Hi everyone!
Here is my story. Be warned, some of this may be TMI! I want to apologize in advance, but I feel like the details give more of an idea of whats going on. Sorry this story is so long!
I was diagnosed with IBS when I was 15. It began with severe constipation, bloating up and looking several months pregnant, sharp pains in my sides, hemorrhoids, anal fissures, severe headaches, getting sick all the time with colds and fevers, ear infections, stye infections, UTIs, generally run down immune system, extreme fatigue no matter how much I slept, etc. I had to start wearing baggy big shirts to hide my swollen belly and still do to this day.
The GI doc refused to give me a colonoscopy, told me I had chronic constipation/IBS and sent me home with amitiza which made me even more light headed so I stopped taking it. After trying several stool softners and laxatives that didn't work, and drinking oceans of water on a daily basis, I gave coffee enemas a try and stuck with those for 5 years. They worked great while it lasted and helped greatly with the fatigue. (I tried fiber, but found it felt like pouring cement into my intestines. Just bloated up even more with lovely stabbing pain in my sides.)
At 18 years old, the enemas slowly stopped working. The coffee that went in would barely come out, but I still didn't want laxatives because they made me nauseous and hardly ever worked even with a triple or quadrupled dose. One day, I had a BM and the entire toilet bowl was filled with bright red blood. I was scared and didn't have health insurance. (No parental support either.) All I could do was pray for it to get better. Fortunately, it was about a year before it happened again.
At 20 years old the symptoms continued to worsen. Skin rashes appeared all over my back, neck, and chest that looked like pimples. They would itch, bleed, and scab over. Fatigue increased. No amount of sleep was ever enough. My hair was thinning and falling out in small bundles. I became so forgetful I had difficulty remembering the names of my coworkers whom I saw on a daily basis. My roommate at the time suggested a gluten intolerance may be to blame. I religiously started following a gluten free diet after much careful consideration and research. The enemas still continued to be less and less effective, although I felt slightly less constipated and sleepy after beginning the diet.
I finally decided to see a naturopath Dr. and saved as much money as a 20 year old could scrap up. At this point, I had lost my faith in western medicine. The Dr. made me do a blood lab for vitamin deficiencies and food allergies, as well as my thyroid. I had a whopping 15 food allergies, was B-12, magnesium, and vitamin D deficient. Oddly enough, my thyroid was fine according to the test. Taking the right supplements and going off the irritating foods resulted in dramatic improvement. I was able to stop enemas, but still needed laxatives. (The laxatives no longer made me nauseous. Not sure why.) I could not afford to continue seeing the Dr. anymore, but I got really far on what little help I received.
Last year I saw an acupuncturist. Under his care, I was able to reintroduce the offensive foods back into my diet without aggravating my symptoms. I never got over the bowel problems, but foods ceased to aggravate them. I still have continued to have blood in my stools about every 6 months give or take. Of course, I could not afford more than a few sessions since I was paying out of pocket and the insurance I have now won't pay for him.
Over the last 4 months or so, I have felt myself slowly relapsing into old symptoms. My fatigue is back and so are the rashes, pain in my addomen, and headaches. Now instead of just constipation, I alternate between constipation and diarrhea. I wake up each morning, not knowing what kind of day it will be. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night sick to my stomach and feel the need to use the bathroom, but when I go barely anything comes out. I can be up all night running back and forth between bed and the toilet. Those nights make me give up on sleep.
I've hardly eaten anything but small handfuls of solid food and have been drinking nice veggie filled organic smoothies for the last 3 days. I can't handle eating much right now. What goes in doesn't want to come out or if it does, its a stampede. At least doing mostly liquids has reduced the pain in my abdomen, back, and the headaches have let up whereas before they were literally 24 hours a day and taking 3 ibuprofen was a joke.:rof: (I also was just diagnosed a few days ago with possibly the worst UTI in my life, and I have had several.)
I recently did a blood lab wherein I was tested for several different issues. My Dr. thinks I might have Crohn's because my blood test results have come back with slightly higher than normal igg and iga levels. I have an appointment with a GI Dr. at the end of the month. I am going to beg for an endoscopy. I just need to know what's wrong with me.
So what do you all think? Sound like Crohn's or something entirely different? I feel like my symptoms are atypical to Crohn's because I tend towards constipation or just mild diarrhea, (7-10 BMs on a bad day). Just wish I knew what was going on. I've been in and out of urgent care and Dr.'s offices for the last 10 years!
Thanks for reading this really long story! Your support is appreciated. :dance:
Hi everyone!
Here is my story. Be warned, some of this may be TMI! I want to apologize in advance, but I feel like the details give more of an idea of whats going on. Sorry this story is so long!
I was diagnosed with IBS when I was 15. It began with severe constipation, bloating up and looking several months pregnant, sharp pains in my sides, hemorrhoids, anal fissures, severe headaches, getting sick all the time with colds and fevers, ear infections, stye infections, UTIs, generally run down immune system, extreme fatigue no matter how much I slept, etc. I had to start wearing baggy big shirts to hide my swollen belly and still do to this day.
The GI doc refused to give me a colonoscopy, told me I had chronic constipation/IBS and sent me home with amitiza which made me even more light headed so I stopped taking it. After trying several stool softners and laxatives that didn't work, and drinking oceans of water on a daily basis, I gave coffee enemas a try and stuck with those for 5 years. They worked great while it lasted and helped greatly with the fatigue. (I tried fiber, but found it felt like pouring cement into my intestines. Just bloated up even more with lovely stabbing pain in my sides.)
At 18 years old, the enemas slowly stopped working. The coffee that went in would barely come out, but I still didn't want laxatives because they made me nauseous and hardly ever worked even with a triple or quadrupled dose. One day, I had a BM and the entire toilet bowl was filled with bright red blood. I was scared and didn't have health insurance. (No parental support either.) All I could do was pray for it to get better. Fortunately, it was about a year before it happened again.
At 20 years old the symptoms continued to worsen. Skin rashes appeared all over my back, neck, and chest that looked like pimples. They would itch, bleed, and scab over. Fatigue increased. No amount of sleep was ever enough. My hair was thinning and falling out in small bundles. I became so forgetful I had difficulty remembering the names of my coworkers whom I saw on a daily basis. My roommate at the time suggested a gluten intolerance may be to blame. I religiously started following a gluten free diet after much careful consideration and research. The enemas still continued to be less and less effective, although I felt slightly less constipated and sleepy after beginning the diet.
I finally decided to see a naturopath Dr. and saved as much money as a 20 year old could scrap up. At this point, I had lost my faith in western medicine. The Dr. made me do a blood lab for vitamin deficiencies and food allergies, as well as my thyroid. I had a whopping 15 food allergies, was B-12, magnesium, and vitamin D deficient. Oddly enough, my thyroid was fine according to the test. Taking the right supplements and going off the irritating foods resulted in dramatic improvement. I was able to stop enemas, but still needed laxatives. (The laxatives no longer made me nauseous. Not sure why.) I could not afford to continue seeing the Dr. anymore, but I got really far on what little help I received.
Last year I saw an acupuncturist. Under his care, I was able to reintroduce the offensive foods back into my diet without aggravating my symptoms. I never got over the bowel problems, but foods ceased to aggravate them. I still have continued to have blood in my stools about every 6 months give or take. Of course, I could not afford more than a few sessions since I was paying out of pocket and the insurance I have now won't pay for him.
Over the last 4 months or so, I have felt myself slowly relapsing into old symptoms. My fatigue is back and so are the rashes, pain in my addomen, and headaches. Now instead of just constipation, I alternate between constipation and diarrhea. I wake up each morning, not knowing what kind of day it will be. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night sick to my stomach and feel the need to use the bathroom, but when I go barely anything comes out. I can be up all night running back and forth between bed and the toilet. Those nights make me give up on sleep.
I've hardly eaten anything but small handfuls of solid food and have been drinking nice veggie filled organic smoothies for the last 3 days. I can't handle eating much right now. What goes in doesn't want to come out or if it does, its a stampede. At least doing mostly liquids has reduced the pain in my abdomen, back, and the headaches have let up whereas before they were literally 24 hours a day and taking 3 ibuprofen was a joke.:rof: (I also was just diagnosed a few days ago with possibly the worst UTI in my life, and I have had several.)
I recently did a blood lab wherein I was tested for several different issues. My Dr. thinks I might have Crohn's because my blood test results have come back with slightly higher than normal igg and iga levels. I have an appointment with a GI Dr. at the end of the month. I am going to beg for an endoscopy. I just need to know what's wrong with me.
So what do you all think? Sound like Crohn's or something entirely different? I feel like my symptoms are atypical to Crohn's because I tend towards constipation or just mild diarrhea, (7-10 BMs on a bad day). Just wish I knew what was going on. I've been in and out of urgent care and Dr.'s offices for the last 10 years!
Thanks for reading this really long story! Your support is appreciated. :dance:
I am not sure if cutting dairy has helped me one way or another, but I am willing to try anything at this point. I take high quality probiotic capsules every day to get my fair share of live cultures in. 