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Thanks... am feeling a lot better about this. Sometimes you do things on the spur of the moment and wonder what the hell you've done

I have no other symptoms really. My skin colour is fine and I'm not pale or jaundiced - folk say I look really well.

Bowel movements are a bit erratic at the moment; I used to be quite regular while at the moment it feels a bit less comfortable and occurs at different times ot the day to usual.

Over the last couple fo weeks there were a few moments of the trots; I'd go to the bathroom once then have to go back 20 minutes later with a much more watery stool. Thereafter I'd be fine for the rest of the day.

Food can make a difference; I'm avoiding rich food as that does make me feel a bit worse and sometimes the thought of a spicy black pudding can make me feel a bit ill (it didn't used to).

I'm male, in my late 30s and getting a bit annoyed at the moment.

It all started in April when I got what felt like a colic attack at a meal (intense stomach pain, sweating and nausea). I've had dull stomach pains ever since (on and off) along with heartburn, indigestion and feeling sick all of which tend to come and go but I seem to have them more often than not.

There doesn't appear to be a single trigger that causes it but I did have indigestion for most of the past weekend. The pain also moves about, sometimes at the top of my abdomen under my ribcage and sometimes a bit lower down

I've been checked for gallstones, had the H Pylori eradication therapy and have just started a course of proton pump inhibitors. All other blood tests were normal too. I've been referred for a endoscopy to see if they can spot any inflammation in my stomach but that won't be for a few weeks now. Had the physio check it out too but she can't find anything wrong either. I don't drink and don't smoke so two of the major risk factors are already ruled out.

It's really annoying as I can't really run. I'm able to swim and go hiking and sometimes that seems to help the pain but I do worry in case I make it worse.

Anyone got any ideas? I've been under a lot of stress at work (my employer has announced another severe round of redundancies and I'm doubting whether I'll escape it this time) so it might be a bit stress related.

I'm getting a bit down by this-- I appear to be losing all my fitness as I can't do as much as I used to be able to and it's really bothering me.

Obviously, people are a lot more ill than me and this doesn't appear to be serious (just really uncomfortable) but any advice would be gratefully received

My height is 1.77m and I weigh roughly 102kg and while I'm reasonably solid looking I don't think I look particularly overweight although the scales obviously disagree..

I think I'm going to aim for a 10% reduction in weight for a start. I've gone out and bought kitchen scales so I'll start controlling my portion sizes and take it from there. My fiancee has decided that she wants to go on a diet too (not that she has to in my opinion) so we can diet togther which I think will be a great help