Long story short: unidentified stomach pain for 2 years leads to hunching to alleviate it. Confirmed neck herniation, ortho isn’t concerned, will have to continue this position for foreseeable future. Accompanied by significant weight loss, due to stomach flare up.
Am I good to put this on the back burner until we can figure out the stomach thing??
My insurance denied:
-omeprazole, which is the only thing keeping me out of the ER with severe stomach/GI pain
-my antidepressant/anxiety med, which I’ve been stable on for over a year
They’ve also denied other meds in the same categories, so it feels like they’re blocking the classes that actually work for me.
I’m using GoodRx for omeprazole right now, but I want to know how to actually get this through insurance.
They’ve already tried prior authorizations and insurance is still denying it, so what is the next step after that?
Has anyone gotten this fixed after insurance denied meds that were already working?
32F, 5’9”, ~125 lbs.
I’ve had severe mid-sternum/upper abdominal pain since August 2024. It used to be occasional, but now it’s basically daily, with flares lasting 3+ days where I can barely eat or drink. I also get nausea, pain under the right ribs, and I can’t tell if I’m hungry, full, need more food, or ate too much. I’ve lost ~25–30 lbs total, including ~15 lbs in 2 weeks recently.
Diagnoses: GERD, rapid gastric emptying, hypertrophic gastritis / hypertrophic gastric rugae.
Testing so far: 2 CTs with contrast, upper GI fluoroscopy (confirmed hypertrophic gastritis), endoscopy, colonoscopy, RUQ ultrasound, HIDA/CCK scan, gastric emptying scan (confirmed rapid emptying), lots of bloodwork, allergy testing.
Other relevant stuff: 4 ER visits total, 2 anti-nausea meds caused severe anxiety reactions, Zofran ODT 8 mg is the only one I tolerate, and right now I’m basically surviving on plain white rice and blended drinks + protein powder & complete nutrition drink (going on 1 week now).
Questions:
- Has anyone had GERD + rapid gastric emptying + hypertrophic gastritis together?
- If so, what ended up actually being wrong?
- What foods/drinks could you tolerate during bad flares?
- Did anything help stop the weight loss while waiting for specialist care?
- If I call the motility/GI specialist and ask for an emergent visit, will I actually be taken seriously?
I’m waiting on a motility/GI specialist, but the soonest available was July, so I’m just trying to make it through without ending up back in the ER 10 more times.