoming stressful day, fretting about something in particular, imagining horrible outcomes? Any other non-GI anxiety symptoms?
IANAD, but I have anxiety issues. Which makes me not at all qualified in any way :)
posted by duoshao at 7:43 AM on October 17, 2016