[21749]

All,First of this site has been soooo helpful for me, thanks to everyone.7 years ago I came back from visiting Asia with some kind of virus. I had a colonoscopy and full GI series of exams done and only think found in my colonoscopy was some slight inflammation. I was put on antibiotics and responded well to that. About a year and a half ago I started to have symptoms like mucus in stools and loose stools. My doctor diagnosed me with post infectious IBS. Recently in the past few months my symptoms have gotten worst. I don't really have diarrhea often, like alot of people on this forum do and I am not really ever constipated. I wake up in the morning and have a bowel movement first thing, bujt sometimes I will have to go 4-5 times in the morning. My stools will be very loose, sometimes float and usually will have mucus. If I ever do have diarrhea, it is usally followed by passing only mucus stools. They will start out yellowish then go clear and it will continue like that the rest of the day. I rarely have pain in my abdomen, but I noticed when I have those only mucus stools, I will have some pain. I also noticed some foods just don't digest and come out of me the way they went in ( black beans, mushrooms, zzuchinni). I've had blood in my stool only once, but it was in the mucus and not in the actual stool and was bright red, so i think this is most likely a hemmarhoid.. That was about two months ago, but no blood since. I have a colonoscopy schedyuled for Monday, but I am nervous about this possibly being Ulcerative colitis or something worse like cancer.Anyone have any symptoms like this or any information they can share with me???Thanks!!

 

[eric]

Phillyguy, try not to worry. Its pretty much sounds like IBS and its a good thing your getting a colonoscopy to make sure.People can't diagnose you here of course, but those could certainly be symptoms of IBS.Do you have the feeling of incomplete evacuation by any chance?Does this wake you up at night?and do you have any of these?"Anemia, bleeding, unexplained weight loss, or fever are not characteristic of IBS. You should alert your physician immediately if you are experiencing these symptoms. Other factors that may suggest the presence of an organic disease include awakening from sleep at night, family history of colon cancer or inflammatory bowel disease, and onset of symptoms (or change in symptoms) over the age of 50. "http://www.aboutibs.org/characteristics.htmlOne thing you should ask about is the foods passing through you like that and what trests there are for that also.Next time you see a doctor print these and ask about them.Questions to Ask Your Doctorhttp://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art...rticlekey=13683

 

[16858]

Eric, I have had IBS now (Or think I do) for 3 months now and woke up in the middle of the night with it around 4 times.. what's an organic disease mean? Thanks.. I am still getting tests to prove / disprove crohns. I have weight loss (6 lbs) and eat plenty. The 6lbs has stayed consistent since the start of this. I have had some blood too.. Oh this is so not fun!!

Jen

 

[eric]

Jenona Have you had a colonoscopy? Has your doctor talked to you about what you might have?There are also some good questions to ask your doctor that you can print and take with you.Questions to Ask Your Doctorhttp://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art...rticlekey=13683"organic diseaseA disease process which occurs as the result of a demonstrable anatomic or physiologic abnormality."

 

[21749]

Eric - I have never been woken up at night due to my bowel problems. Usually at night I feel very good, and don't have much bowel problems. I never have a fever and haven't seen any weight loss. I did a complete blood panel at the end of January and everything came back normal (blood counts, liver panel, etc.) Only thing I had was an elevated cholesterol. I've only had blood once, but it seemed like it was in the mucus only and it was bright red, so I am thinking it is hemmaroids. This mroning though, for example I onlyt passed mucus in my bowel movement with only a little bit of brown stool. Does anyone else have symptoms similar to this??

 

[eric]

phillyguy22 That is sounding like IBS.Have you ever had stool tests done?Mucus and IBS is common."Some patients see gobs of mucous in the stool and become concerned. Mucous is a normal secretion of the bowel, although most of the time it cannot be seen. IBS patients sometimes produce large amounts of mucous, but this is not a serious problem. "http://www.gicare.com/pated/ecdgs03.htm"Excess mucus production, which often occurs in IBS, is not related to mucosal injury. Its cause is unclear, but it may be related to cholinergic hyperactivity."http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/sec...apter32/32a.jspThe bowel walls are constantly shedding cells. In IBS the altered contractions, sometimes violent can contribute to excess mucus production.

 

[21749]

I am still awaiting the results of the stool tests. I had to do a re test because the labcorp center only did a stool culture, which did come back negative. I am awaiting results on the remainder of testes (white blood cells in stool, celiac, and other tests). I guess i am soo nervous because when I saw my GI doc, who has been excellent by the way, and told him of the one time occurence of blood in stool, he immediately thought colitis. I've read though with colitis, you have recurring diarrhea with blood in the stool, which I don't have. I may have diarrhea once a week, but never with any blood. Usually my stools are just greasy and loose. The first BM in the morning will seem regular though. The stools after that tend to be mucuosy and thing.