I think he is doing this to see if it does anything. Doctors will often use meds as diagnostic tools to help them move in one direction or the other towards diagnosis.
I don't know if your pain is upper or lower, but you can also ask him to try viscous lidocaine to see if that does anything
Hugs

I see, well I wish he wouldn't do something like that. Lol. Most medications can cause very unwanted side effects, so I prefer not to take them unless it is necessary. However my abdominal pain is not constant, it appears in both lower as well as upper. Just the other day it was on the right side right below my rib cage right after I finished eating. I never heard of viscous lidocaine before but from what I just read apparently it's used for mouth and throat pain.

Your doudenum is on the right side of the abdomen.. Colon lies sort of like an arch from left to right.
Pain after eating usually can mean gastritis, gall bladder dysfunction and food allergies.
In VERY rare cases in older people it can mean occlusion of mesenteric artery, because when we eat, blood rushes to the arteries of the intestines to aid digestion. When there is a blockage, it causes pain.. Kind of like a heart attack only in Intestinal tract.
I doubt that you have that because the CT with contrast would have shown that.
There are other diagnostic tests :
- ultrasound
- EGD/colonoscopy
- MRCP
- MRI
- barium upper GI studies
- allergy testing

If you have ever had abdominal surgery, there is almost always scar tissue and that can cause pain.
Hope they will figure something out !

Oh yea and HIDA scan as well

Thanks for the response. I'm sure it's not what you mentioned because I am only in my 20s. The most recent time I had a CT scan was earlier this year when I was having pretty bad abdominal pain and the scan came back fine. I did not have contrast however, I usually try to avoid it unless necessary due to my kidneys and what not. I am getting blood drawn this week to see and I might have an endoscopy sometime soon also. I'm a bit nervous about that part as I've never had one before. I was going to at one point due to a previous issue I was having but considering it had gone away on it's own I decided it wasn't really needed at the time. Perhaps I will ask about getting another ultrasound or CT scan done to see if anything new has appeared. Maybe my doctor will write me a referral for that. I've had allergy testing done before, the one food that did come up as a reaction I have pretty much tried to avoid since then so I don't believe that is the issue unless it's a food that they did not test for. I've never heard of a HIDA scan but just from what I found on google it's a scan of the gallbladder, that could be helpful to rule out that being an issue.

I have been taking omeprazole for a few years, it does not completely protect against gi issues if you take nsaids like me, I have a flare up every now and then, but it did stop the continuous gastritis.

This last week I have been hearing on the radio a call for people who have used omeprazole and now have kidney problems, there's a class action lawsuit building. So I will look into that now as I am diabetic. I did have a kidney test earlier this year which came back fine but my dr never mentioned any side effects with omeprazole and it seems to be marketed as completely safe.

It's generic Prilosec, I've used it for a dozen years or more. In 2006 I had to have my esophagus replaced after a couple years of Severe GERD, the acid ate away my Esophageal Sphincter muscle and I could not eat solid food because there was nothing to keep it down in my stomach, I could do some liquid but that came up to, so I was on a feeding tube for a while. I had to have a man made esophagus crafted in, by using part of my upper stomach and muscle harvested from other area's.

Prilosec is not just for GERD or Acid Reflux, it's a Proton Pump Inhibitor that is used to contain extra stomach acid, which can cause other types of stomach pain. Your Dr. is probably trying to diagnose and treat you by ruling out symptoms. Its not unusual.

If you are not seeng a GI specialist, your best bet is to do that.
You really need a CT with contrast to see what's happening.
For someone in your age group, the most frequent diagnosis gastritis, irritable bowel syndrome and allergies.
I would start with alkaline diet. Alkaline diet reduces the need for Omeprazole. Basic heartburn and gastritis can be cured by stress reduction and alkaline diet. Processed foods and soda are completely off limits.

You would also need EGD. This can show gastritis and inflamed bowel. Some people have congenital hernias as well which can cause pain. That may or may not be seen on an X-ray.

Tikka - glad you mentioned it. PPI drugs ( Omeprazole, Nexium, lansoprazole, pantoprazole) have had warnings out for at least several years. The problem is , in my experience , most Americans are refusing to take charg of their diet.
We used to give them a list of foods we want them to eat so they can reduce the need for medication and I be only seen 1 or 2 people seriously follow it with good results.
" what???? I have to give up coffee and lean cuisine ?? And orange juice? And macaroni and cheese from the box?? "
I was like : " okay. Then what would you like us to do? You are already on Omeprazole and Ranitidine and you continue to drink soda and wine "
It is a losing battle.

Sorry, I missed that you are seeing a GI guy.
I would evaluate your relationship with your doctor carefully.
At this point I be become a
Professional patient and I also have a pretty long history of working in the medical field.
Many doctors do not care about how we are doing as patients. They just want to cure a problem quickly.
Some physicians are very interested in actually figuring out how to help you.
If you feel like your specialist doesn't care - change.
I good clinician will always want to know about your mental well being and your social surroundings because this helps diagnose the problem.

I remember seeing the warnings about bone fractures in older people but I missed the kidney stuff until this lawyer radio ad.

Yes, diet is paramount for me, no junk food/fast food, soda etc.
doesn't take much for my ibd to go crazy, and my stomach is already under pressure if I take nsaids.

'If you feel like your specialist doesn't care - change. '
Not always that easy for a lot of people, these 'narrow networks' which have become popular make it difficult, and every policy I have looked at so far on the 'obamacare' exchange needs pcp referral, which always seems to end up a mess up of going back and forth between the pcp, insurance co and specialist. I haven't found out a way to get it all to work so far.

Stress causes me gut problems and no appetite, and it's stressful just trying to access treatment that is covered by insurance.

ChickenTikka Thanks for that, I didn't know about any kidney complication. I do have kidney problems already, because of that I avoid taking NSAIDs and anything else that can affect the kidney. I also did read something about bones being effected by it. I agree with what you said about specialists, it's hard to change doctors, sometimes I'll go to the doctor for something and I'll wind up getting a letter later on telling me how my insurance company did not cover the visit. It's really frustrating. I've had to stop going to physical therapy before because of it, and other things have not been covered as well. It's a shame that some people can't even get the medical help they need. I wish these insurance companies were just better handled or I just had the money to pay out of pocket for what I need.

@Aronia It can be really hard to give up some things in your diet though. However I do agree that sometimes it's definitely for the best. I've already given up quite a few things for the better of my die. I gave up things like soda and cut back on my fast food from every week to an extremely rare occasion. I did that as a teen and never looked back, I also never drink alcohol and watch my medication consumption as well. I still don't have the healthiest diet but it's better than a lot of people my age (mid 20s) and better than it used to be. So I'm glad for that.

I decided to try one of the pills anyways and so far I'm not liking this one bit. I've just had gas and stomach cramps since taking it. He wanted me to eat after taking it, but I can't do that at this rate.

maybe you are just sensitive to it? My pharmacist and doctor told me to take 2 omeprazole pills to equal one nexium.

Gas (Flatulance) is a common side effect of Prilosec.

As for the Class Action suit it's been found that there is a 0.01% to 0.1% chance of developing Liver disease, fatal hepatic failure, liver necrosis, mixed hepatitis, jaundice from Prilosec, and this was discovered in Post Marketing Reports. This means that a few people out of the thousands that take Prilosec got sick, they were most likely taking multiple drugs, and Prilosec was one of them, so they got tagged.

Therefore some Lawyer's Aid whose job it is to hang out at the Court House Records office or Hospital Records office got wind of it and now they're trying to cash in on a Class Action Suit that will probably never make it to conclusion.

Just because you can file a Class Action Suit in most States as soon as you find 50 Plaintiffs, doesn't mean it has merit or should actually be filed.