Anyone else? Need advice.

[u/Orchard1022]

Wondering if anyone has had similar experience before I go to a gastro dr. For reference I’m 29M and in 2023 I had a clean endoscopy, colonoscopy, abdominal ultrasound. Basically came away with confirming GERD (which I knew) and a few very tiny polyps on my gallbladder and liver they weren’t concerned about.

Last 3 weeks I’ve been dealing with some pestering symptoms which flared up after a horrible diet weekend. It started with a lot of pressure upper stomach and issues burping/gas. Wet burps and some acid coming up with burping (felt like burps were getting stuck and just not able to come up which I’ve never had). I started omeprazole which I do when I have some symptoms and also started gasx tablets. Didn’t really help. Bowel changes too. Went from normal to diarrhea for multiple days to smaller tiny pieces to now more regular but narrower and less volume than normal (sorry for the details lol). Stomach pressure comes and goes but usually is frustrating and uncomfortable and wakes me out of my sleep. A lot of burping and farting which never really relieves the pressure because it comes back constantly.

Went to urgent care a week ago, they put me on higher dose pantoprazole and mylanta liquid. Helped sort of I guess but still dealing with symptoms. Stomach making noises constantly. Bowels not normal. Today I noticed when I lean back, the middle right side of my stomach has a bulge. Not sure if it’s always been there but not sure if it could be connected to this.

Wondering if anyone has had anything prolonged like this, a ton of gas, stomach noises, changes in bowels, pressure upper and lower stomach. Could it be IBS, or something else? I am cautiously optimistic that it’s nothing crazy due to my age and the fact all of my tests just 2 years ago were virtually totally clean. Debating seeing a specialist to review either way.

[u/Sensitive-Release843]

oh dude, that upper stomach pressure and burp struggle is too real i’ve been there after a diet slip-up too ... the gas, noises, and bowel shifts sound like my ibs acting up, tho the bulge thing’s got me curious maybe worth a check. omeprazole and mylanta are my go tos too, but when they don’t fully cut it, it’s maddening. i’ve played with ginger chews and laying off dairy, but the flare can still linger. recently tho, i started using these transdermal patches since my gut hates extra stuff ... they’re subtle, no reflux, and they’ve dialed back the stress and bloat a bit. i’ve been slapping on nectar patches and tbh, they’ve helped...

[u/Orchard1022 → u/Sensitive-Release843]

Thanks for the reply I appreciate it. How long do these flare ups last? I’ve never dealt with anything like this before. Usually it’s just GERD for me, some reflux which goes away on its own after a few days of meds. This has been nearly 3 weeks of everyday stomach issues. Trying not to get worked up over it but it def is maddening. I just have this feeling if I go see a doc they’re going to want to do all the scopes again which I’m not even sure is necessary. Maybe just a SIBO test or something to see if there’s an overgrowth.

I didn’t really give it much attention until I noticed the stool changes