Joanna,

I'm sorry to hear you're having even more issues. I went thru a similar period with gastro symptoms that resembled gastroparesis about one year ago.

It started with terrible indigestion and burping and loud digestion noises. I also was experiencing upper abdomen discomfort to the point if I hit a bump in the road while driving it was mildly painful. Then a few weeks later I started to experience bouts of diarrhea. I had a CAT scan which revealed a thickening of the upper part of the stomach, and a possible thickening of part of the small intestine. I then had a pill endoscopy for a better look inside which suggested slow motility of the small intestine. All of this scared the crap out of me.

I was convinced my sfn was now causing autonomic issues that would be permanent. By now I was experiencing some early satiety (mild) and totally lost my appetite. I went without a hunger pang for months, and I normally get them numerous times a day as I have a high metabolism. I still ate 3 times a day but it was somewhat forced. Finally my doctor scheduled a gastric emptying taste which to the surprise of both of us was normal.

During this period the Dr. first prescribed a proton pump inhibitor which did nothing, may have actually made me worse, and was discontinued after several weeks. He then prescribed Librax, which is a combination low dose benzodiazepine and anti-spasmodic. This definitely helped. I was on it for 2 months, then stopped for a month, but symptoms returned so I took it for 2 more months. At this point my symptoms had decreased to the point I wanted to be off the medication as benzodiazepines can be unhealthy for long periods although this was a very low dose and many people to take Librax for years.

My response to Librax suggested anxiety could have been the cause or a contributing factor to my symptoms. It's also possible it was inflammation that went away. I researched this on the web and recall reading many studies of functional dyspepsia (stomach aches) and research suggested that in some patients their stomach didn't expand properly when eating but a cause could not be found. This may be responsible for the early satiety. I recall reading of a study where patients with this issue responded to buspirone, an anti anxiety med. And anxiety can certainly cause a lack of appetite and many digestion issues. If you google the term "second brain" you will find many articles discussing the whole nervous system within the gut.

I specifically asked my Dr. when my diagnosis was looking unfavorable if he saw my symptoms in other patients. He replied he did, and the issues often improved with time. I can confirm that was true in my case. My digestion issues are mostly gone. But my sfn rages on.

But please don't discount how enormous an impact anxiety can have on your digestive system. We often don't want to admit that our conditions cause anxiety, or take medication for it as it feels like a sign of weakness.

My suggestion is if you have ruled out all the other functional causes of your symptoms, including anything related to your AS, please keep an open mind about other possibilities.

Good luck and I hope your symptoms dissipate over time as mine did.