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Convinced I have alternating IBS-D/C, advice?

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 8/7/2015 4:33 PM (GMT 0)

I used to post on here last year as my last GI told me I had Ulcerative Colitis. Short summary: Been dealing with stomach issues for about four years now. Last Halloween I got food poisoning, had to get a Colonoscopy, GI said I have Pancolitis. Fast forward months and months later, tons of medication, trying to find something that worked, Prednisone driving me up a wall, had to get a second opinion. Second GI looks over my report and says he doesn't think I have UC, leaning more towards IBS. He weened me off ALL of my stomach medication and wanted to see if my symptoms cleared up.

For about a month my symptoms felt like they were actually under control and I got on Fluoxetine to treat my anxiety and depression. While I was adjusting to the Fluoxetine I'd have diarrhea once in the morning, but every movement afterwards was normal. Fast forward a little more time, and I'm back to having a lot of diarrhea (4-6 times a day and watery), and the one big thing that was going on is that my now ex-fiance and I were fighting... a lot. We recently broke up and again, the symptoms just seem worse. I will also add that I was consuming much more alcohol than I normally do for the past two months and am pretty sure that I negated any of the positive effects that the Fluoxetine may have been having on me. I'm now on about two months of this and it's quite frustrating. I don't seem to really be losing weight, but I'm not gaining weight, either.

As for the alternating C and D, I would go for a few months straight where I always felt bloated and that I had to strain, followed by brief remissions of what seemed like a normal stomach. I haven't really been constipated for a few months now, though, and am wondering if I'm just back to the diarrhea stage. I really don't see how this could be UC as I just don't seem to experience a lot of the symptoms that people with UC complain about. I've never had blood, I don't go 10+ times a day, I never have pain, and the only time I've lost a lot of weight was when I got food posioning.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Posted 8/8/2015 3:01 PM (GMT 0)
Has celiac disease been ruled out?
Posted 8/11/2015 2:07 AM (GMT 0)
I have UC and I agree that this doesn't really sound like UC. what did the colonoscopy specifically say? BUT to be honest, not all UC cases are multiple D and bleeding. It can present its ways in multiple forms. Besides Pred, what other medications have you tried and did it help at all? Did the second GI do another scope?
Posted 8/22/2015 9:02 PM (GMT 0)
With IBS, Some people have alternating constipation and diarrhea. IBS symptoms seem to vary quite a bit from individual to individual. Some people have gas, some don't. Some people get fatigue, some don't. Often, people try a lot of different probiotics, but probiotics don't really seem to solve the problem.

A doctor in Australia is curing people with IBS. He does a microbiome transplant. It works. They're healed.

I did one in my home, and fixed my IBS.

Post Edited (IBScure-it) : 8/22/2015 9:34:25 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/22/2015 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
There is no cure for IBD (crohn's and ulcerative colitis) the transplant you're referring to is only another therapy, therapy differs from a cure, I imagine it's only a therapy for IBS as well..FMT has been going on for a while now it's not something new or totally unheard of.
Posted 8/23/2015 3:38 AM (GMT 0)
Then you have heard of the human microbiome ? How we are only 10% human and are 90% bacteria. These bacteria it turns out play a huge role in our health. When we take antibiotics we not only kill off bad bacteria, we are also killing the good, helpful bacteria too. Trouble is, we need these helpful bacteria. The human microbiome has been linked to : IBS, IBD, Fibromylasia, Lupus, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Cancer, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Diabetes, MS, C. Diff. and others.

Dr. Borody in Australia is reversing symptoms in, IBS, Chronic Fatigue, Depression, C. Diff. and now Autism. He's been doing this procedure for 25 years. In those 25 years, Borody has refined the technique. He tells me in his letter that he is achieving a 70% success rate with one infusion for IBS, so he does several. He also said he was "overwhelmed at how well I had figured out just what has to be done".

More and more doctors across the US are doing FMTs for C. Diff. These patients who often are in very serious straits, having failed to find relief from Vacomycin or other antibiotics, are given an FMT and often walk out of the hospital on their own, in a day or two. It is literally saving their lives.

Dr. Brandt in New York achieved a 50% success rate in treating IBS using an FMT in a past trial. He is doing another trial, right now, for IBS, using an encapsulated method for the microbiome transplant. Study is still in progress. You can find it at clinicaltrials.gov

Glen Taylor, Taymount Clinic has had reversal of symptoms with MS, using an FMT. The patient is now walking, on his own, and with confidence. He is currently doing more studies, and expanding the research center.
sorry, I could have sworn I read where he was treating IBD, can't find it now.
Posted 8/23/2015 4:43 AM (GMT 0)
That would be great I would love to be rid of my IBS, my crohn's is in remission with Humira for the very first time ever since getting sick with it 24 years ago now but who knows how long that will last so it would be nice to have both issues resolved...I've been living with both coexisting for so long it's hard for me to wrap my head around them curing either let alone both, sure would be nice.
Posted 8/23/2015 1:20 PM (GMT 0)
If you would like, I can send you the protocol I used for my IBS. All the steps are important. Have your donor tested, if at all possible. Donor selection criteria and testing criteria can be found at the PowerofPoop website, and also The Fecal Transplant Foundation website. These sites are very informative, though their procedure protocol may be harming the helpful bacteria we are trying to transplant, thus the need for a protocol that doesn't do harm. [email protected]

I researched this for over a year before I did my procedure. I must have done a reasonably good job, from Dr. Borody's comments.

sorry again about the IBD, could have sworn I read about that, but now when I go to his site, he doesn't claim to be treating IBD with an FMT, you can check it out, Dr. Thomas Borody, Centre for Digestive Diseases.
Posted 8/28/2015 9:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hi mlf231

When your GI#2 diagnosed IBS did he then give you any guidance diet wise to control your symptoms?
That's the place to start. Keep a journal to determine if any particular food causes immediate or delayed problems. There are so many books and websites about IBS, some contradict one another but ultimately it's in your hands to figure out what foods/drinks are a problem.

You already suspect alcohol causes problems so cut that out. Maybe that's all it will take. If so, lucky you.
It took me over a year to figure out every food and drink but since I kept getting better as it went forward it was more a question of getting the last 10% better.

There are supplements that can help IBS, also teas well-known for thousands of years.
A poster here uses DAO pills to make his gut tolerate foods with histamine which causes similar symptoms.

Sometimes I think GI's don't want to deal with IBS because they can't fix it with RX, it takes detective work on your part.

For constipation many people say eat lots of fiber but that worked badly for me. Fiber constipated me so cutting fiber way down eliminated C. You'll have to see what works for your gut.

Good luck.
Posted 8/29/2015 4:18 PM (GMT 0)
The balance of fiber is key, too much or too little can be an issue, not to mention both kinds, soluble and insoluble are recommended, not all can tolerate one or the the other, it takes a bit of playing around...worst thing (unless a person has bad strictures/scaring) is to avoid it all together, it carries beneficial bacteria our guts need and it helps promote healthy bowels....usually people that don't do well with fiber are those that either have strictures/scaring or they're not eating it daily and/or drinking enough water daily as well, regardless if you're using supplement form or natural (fruits and veggies).
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