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Please help...new to IBS and am so scared about so many things

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 7/2/2012 3:49 AM (GMT 0)
Ill try to make this brief. I am a 57 yr old nurse, never had any bowel problems before. Last year in September I had a 6 day bout of diarrhea, no other symptoms, which resolved on its own. However since that time things have not been normal. I would go for 3 weeks with everything normal and then Id have a day of diarrhea again or two. It wasnt just normal diarrhea, but with alot of pain and would come on so suddenly, a couple of times I was incontinent. I finally went to a GI doc who wanted to do an endoscopy and colonoscopy but also thought that I might have an Inflammatory bowel from the diarrhea and it might heal on its own. I waited because I have to pay for 10% of any tests that I have done and frankly I didnt have the money. So things seemed to get better over the next month, and then they didnt. As time went on the symptoms became more frequent, and I was having awful abdominal and back pain, and bloating.. So I saw another GI doc who wanted to do the same tests, which I did, both colonoscopy and endoscopy. Both were normal. Unfortunately I had GI bleeding after this for which I was hospitalized over night. Not sure what that was from and the GI doc initially said it couldnt be blood, but after I fainted at at work and went to the ER, I had definitely been bleeding, possibly from the biopsy. Luckily this resolved in a few days.

At this point the GI doc said it must be IBS and started me on Levsin. For about a week, I thought the medication worked and then I had another terrible bout of Diarrhea. This time there was alot of bright red blood which I had never had before. The GI doc minimized this but then suggested a CT scan with contrast which was also normal.

After the bloody diarrhea i went on a short leave from work. I did fairly well during these 2 weeks and thought things had stabilized but the first 3 days back at work i had 16 bouts of diarrhea. I went back to my GI at that point and he started another medication, Robinul Forte. I tried this for one day and it made me so sick. I had severe abdominal pain and just felt awful, no more diarrhea though. AFter the 3 days of diarrhea, I then had no bms for 5 days till today. I started soluble fiber yesterday as some people had suggested and also took a mild laxative last night.  I woke up in pain but i did finally go. The trouble is, nothing looks right. The first few stools were hard little pebbles with blood in them and around, stringy little clots, bright red. Then after about 5 of these, I had 2 normal stools and the pain was better.

The thing is Ive never been told I have hemmorhoids before though Im hoping this is what the bleeding is from. Plus I feel that since the colonoscopy, nothing has been normal. Before that I had the diarrhea occasionally and pain, but no bleeding and no constipation. Now everything is screwed up and I am so scared about the bleeding. I am going back to my regular doc tomorrow and will see what he says. Im not crazy about the GI doc who minimizes all my symptoms.

So after all of this, I guess I want to know, how common is the bleeding and how do you know if you have hemmorhoids? I cant see anything down there but I know sometimes they can be internal. Also why are things getting worse now that I have started treatment? I feel like I should not take any medication as it seems like the meds have caused a vicious cycle of diarrhea and constipation.

Has anyone tried just a diet to control things? So far Ive been paying attention and I cant find any dietary triggers for certain. I do know that I have to eat small meals and avoid spicy things. I stopped eating at work because I dont know what triggers things. Right now it looks like I have to go back on a medical leave as I cant continue like this. As a nurse I cant be gone from patient care while I poop 6 times in a hour, plus the anxiety about what is going on is driving me crazy.

Any words of wisdom or comfort would be appreciated. Thanks

Posted 7/2/2012 12:32 PM (GMT 0)
kiddieRN, what a mess for you!

With all the tests you've described, you never mentioned any bloodwork. What do you know about that kind of testing? Have your DRs checked iron, inflammatory factors, WBC, clotting factors? What about your vitamin D levels?

GI issues are very difficult to diagnose sometimes; having dismissive DRs makes that worse.

With regard to your last bm that had small pepples - you know that was because of the constipation and I wouldn't worry about that. The blood is worrisome, but as you say, that could be from internal hemmorrhoids. I would suggest you get a copy of all of the scope reports your GI took and review them yourself.

I would not take medication for IBS either. IBS is theoretically a functional disorder, and there are ways to manage symptoms outside of medication. But I think you need a diagnosis more than anything. IBS is not a diagnosis, it is simply a name given to things that cannot be explained any other way.

Just as an aside, my dad had a 3 month bout of diarrhea that ultimately took 2 years to completely clear. He had multiple scopes during that time with no diagnosis. His DR just thought he had an infectious process that unsettled everything. He stopped eating uncooked veggies, and even after he got better he still finds uncooked veggies to be an issue sometimes. Now, I have an inflammatory bowel disease and his GI has said he does not. Perhaps he has something in his small bowel that cannot be seen on scopes - but he is not interested in pursuing any further tests. It's complicated.
Posted 7/3/2012 2:47 AM (GMT 0)
Blood work has been done, all is normal except for high cholesterol which I knew about. Ive been tested before for a bleeding disorder because I do tend to be a "bleeder," but they found nothing unusual.

Ive had bleeding with both excessive bouts of diarrhea and then with the constipation the other day too. As you said, it just seems like my system is just completely out of sync. I went to my regular doc today and he basically was no help at all, which is unusual. He primarily said just to keep doing what my GI told me to do. He even said if I have to stop eating at all during work days to control the symptoms that was okay. He seemed unconcernced about how I can possibly manage my job as a Nurse while going to the bathroom 6 times in an hour and still take care of my patients.

I am so frustrated, scared, and getting depressed. I dont know what to do or where to go at this point. I just worry that they are missing something. I think if things dont improve in a month or so somewhat I am going to seek another opinion just to be sure. thanks for listening. turn

Posted 7/6/2012 2:02 AM (GMT 0)
I'm so sorry to hear that you are so scared and upset. I really feel for you. I have IBS-c and I've had the red blood which scared me so bad , found that to be hemorrhoids . I have had nausea and fatigue for about 2 years now almost every day. I've had all the tests, scans, blood work, GI Doctor checking everywhere. I'm still very scared even when they told me everything was negative. I have done so much research on this and I know for me, stress makes it so much worse. I just wanted you to know, your not alone and try to keep the stress away. I wish you well and we will all get thru this thing with helpful people and forums like this. By the way, I ended up in the hospital the morning after my colin oscopy with fever, chills it was awfull. One day of all new blood tests and xrays...negative. Again..be strong, and stress free. I hope you find some comfort.
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