What's happening with my body in middle of night?

I don't eat after 6pm.

I always wake around 2 - 3am to go pee.

Sometimes that will cause my stomach to start gurgling and within 10-15 minutes I'm simultaneously vomiting and defacating.

Recently I discovered that immediately taking Pepcid (or Tagamet) at the first 'gurgle' will stop the double ended expulsions from starting, but I'm left feeling quite crappy (but not as crappy as when I go through the whole vomiting/defacating thing).

Why would walking to and fro bathroom in middle of the night cause that? I thought it was because I would have a sip of water -- but I stopped doing that, yet it still persists.

The only weak pattern I've discerned is eating more carbs on those days.

Any ideas / similar experiences?

 

I'm with @Trish on this. Especially if this is a recent development you haven't had checked before it sounds like it should be investigated.

 

Sorry to hear this @ScottTriGuy

I wanted to say things that i experienced which resemble to some of your symptoms. In the middle of the night i would wake up feeling extremely bloated and that would signal a need to vomit (which i hadn't done at any time) and to defecate. I had the exact same symptom of gargling in the intestines as if my body was signaling that whatever is in there , it should be taken out ASAP.

One other thing i noticed is that i would sweat quite a lot while having these symptoms (but not all of the times).

However your trigger is really strange so yes, better have it checked as it appears that this is not one of the known symptoms as @Trish and @Invisible Woman suggested.

 

Yes, that happens too -- 'normally' I'm cold so wear multiple layers, but I start sweating and have to peel off the layers -- usually once the sweating starts, the worse is about to come.

Have you found anything that helped (beyond Pepcid)? I suspect a delayed gastric functioning type thing.

 

It started last summer -- I got my GP to send me to an allergist (that had done a lecture on MCAS, so thought he'd be good) -- but he said it didn't fit with allergies or MCAS and gave me req form anyway for serum tryptase testing within 2 hours of one of these events -- so that's not gonna happen at 3am, and I'm too sick to be safely driving during that time.

 

Please have in mind that these are just hypotheses. Yes this is what i came to think about as well. It resembled gastroparesis when i was trying to find what is going. Speaking for n=1 (myself) i found that these symptoms were attributed to increased sympathetic activation as found by using an HRV monitoring device. The classical trigger would be to eat something late at night (which you don't do, last meal at 6PM is way too early). I would also add reduced appetite that many ME patients experience to the same group of symptoms.


Perhaps you could monitor your HRV and see what comes up (apart from checking this out with a doctor)

 

That's a good idea, and not just for this issue, so will get on that.

 

@ScottTriGuy I'm sorry that you're experiencing these horrible symptoms at night. It sounds very distressing. Do you think it could be related to autonomic issues?

 

I'd definitely speak to your doctor again, and ask for a referral if necessary.

The only similar thing I've experienced is waking suddenly in the middle of the night, with my stomach jolting hard as if I'm about to be sick and my whole body shaking. It used to happen almost every night, but I was never actually sick; it subsided within a few minutes and I'd go back to sleep. When I made notes about what time I'd eaten and what time it woke me, I realised it was happening at roughly the same stage of the digestive process each time.

Over the following year it got worse and worse, happening throughout the day and sometimes accompanied by vomiting and/or diarrhoea. I was eventually diagnosed with an h. pylori infection, and as soon as this was treated, it went away.

Obviously I have no idea what's causing it for you, but it doesn't sound like a typical ME symptom. It sounds absolutely horrible, I do hope you find a way to relieve it.

ETA: changed 'GP' to 'doctor'.

 

It could be -- not sure what the 'automatic' thing gets triggered from going pee in the middle of the night.

If Pepcid, a H2 blocker, helps, that's indicative of MCAS stuff I'd think.

But yes, will have to go back to my doc, ask to see a gastro - and for h. pylori test.

 

Same. My symptoms were worse at night.

 

@ScottTriGuy I did the urea breath test to determine if the infection (h.pylori) was active. I believe I had the infection for at least 5 years at the onset of ME before a virologist decided to test me.

I also take PepzinGI, it has healed my gut completely.

 

But it didn't cure your ME, I'm guessing. Still, any improved quality of life is appreciated.

 

Well no it didn't cure ME, but it was interesting that the gut symptoms (grinding sick nausea etc) started at the same time as my sudden viral onset. I had gut issues similar to yours for years that increasing got worse over time.

 

H. pylori is one of the obvious possibilities to rule out. The breath test I did wasn't entirely conclusive, but as my appointment happened to be an early morning one and I hadn't eaten for 14 hours anyway, they offered to do an upper endoscopy whilst I was there. Only took about five minutes, and it confirmed the diagnosis.

 

@ScottTriGuy - this sounds awful! I hope you can get some answers from your doctor(s).

For myself, although your situation may be quite different, I very often feel nauseated with upright positions, but I don't throw up.
Sometimes some new supplement or prescription drug I have to take will increase my GI symptoms.
Have you looked at this possibility? Side effects of prescriptions, and supplements?

I'm sure you've considered COVID-19.
You've probably seen that health care workers now understand this virus presents in a number of ways for people, not just the usual list we originally saw: fever, sore throat, dry cough, difficulty breathing etc.
There are apparently some with this illness who get GI upsets.

Best overall idea is to consult your doctor.

Take care, and hope you can improve from this. As you say, "any improved quality of life is appreciated."

 

It sounds a lot like a para-sympathetic, vaso-vagal type of response. You may want to examine the side effects of the medicines that you take, dose and schedule.

The timing of the events also make me wonder whether you have any kind of gallbladder disease, as it reminds me the attacks usually come in the middle of the night.

Best wishes

 

@ScottTriGuy The only thing I have experienced similar to you is bouts of retching as if poisoned and I get loose bowels with it. Weakness is extreme and I can barely walk, very frail with it. It's difficult to eat even though I am hungry. It tends to pass after 2-4 days.

This doesn't happen very often though. The last time I experienced it was when my mother was in hospital over a year ago and I was overdoing going to the hospital to visit her and walking the long corridors of the hospital - was way over my limit of what I could sustain over a period of time.

 

I have experienced something vaguely similar on a few occasions, but I can't offer any ideas or suggestions.

It started with my waking up vomiting, after a it happened on a few occasions I would wake up just before, when it was in my throat.

I spotted a pattern, sort of, it generally followed a few days of a heavy poor quality carb diet - mostly with low quality fats.

A few days after I slip into this sort of thing it starts again, and I now realise what's happening and both change diet and stop eating for several hours before bed (I normally have a tendency to not eat from around 6-7pm, intending to go to bed before midnight but not do so and end up eating at 1-2am, and then going to bed 3-4am).

I also cut down the amount I drink, of water/squash, for several hours before bed - the idea was to reduce 'contents' that could cause pressure in some positions while sleeping - but I do drink a lot of fluids compared with most people, and my transit is quite slow.

I suspect that the contractions from vomiting cause things to move in the other direction as well.

In my case I suspect it's some form of intolerance, as my body reacts as if it's been poisoned, similar to what can occasionally happen after drinking excessively.

It sounds as if you drew the same basic conclusions as I did, and we adopted a similar approach, only in my case it worked, and in yours it didn't - hence why I can't offer any suggestions, as you've already tried what I did.