Posted 1/28/2014 6:35 PM (GMT 0)
Chad,
I am new here...but like you, looking for help, support, and insight. My story: Had issues all my life, off and on, that I just figured were due to me eating something that did not agree with me. Would send me running for a bathroom where I'd have one, two, or three bouts of weird BM's...like pudding and diarreah. Never gave those much thought until recently when I started thinking more about IBS. Last March I had my GB removed. Functioning at 5%, though it was not diseased and no stones or sludge. My recovery was fine but noticed already at 5 weeks post op (which was laprascopic) that I had trouble eating things. Sometimes my meals would be interrupted by runs for the bathroom. I read about this happening to people post-GB removal...called "dumping syndrome." I put up with it from March until July, when I finally called my dr. and got Lomotil. That worked great for me. I take one daily each morning, but am allowed up to 4 per day, as needed, as the dose is so low. I never needed more. Seemed to work pretty well, in conjunction with watching what I ate...no greasy or fatty foods anymore for me. Well, this past October my daughter and I both had a stomach bug at the same time....short lived mostly...diarreah and fever with stomach pains for 24 hours. When I got over it, I thought nothing more about it. Then the Sunday before last Thanksgiving, like a light switch turned on, we were eating dinner and I felt like I just didn't want to finish the pasta dish we were having. I continued to eat salad but the meal, I just didn't like the taste or smell (it was a pasta take out from a fund raiser). That night I felt queasy and asked my kids if anyone felt ill, thinking maybe it was the food, but everyone was fine. That started what is now my two month ordeal. I woke the next morning with queasiness and issues with diarreah off and on. I went to the ER that night only because my dr. could not see me for 2 days. The ER dr. said I had gastritis from taking too many ibuprophen the week before (at the onset of my period). I thought this was nonsense, as I have taken ibuprophen a long time, carefully, and not had this issue. Bloodwork was all normal and he said a CT scan was not warranted. So off I went, told to take one Prilosec per day. I saw some improvement over the next few days but ultimately the queasiness was there...along with the "odd sensation" I felt under my right rib. Had I not known better I would have thought my GB grew back, as the symptoms seemed to be the same as when my GB was bothering me. To make a 2 month long story shorter, suffice it to say that I went to another PCP before I could finally see my family doctor...she felt it was stress and gastritis. I should add that I am an easy going type of person who does not get overly stressed over things I don't think. But in all this, I have in the back of my mind that a year prior, my brother's partner went down the same path with a gallbladder that probably was fine but was removed, only to learn he had pancreatic cancer. So yes, there was worry and stress over that. It did me no good to read online about my symptoms because that just made me feel I had everything from pancreatic cancer to any other kind of cancer. Over Christmas break I actually saw some really good days, with limited queasiness, more normal BM's, and just feeling more like myself. But it wasn't long after the new year that I went into this weird mode again. So I had a CT scan done with barium to find out nothing was wrong. I had an endoscopy done one week ago...no issues. I was told I had a slight hiatal hernia and probably some issues with IBS. By the time the day of the scope came, I was feeling well, eating well, and just felt the best I had in few months. Then this past Saturday started another round of symptoms: I get up and go to the bathroom, and usually make two or three more trips to the bathroom during the morning hours. BM's have gone from being formed and normal to soft, loose, and orangish/brown again. Foul smelling, too. I am wondering if any of this has to do with the onset of my period only a few days away. But I can't stand it anymore. I really feel like I have had no real answers in all of this. I now take Prilosec twice per day as the GI recommended I do to keep my stomach calm....and I take my Lomotil...though in the past four days I have had to take more than just my morning pill. I take one in the morning and one at night and that seemed to work well for me for a while. Now this bout and I don't know what has brought it on. I have kept a journal in all this from everything I eat, to when I take meds, to when I go to the bathroom each day (with how many times and consistency).
I feel like I need at least an hour's time from a doctor who will really sit and listen to me. Initially I never thought I "fit the bill" for IBS, but in the past 2 weeks when I read more about it, I thought back to a lot of times in my adult life (from college onward and I am now 45) when I have had digestive issues that, as I said, stemmed from something not agreeing with me or it being digestive upset due to periods or PMS. It has happened a lot....diarrreah or constipation. So I read more about IBS and thought maybe this has been a pattern for me all my life and something just really set this off now: the stomach flu I had.....the dumping syndrome after the GB was removed (making things more sensitive or pronounced). I really don't know. In all of this I have said one thing...I feel like my quality of life has really changed because I am afraid to go out, afraid to go out to eat, and my whole life simply seems like for the longest time (at least a year) has revolved around my digestive system. I am frustrated. One doctor I saw was very sensitive and asked if I thought I needed to take something for anxiety. Like I said, I am normally not a stressed out person...but tell me who would not be anxious or stressed when dealing with issues like this. I cannot wrap my mind around how an anti-anxiety pill is going to make me less concerned about any of this which would alleviate symptoms.
I'm sorry, so very sorry, for such a long post. I just maybe I just felt like I needed to get this out of my system. I'd read these posts before signing up and saw many postings were so outdated that maybe I really was alone in all this. But I don't think I am. I just wish I could get some answers and relief. I hate myself for being so absorbed in how I deal with this and have dealt with it for two months...when people deal with much more serious illnesses and diseases. I just would like some answers...clear answers. And for anyone who might feel the same frustration, worry, and stress/anxiety with their issues, at least if you are here reading you can see you are not alone.