distracting pain; could it be portal hypertension? Help!

[Guest guest]

Hey all, it's , the " lurker. " Now that is a strange word isn't it!?

Anyway I'm hanging in there but have been having some troubling problems. I am

probably 6 or 7 yrs post treatment that didn't work. Geez, time goes by-I can't

believe it's been so long! HepC has become my past, present & future. Don't

worry I try not to wallow in it-I have nine kids in their 20's(including son and

daughters-in law) so when I'm not feeling bad I don't even think about it. And

that's the problem right now . . . I've been constantly sick and feeling awful

more often than not. Here's a quick list of some of my HepC complication

diagnoses:

HCV related arthritis

Portal hypertension

Cryoglobulinemia

GERD

Neuropathy

I have migraines ALL the time, don't know if they're medication related, HepC

related, pain med related, marriage or child related. I have a lot of pain

issues, swollen and painful joints, lots of pain in the winter here (MN) because

of the cryo, as well as flu like aches and pain from time to time. I've taken

oxycodone and the extended release foroxycontin for probably five years. I

haven't really pushed for higher dosages-I was up to 20 mg(extended release)

twice a day and have 5mg(regular) and will take up to four of those for

" breakthrough " pain. I've wanted to stop taking all of it because I'm just sick

of the stigma and the hassle getting prescriptions every month, but also I hate

that if I feel good one day I still have to take it or else my body goes

bananas!

Are all pain meds like that?

Well I started going down, now take 10mg twice a day and get a lesser amount of

the 5mg. My plan was to wean off and take nothing.

About a year or so ago I started having intermittent chest pain. It's pretty

localized and I'm pretty sure it's in the esophagus. It's been a few years since

my last endoscopy but then dr. said I had " significant changes " in the

appearance of the lining of stomach and esophagus. I've been taking prilosec for

at least three years, I take zantac and have been eating Tums like candy. In

spite of that I have the pain more and more to the point that it's a notable day

when it's NOT there. Some of the advice I'm looking for is what do you think is

causing it? The pain can be so intense that I can hardly stand it, if it's bad

enough my regular pain meds do little more than dull it enough so that I can

relax and be distracted from it. Now that I've reduced my dosages I can only

just take the edge off the pain.

Could regular GERD reflux cause pain that severe? Should I be worried about

things like varices? I'm thinking that's where portal hypertension leads.

Another issue is that I've been on antibiotics constantly. I keep getting sinus

infections that don't respond, I've had pneumonia twice in the last year and a

half. In October I realized that certain antibiotics really aggravate the

nausea, stomach discomfort and chest pain and so quit taking levaquin after 8

weeks. Within a month I had another sinus infection, a bad one and still can't

get rid of it. So back on antibiotics-first one caused no problems, second one

did irritate all the GERD/portal hypertension symptoms.

Does ANYONE else have chest pain that is extremely bad?

And does anyone have problems with constant infections?

Should I be insisting on a new endoscopy? I've done a lot of searching and

can't figure out if non bleeding varices could be causing the degree of pain I'm

experiencing.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, I only post when I'm at at my

wit's end with whatever problem I'm having and I don't know why but somehow

understanding the " what's and " why's " make it all more tolerable.