Help! Can't see a doctor until at least Monday/Tuesday

Not sure where to begin, so I guess I'll just start talking.

I'm 21, and have reason to believe that I may be suffering from UC/CD, or some other related condition.

I began paying attention to my health because back in June of this year, I had been drinking with family (Captain Morgan, I just about finished a 375ml to myself) and had eaten an unusually large helping of some steaks that had been marinating in soy sauce (I was drunk, and wasn't paying attention to how much I was eating) and the next morning I woke up in terrible condition. I had the shakes, fever but felt cold, sweats, rapid heartbeat, and fear of demise. I ended up going back and forth with these symptoms on and off for the next couple of weeks, and had been to the E.R. a couple of times, mostly citing the continued rapid heartbeat as the reason for my visit.

They tested my heart in many different ways, chest X-ray, EKGs, blood samples, and determined that I had no life threatening condition, and discharged me from the E.R. I had also noticed during this time I had felt like I needed to stool, but couldn't really. I had taken some laxatives to try to help, and it didn't really. I had a small amount of blood in my stool, to which the doctors credited the laxatives as the cause.

I was eventually told that I had anxiety/panic attacks. I never have felt right about this diagnosis, I don't usually feel anxious or unusually shaken up when I get symptoms of rapid heartbeat, lightheadedness, random pains in my body, and what I've noticed recently is that my rapid heartbeat and other symptoms occur while I'm using the bathroom or shortly thereafter.

I went almost 6 months after my original diagnosis of panic attacks without any symptoms whatsoever. about three/four weeks ago, my symptoms flared up again. What I've noticed is that I also have had almost no regular stools since my symptoms flared up again.

It's almost always been diahrrea (sp?), I've had an unusually large volume of mucous, and for about 5 days to a week I had some blood in my stool. I've had consistent mucous during these three to four weeks. I can't sleep well, I am tired often, and I've lost weight (almost 10 pounds) without any change in diet. For over a year now my stomach has been constantly upset/acidic feeling almost all the time, and doesn't change with what I eat.

I've been getting headaches too.

What made me question the panic attack diagnosis the most though, was two days ago. I had some runny stool, and in the middle of going, my rapid heartbeat appeared, and stayed there for about an hour and a half after going to the bathroom. I had not been anxious, nor stressed to cause my heart to race the way it did.

Also one thing that made me question, was when I was carrying a case of gatorade upstairs to my apartment, I had it pressed against my belly for a long period of time. I had to go to the bathroom shortly after, and the runny stool had the most blood I'd had in my stool at any point.

I've been blood-free for about a week or so since this point, but it's got me worried.

I'm feeling lightheaded as I write this now. I get random pains in my gut. Seems to be mostly my upper gut, almost feels like it could be my stomach, but also seems a little low to be.

I know nobody here is a doctor, and should not make any diagnosis, but my question is, does this sound like UC or Crohn's to anybody who has been diagnosed?

Also, what are emergency symptoms that I should know about? Things that would send me to the E.R.?

I can't see any doctor for a few days, and I can't seem to find emergency symptoms or things to be concerned about if I do in fact have this condition, which I hope with all my heart that I don't, but all the symptoms seem to line up from symptom websites, but I figured I'd get some input from live people.

I told my Dr. about some blood in my stool but at that point (pre-gatorade incident) it wasn't very much and talked to her about my rectal/intestinal discomfort, and she did a rectal exam. She said I have bleeding hemmroids (sp?) but I hadn't looked at Crohn's or UC at that point, so I didn't bring it up. She said it may just be Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and referred me to a cardiologist first, and said maybe talk to a GI later. I hadn't mentioned a majority of what I've talked about here. It seems to make sense that I may have one of these conditions, but I don't know.

Your opinions?

Any input is greatly appreciated

Inuk

Colonoscopy ftw! The fact that your bloody stools just plain stopped throws me off.

The only true way to see if you have UC or CD is by colonoscopy, which I'm glad to hear you are going to do. But I don't think your symptoms require an ER trip. Especially if they have checked your heart in the past. Wait to see your doctor and get the proper testing.

Btw, when I flare with my UC, I have a mild MVP that flutters more. Sometimes I feel like its going to flutter right out of my chest.

Your colonoscopy will give you and your GI (get a good one ASAP to schedule the c-scope) an answer about your bleeding. It's not necessarily UC or Crohn's, could be a lesser problem, let's hope so.

Your heartbeat/anxiety could be related to your gut in terms of being constipated or a signal that something's not working right in your blood flow. The gut is a major organ and sends a lot of signals to other parts of the body. It may have been signaling distress. It's important for women to take heart irregularity seriously because women are under-treated for heart attacks. However you are awfully young unless you have family history for it. Do you?

I had your symptoms of cold sweats (in warm weather), faintness, body shutdown, constipation, etc when I was in the beginning of UC. I didn't know what it was at the time. I feel now it was my gut in distress. I have had no further heart racing but you need to see if yours is UC or heart related.

Reasons to go to ER: heart attack symptoms (google for women specifically), also if you have no bowel movements for 5 days and no bowel sounds is not good, could be "toxic megacolon", rare but possible. Better to see a GI rather than ER for this (more knowledge) so get your GI appointment ASAP. Or if you start vomiting for no good reason--could be a bowel obstruction.

Listen to your body. Stop alcohol for now. Drink lots of water and clear fluids including chicken broth. Don't eat a lot of fiber or starchy foods. Good luck. And welcome to the forum.

Everyone's given you great advice.

about the rapid heartbeat - I had an episode of benign early beats about 18 months ago that sent me to the ER and then to the cardiologist. My heart felt like it was skipping beats, and I could tell via my carotid pulse that it was beating oddly. The ER recorded my heartbeat, and it showed the PVCs....they referred me to my GP who sent me to a cardio. I ended up wearing a Holter for a day and the data showed nothing but benign early beats. I was told to restrict caffeine (don't drink much of it anyway) and to stop taking any decongestants (don't take them to begin with) and otherwise it was idiopathic and probably related to stress (I wasn't under any particular stress). I ultimately linked the whole episode (in my own mind) with an asthma flare due to seasonal allergies (but I wasn't yet using my albuterol so that was not the cause either). The odd rhythm resolved itself in a few days but came back in the fall when my allergies peaked again. It happened again briefly this spring. This fall I've had plenty of asthma but no early beats.

My dad had early beats, too, and ultimately ended up taking a beta blocker because he developed an atrial arrhythmia. Perhaps I will too, but at the moment it's all good. None of this has anything to do with my IBD. There are some who think that indigestion can irritate the vagus nerve and cause arrhythmia, but I don't think you'll find a lot of support for that theory among doctors.

Get the scope done.

You can find a good GI by asking your friends and your GP. Look for a GI who has a reasonable size practice and sees people with inflammatory bowel disease. Many GIs seem to focus on doing screening colonoscopies and aren't familiar with IBD.

Your GP should do a blood work-up (looking for inflammatory factors and iron) and might ask for a stool sample. These are all typical tests done prior to referral.

Update:

I ate some mexican food today; a vegetarian burrito (sounded good) and a side of rice and beans, and my stomach feels really acidic/sour. I ended up puking a handful of times, and now am lightheaded again. I'm probably not done puking yet either. ugh.

I've got an hour and a half drive to get back to my apartment (my girlfriend is driving, not me) and I'm dreading it.

As soon as I started eating, my intestines/guts started rumbling kinda, like gas was moving through my intestines, with some slight pains every now and then. It was just weird timing, because it was like one minute after I started eating. don't know what to make of it.

I feel like I need to relieve some stool, but not a lot is coming out, mostly mucous. Gross, and uncomfortable. I hope my doctor/GI specialist has some help :/

Just the act of eating triggers persistalisis(sp?) which is your intestines being triggered to start the digestion process - but for people like us, it can make us use the restroom faster and/or cause pain than the normal population. But it's unusual for us to vomit after eating. Some people vomit while having a bowel movement though.

If you pass out at any time, you should go to the ER just to be on the safe side.

Inuk,

I second Red's suggestion on eating a safer diet: proteins, no gluten, no wheat, no dairy - I would suggest grilled salmon, grilled chicken - stick to the basics for now.