[cscought]

Hello all, I'm new here but probably should have joined a while back.I think I developed IBS not long after my son was born about a year ago. I was pretty much OK. It was an occasional problem that caused me more anxiety than anything else, but I still pretty much functioned like normal. Well, about a month ago I decided I could try and take a probiotic and see if that would help me at all. I took Culturelle for about a week and did not like the effects it was having on me so I stopped. Ever since I stopped taking it I've had loose, mushy stools every morning when I wake up, preceded by some stomach cramping which I believe is from excess gas moving through my bowels. The doctors and everyone keeps telling me that probiotic could not have done this to me, when I know this problem didn't start until I can into contact with that stuff. I don't have insurance so I can't just go from doctor to doctor. I've been to a doctor and GI doctor and had blood, stool, urine tests that all came out normal. I've also had an abdominal/pelvic ultrasound that came back fine and recently a colonoscopy. My colonoscopy was miserable and painful. The GI said I have a "very tortuous colon." I think this might be why it causes me such cramping when I have gas moving through my system. I had that procedure done 3 days ago. Since then I'm still having one loose stool per day. I've only been eating oatmeal and cream of rice. Tonight I experienced something new and frightening to me. I woke up in the middle of sleep three times with very load stomach noises, gas moving through my system and eventually had to get to the bathroom. I hate to be gross, but I had watery diarrhea with smallish formed pieces of stool in it. Has this ever happened to anyone..and in the middle of sleeping? I'm worried that I have something other than IBS..that something else is causing this problem for me...I've read a lot about IBS and it seems I always see people talking about how they eat something and that triggers an attack...that's not how it is for me. It doesn't matter what I eat, I still have the loose stools. I've also seen that people with IBS experience a lot of cramping and pain usually. I also don't really think I have this problem too bad at all. I have some cramping but I don't think it's from spasms or anything, just gas going through my system, which as the GI said, is very tortuous. I spoke to a pharmacist about this because the doctor prescribed me bentyl for cramping and they said if my cramps are from gas, it won't help me. Something just isn't adding up here and I don't feel like the doctors are listing to me. Anyone have any advice? I'm actually getting pretty scared about this.I am Female, 26 years old.-C

 

[Kathleen M.]

Some people have longer colons than others (what makes it have extra bends or be tortuous).That by itself doesn't seem to cause symptoms, but may make some symptoms worse if you happen to get IBS.Symptoms in the night can happen to anyone. If you get mostly watery diarrhea at night (rather than once in awhile which can happen to totally healthy people who eat something that might be a bit off) they will usually do a colonoscopy with biopsies (I assume they did biopsies before) and look for microscopic colitis, but that is have this regularly, not one day.Lots of people blame specific foods, and spend a lot of time trying to find the three foods in all the world that will not trigger them.Most of this is blaming an innocent bystander. Often the ACT of eating is the problem not which food. The colon has a burst of activity around the time you get up and then after every meal. You respond a bit to strongly to these normal signals that happen to every single person on the planet every day and every meal you can get loose stools.Bentyl is called an anti-spasmodic, but if the gas volume causes spasms it may help, but it doesn't help everyone with pain. Mostly we don't know which reason any given person has the particular pain they have with IBS (is it really gas, or over-feeling normal colon activity, or any number of other things) so it is really hard for the doctor to be completely certain why you have a given pain and that any given medication will treat that specific pain.

 

[cscought]

Some people have longer colons than others (what makes it have extra bends or be tortuous).That by itself doesn't seem to cause symptoms, but may make some symptoms worse if you happen to get IBS.Symptoms in the night can happen to anyone. If you get mostly watery diarrhea at night (rather than once in awhile which can happen to totally healthy people who eat something that might be a bit off) they will usually do a colonoscopy with biopsies (I assume they did biopsies before) and look for microscopic colitis, but that is have this regularly, not one day.Lots of people blame specific foods, and spend a lot of time trying to find the three foods in all the world that will not trigger them.Most of this is blaming an innocent bystander. Often the ACT of eating is the problem not which food. The colon has a burst of activity around the time you get up and then after every meal. You respond a bit to strongly to these normal signals that happen to every single person on the planet every day and every meal you can get loose stools.Bentyl is called an anti-spasmodic, but if the gas volume causes spasms it may help, but it doesn't help everyone with pain. Mostly we don't know which reason any given person has the particular pain they have with IBS (is it really gas, or over-feeling normal colon activity, or any number of other things) so it is really hard for the doctor to be completely certain why you have a given pain and that any given medication will treat that specific pain.

Thanx for the reply!Actually there were no biopsies taken during my colonoscopy. The GI said it was a very difficult procedure and he had a lot of trouble getting the camera through because my colon was so tortuous. He got most of the way in, but didn't see the cecum. Apparently I was screaming during the procedure (I don't remember this) and they had to up the dosage of meds they give you...GI still says I was unable to be sedated. Is this no biopsy thing something I should mention to the GI?In all honesty I feel like this GI diagnosed me with IBS before he even did the procedure. During my first visit when I was explaining my symptoms to him, I felt as though he were just waiting for me to stop talking. I'm planning to go to my doctor that referred me to the GI tomorrow and discuss getting an abdominal CT scan or x-ray to further rule out an obstruction, since I do have symptoms of partial small bowel obstruction and a recurring pain next to my belly button on the left. I also want to be tested for Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth for sure..it's the only thing I can think may have occurred as a result of me taking the probiotic, since that's when this started. I still also have not been tested for food allergies. I just know the doctors are thinking I'm crazy and probably a hypochondriac, but it's my health, not theirs. I'm just worried about how the doc will react when I request these tests. I don't know how to face any opposition. Should I just insist on having them done and how should I approach the subject? Any advice on that would help too.

 

[QuiQui]

My guess is that your most recent and scariest symptoms are a residual effect from your colonoscopy preparation and from eating nothing but oatmeal and cream of rice. Can you try getting back to a normal eating routine and see what happens? Also, are you under a lot of stress? I used to suffer from constant diarrhea when I had a stressful job in a law firm. And when I was a performing musician, I would have terrible diarrhea before every performance. So it's not only food or probiotics or your colonoscopy that could be aggravating your IBS.