Over the past few weeks I seem to have developed quite a few symptoms which don't seem to have a very quantifiable diagnosis. It started with a really bad episode of acid reflux - I got very stressed over it and the doctor prescribed omeprazole which I've been taking.Soon after, I went through a period of passing really hard pellet-like stools, then a period of diarrhoea. I've also been having stomach aches, but they are mostly very mild: they certainly haven't stopped me eating or anything. About three weeks on, I've just about lost the stomach aches completely, but my BM are still rather wet and loose (tomato skins still intact), and pale in colour (but not as loose as diarrhoea) and not necessarily as frequent as usual. It feels quite a relief when I do have a BM, but the feeling doesn’t last very long. There’s also been a lot of gas and rumblings, and some rather unpleasant smells. I’ve also noticed a very tiny amount of leakage on a few occasions.All through this period it's been quite painful (or at least rather achy) sitting down for long periods. The problem is that most of these things are annoying rather than painful!I finally got a doctor's appointment today, and he says very observantly that things 'down there' obviously weren't working as well as they should (as if I didn't know). He prodded and poked my tummy, but nothing really wrong, so he reckons it's a 'backlog' which needs to be cleared so that things can get back to normal. He's prescribed some sachets of movicol which he hopes will case it to settle down. I have had episodes like this in the past, so I guess I am suspicious of IBS. What do you think? I'm fine otherwise (apart from being a bit fed up!) and am only 26!
Various problems
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Tomato skins usually are fully intact in all people. They come out how they went down. They don't dissolve and there is nothing other than your teeth to grind them up. Undigested bits are more obvious with looser, softer, wetter stools.Usually stools moving a bit faster than usual will be lighter brown than stools that take the full time (and usually looser, wetter means move faster). All stool starts off a light yellow or greenish yellow and it takes time for those color to be changed to brown by the bacteria in the colon.Now if you mean off-white/ecru/beige rather than lighter brown than usual, that could mean gall bladder issues and if you develop severe pain in the upper right quadrant that goes to your back that would need to be checked out.You don't seem to mention anything that indicates something other than IBS (or other functional bowel problems).
Well I was good and did what the doctor said. I took the movicol over the weekend, and effectively, what was coming out was just liquid - many many trips to the loo both by day and by night. I noticed that what seemed to be happening was that the liquid seemed to be passing over a stool which felt like it was stuck - I just couldn't shift it. Today I haven't had the movicol at all and I noticed that when I did a BM this morning, it was a long ribbon like shape (but it was nice not having to rush to the loo every hour!) - it still seemed like it was passing over something, but certainly wasn't as painful as it has been. I am hoping that things are perhaps getting back to normal. Apart from that I just feel very tired, a bit 'spaced out' and very empty (but I'm very hungry - I guess that most of what I ate at the weekend went straight through!). The plus side was that when I did a BM this morning, there wasn't really any blood on the loo paper - I always think that's more worrying than anything else!I've been very worried and anxious about it too and that doesn't help. I've got a doctors appointment tomorrow to try and sort this out once and for all. I have had periods like this in the past, though in those cases it has been straightforward constipation and the doctor has prescribed lactulose which although unpleasant, does clear it. I just hope it's not something more sinister (you can imagine all the dreadful things which have been going through my mind, then once I saw the ribbon like stool this morning, my stress levels are on overdrive!) - I feel a bit more relaxed now I've made the appointment!Fingers crossed...
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