Hi, Ziroc. Well, I do have an M.D. The questions I would like to ask are: 1. Did you take your temperature? 100 degreees or more would indicate a virus. 2. As I understand you, you did not throw up. Did you have diarrhea? If you did not, that pretty much rules out food poisoning. 3. Did you notice any swelling of your hands, feet, or face? Food allergies often cause these, along with urticaria (hives) and difficulty breathing. If all these were absent, I would tend to discount food allergies, though not completely. Now, we come to the most suspicious part. You say that you smoke, about 1 ppd. You take anti-inflammatory drugs, and you drink high-caffiene beverages. These are all well-known contributers to erosive gastritis, the cause of much gastrointestinal bleeding, and peptic ulcer disease. Moreove, they can cause the food in the stomach to reflux into the lower part of the esophagus, causing severe burning pain and the sensation of unease (that we call malaise). I would be forced to conclude that you are suffering one or both of these. You say you take Zantac. How often, and in what dosage? The over-the -counter dosage of Zantac is 75mg, and this is not enough to treat peptic ulcer disease. You probably need to be on a proton-pump inhibitor like Nexxium, Prevacid, or Prilosec. Failing this, I would raise your dosage of Zantac to 300 mg. twice a day. All this, obviously, is no substitute for a physical examination, and the appropriate x-ray and endoscopic studies. Also, your doctor will probably order a blood test for
Helicobacter pylorii, the bacteria that causes some ulcers. Good luck, and e-mail or pm me if I can help anymore:
chefdoc106@aol.com