I Guess I should be grateful

[travbeth]

My name is Beth. I havebeen reading many of your stories and I guess I sold feel lucky. I was diagnosed with colitis 5 years ago. In February of that year I was struck with constant, chronic diarrhea that was uncontrollable. All of the medical professionals who saw me had thier opinion about how I got it. One said it was a reaction to an antibiotic I had been on in December. One thought it was because my diet was horrid and I was pushing pretty hard on 300 pounds. Just before my episode and diagnosis, my grandfather passed away and I had traveled to my home town for his funeral, plus had been remodeling our large kitchen so one thought it was stress related. And the GI specialist thought it was a bug that I picked up somewhere. Anyway, at that time I pooped diarrhea for 7 weeks and nothing would bring it under control. I was in pain the entire time and could not eat much and what I did eat ran immediately though me. I was forced to resort to adult diapers even at home because I simply could not make it to the bathroom in time. I was taken to the ER once and all they could do for me was rehydrate me. My personal physician at the time just asked me about new lotions or whatever. I lost 40 pounds in 5 weeks (admittidely I neded to loose that weight -- but just not that way). I was anemic and could nt hold any nutrition in my body. My hair started falling out in clumps and my skin was paler than it's ever been (and that's amazing in itself because I', naturally quite pale) I got up the nerve to switch Drs to one who would do something. She took stool samples (and fortunely I was going so frequently I could give her one right away. I got xrays and a referral to the Gi specialist. The GI specialist did a colonoscopy and found a small patch of irritated large intestine. HE tried to put me on a high fiber diet that included salads and coarse grain breads and vegetables an fruit -- easy on the protien, easy on the sweets. Well, within 2 days of eating like that I was running again. By this time my body had settled into a routine of going diarrhea about 10 - 12 times between 7 am and noon. I was nauseous until noon and would not leave the house. He told me that was as good as it gets unless I wanted to be on a steroid for the rest of my life. I sought out an alternative path. My new regular Dr. put me on Questran to bind the bile acids which helped some. But it is not wihtout its side effects. I went to a Naturopath and began to find some relieve. Not perfection but relief. WE moved to a different state that winter and I found a new NAturopath who was able to put things right again. I have had great success with her treatment plan -- although not instantaneous and not easy. She had me taking plant based anti-inflammatories and many vitamins and supplements. Because of the months of gut trouble, I had been kicked into early menopause (I was 36 years old) - and so she was helping me deal with those symptoms at the same time. Eventually she did a full blood panel test and was able to identify foods that my body cannot tolerate or can only tolerate in moderation. It was a difficult diet to follow, no sugar, no yeast, no dairy, no eggs, no citrus, no harsh fibers, no corn. I lost more weight but was getting increasingly stronger and healthier. My hair and nails were growing back. I sit here today in a state of between -- I am not running to the toilet, but I am not prefectly well either. I have black tar-like stools sometimes and loose stools sometimes, but not the cramping and pain. I do not take Questran anymore but still take a lot of vitamins and supplements. I am currently expereincing trouble again but not to the extreme of 5 years ago. But it is different, no pain, no cramping, just loose and malordorous bm's. I guess I should feel lucky, I have never had blood in my stools, or a surgery. I am kind of at a loss as to how to handle this round because it is so different, and Imodium does not work to make the stools any more solid. I have a hope that the health I expereinced 1 1/2 years ago will return, and any help you all can give me would be appreciated.

 

[D Bergy]

Welcome to the forum Beth.

I am glad you are doing alright. It takes a while to get a treatment perfected, but I think you are on the right path.

You might want to consider Low Dose Naltrexone to try get the final piece of the puzzle. Very low risk and a high percentage of success. Not too many treatments that can claim that.

Dan

 

[imisspopcorn]

:welcome: Beth....I am glad you found the forum. Where you ever formally diagnosed with Crohn's or UC? In the other thread did you say you don't have insurance?? Sorry if I am confusing you with someone else.

 

[shazamataz]

Welcome beth!

I hope you can get things under control again. Meanwhile have a look around here, there is lots of info about all sorts of treatments and diets

 

[pain in the butt]

Welcome Beth, Sounds like you have been through a lot. Try not to worry to much. There is a lot of info. here. Thanks for shareing your story keep us posted on how your doing.

 

[crazycanuck]

Hey there beth welcome to the forums and its great you found us. I'm sorry for your rough times and I hope you find some much needed relief soon. Good luck!

 

[merrywidow]

welcome to the forum.

i too went through the menopause at a early age, started at 38year s old.
your black poo could because of iron supplements.