Indigestion (Dyspepsia, Upset Stomach) »
What is dyspepsia (indigestion)?
Dyspepsia is one of the most common ailments of the bowel (intestines),
affecting an estimated 20% of persons in the United States. Perhaps only 10% of those
affected actually seek medical attention for their dyspepsia. Dyspepsia is not a
particularly good term for the ailment since it implies that there is "dyspepsia"
or abnormal digestion of food, and this most probably is not the case. In fact,
another common name for dyspepsia is indigestion, which, for the same reason, is
no better than the term dyspepsia! Doctors frequently refer to the condition as
non-ulcer dyspepsia.
Dyspepsia (indigestion) is best described as a functional disease. (Sometimes, it is called
functional dyspepsia.) The concept of functional disease is particularly useful
when discussing diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. The concept applies to
the muscular organs of the gastrointestinal tract-esophagus, stomach, small
intestine, gallbladder...
Read the Indigestion (Dyspepsia, Upset Stomach) article »
My physician prescribed Xifaxan last February because I felt that the gas and diarrhea I was having might be bacterial in origin. I was happy with the way it worked. After the six pills a day for 10 days I resumed my daily probiotics and all went well. But I seem to have recurrent periods of poor bowel health and am having one now. After gall bladder surgery in mid-July, eveything was good until another flare-up, which developed into a bowel obstruction episode and a couple of days in the hospital. Since then, I can't seem to shake the diarrhea. I asked to try the Xifaxan again and am using it, but it seems not to be improving my symptoms. What I experienced between the original course of antibiotics and now was a period of time when I felt a lot more strong and resilient and less gassy. I had enough days of normalcy that I thought perhaps I had gotten beyond my years of difficulties. Here I am again. Oy vey. Published: September 16 ::