Bowel problems
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi all,
I've been having some bowel issues for months now. I started after Christmas with having chronic diarrhoea. I now take immodium everyday. The diarrhoea would be every morning and could go on all day leaving me exhausted but it would mainly be all morning. I could eat my tea fine but know I'll have diarrhoea the next morning. I did get tummy pains at first but they've gone now and I don't get any pain when passing a bowel movement. If I don't have diarrhoea my stools are pale and fatty looking. I can't eat a fatty meal or the next morning I feel very sick when passing a fatty stool. I also get bubbles coming from the stool. Any ideas why? I've been referred to the gastro but it's been 4 weeks now and still not had my appointment through. The GP kept saying ibs at first but then I had a stool test that came back with a slightly high for inflammation so they referred me. I've had 2 blood tests since Christmas both normal apart from a lower liver alp reading but the doc said we don't worry about lower readings. I do get some slight left side pain but nothing too painful and not constant. If I take the imodium it makes my stool hard and goes back to a darker colour (not always but mostly it does) without the imodium the diarrhoea returns and the lighter, fatty stools. Can it just be fast transit?? If it was a bile problem would my stool colour go back brown with the imodium? With all the waiting I'm driving myself mad trying to self diagnose myself. The GP said they've done all they can do and to wait for the gastro. I've only had 2 blood tests and the fecal calprotectin test which I pushed for. They gave me antidepressants as they said it's due to anxiety. I can't eat breakfast anymore. I ate a banana a few weeks back and after 5 hours i was in the loo and it came out the same as it went in! No colour to it. It totally freaked me out. I had cut back on certain foods and how much I ate which helped a little. I lost weight and my reflux went but now I'm on the imodium I've slipped back to eating more and my reflux is back. Yesterday I ate alot of bread and didn't have an imodium and had a light fatty stool today. I'm so fed up now and time is going so slow. Any ideas?
0 likes, 14 replies
pippa58442 sezza978
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sezza978 pippa58442
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You're right. I rang the docs last week and the receptionist said if I've not heard by the end of the month they will chase it up. Will ring again on Thursday.
pippa58442 sezza978
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Gillian_68 sezza978
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It sounds like it might be diverticulitis, I hope it’s not as this is one horrible disease, my partner has it, your symptoms sound similar to his, ask your doc to refer you for a scan.
sezza978 Gillian_68
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Oh no. I have heard of this. I'll ask the gastro for all the tests. It's been going on too long now.
sezza978 Gillian_68
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Gillian_68 sezza978
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Hi
My partners symptoms were needing to go to the toilet several times in the morning, he would have sometimes 3 or 4 bowel movements, it would always be soft movements or watery diarrhoea. He was like this every day, he wasn’t bothered the rest of the day, until one day he had pain low in his stomach, it got worse, so I ran him to A&E. He got the worst news possible, perforated bowel due to diverticulitis. They say once you have it you can’t get rid of it, but they tell you to eat plenty of fibre, so you don’t get constipated as this affects the nodules on the bowel. He’s just been told recently he has another inflamed module, he’s at risk of another perforation if he’s not careful. Hopefully diverticulitis is not what you have, but when I was in hospital the nurse said it’s getting incredibly common in people, quite often there are no real symptoms, so it’s hard to know if you have it unless you have a scan, he only found out because he had a scan for kidney stones, and they saw the nodules in his bowel.
sezza978 Gillian_68
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Oh wow. Sounds like me. Always in the morning it's the worst. I can eat tea fine. Did certain foods trigger it? I used to suffer with constipation all the time. Before the diarrhoea started I had to take a laxative as I was so constipated now I live on imodium. How does he treat the diarrhoea now?
Gillian_68 sezza978
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No, it didn’t matter what the foods were, regular as clockwork, he would have several bowel movements in the morning before he went out the door. Very soft stools or diarrhoea. He has a stoma bag now, his bowel movement are the same, very soft, he rarely has a hard one.
sezza978 Gillian_68
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Gillian_68 sezza978
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Yes, I think they should see it with a colonoscopy, I was offered a colonoscopy and I refused it, I’m a bit apprehensive in case something went wrong, Ie perforation etc. It’s probably relatively safe, it’s just because I’ve seen what my mans going through since his perforated bowel, although that had nothing to do with a colonoscopy. 🤔
sezza978 Gillian_68
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I had one a few years back. It was the prep that was the worst part for me. The actual procedure was ok. I had referred pain that was in my left shoulder. That was horrid pain. I had to turn over alot to get in better positions. The after pains weren't nice. Getting rid of the air they pump into you! I took alot of imodium the past few days so day I've been in pain with constipation. I can hardly walk. Just want to get it all sorted and find out what is going on.
Gillian_68 sezza978
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Please let me know how you get on, best wishes x👍
sezza978 Gillian_68
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Take care x