Hi Guys,
I've been in and out of different forums about
the last two years of my symptoms and not being able to get a diagnosis. Just to sum up I've had:
Nausea
Constipation (hard stool not infrequent stool)
Mucus
Blood
Originally it was thought that I had an IBD, until I was scoped/biopsied and there was no disease to be found. Throughout the process my fecal calprotectin level has been monitored (measure of non-specific inflammation in the digestive system) and it was initially about
120 (and at its highest about
200), which is not normal (<50) and not significant enough for a serious disease (people with IBD often report fecal calprotectin levels of more than 2000 or even 5000) so we were all pretty mystified by my symptoms.
My GI recommended I try the FODMAP diet but when I looked into it I thought it was going to be nearly impossible for me as pretty much all the foods I eat were on the not allowed list, and I was already quite significantly underweight without stopping eating things. As a result I decided I would try other exclusion diets first and FODMAP would be a last resort. I tried gluten free first and was on it for about
10 weeks, at which time all of my symptoms had disappeared and I had gone down to 1 normal bowel movement every day, no mucus or blood. After visiting my GI last week my fecal calprotectin was measured at <20!
In conclusion my GI has essentially said to me you're totally fine, stay gluten-free and never come back! Which as you can imagine I am delighted with. I just wanted to write all this down so that maybe if someone else finds themselves in a similarly baffling situation, know that you can have erroneous symptoms that are difficult to explain, please keep trying different things you really might find what works for you I am not a general advocate of a gluten-free diet for health - if you are symptom free there isn't much evidence to suggest excluding these foods will make you any healthier - but it's always worth trying if you think you might be helped! (Incidentally my chronic rhinitis has also gone away!)
Thank you to everyone who has helped me, hopefully you will never hear from me again
Happy trails to all on their own journeys x