Hi,
I'm not entirely sure if I belong here but I've been trying to figure out my problem for a while now and so far no luck. I've also been having a hard time deciding what to write so this text has probably been rewritten a few times. Btw, I'm a 21 years old Scandinavian and a male. I'm sorry if this is overly detailed or if I simply forget myself while explaining something, after all I've put a lot of thought into this.
I'll start by saying that my mother has crohn's colitis and also my cousin. If I have crohn's, then it has probably something to do with my small intestine rather than the large intestine (my guess, without knowing for sure of course). I had bad constipation problems when I was a child, but it cleared up and I started to have regular BM every 3 days. When I turned 16 I tried to gain some weight but I started to notice I kept having loose stools now every day. I now know that it has to do with caffeine and dairy so today I try to keep that at a minimum. The problem is that, now that I don't have either of those, I'm more constipated than ever. So you might ask, why not just have a little dairy and not be constipated? Well, first of all I don't have hard stools at all, so if I speed things up, then I'll have loose stools. So either I have to deal with being constipated for days or have loose stools, and neither sound too healthy. Laxatives don't help at all, all that works is dairy or caffeine. Fiber also doesn't help, no matter how much oatmeal, fruits or vegetables I have. I just get more gassy if I take in Psyllium husk fiber, like it's just sitting there being eaten by bacteria or something.
I suspect that the food is not completely digested when it reaches the colon and that's why I'm having these constipation problems (I read undigested meat putrefies and causes constipation, that a protein breaks down and gives off a chemical that promotes constipation and hives). I have symptoms that I think are related to this, such as hives, eczema, brain fog and sleepiness. I notice that I feel a lot better if I'm not constipated and my skin color even darkens quite a bit. I've tried ruling out any psychological factors and when I feel bad I do everything to get me in a better mood and I always look at the bright side of life. However, I recall times when I never put any thoughts into my symptoms and felt pretty much like a regular teenager. My point is that my state of mind or stress have not affected my symptoms the slightest and I'm not making stuff up either. I just always thought things would change to the better and it's not until recently that I finally opened my eyes and I saw that I was getting nowhere and all my efforts on a healthier lifestyle and on school gave me nothing in return. I am completely unable to gain any muscles but I can gain some fat If I eat like crazy the whole day (I can eat a lot for my size, especially meat). I've stopped doing that now because I just stayed weak and my stamina decreased dramatically with all that extra weight (I know a great deal about bodybuilding now, so trust me, I've done my research). Guys with worse diet, worse training schedule, and with the same body build have become much stronger than me by just blinking an eye. I've overcome my self esteem issues so that's not a factor.
I've tried going to an allergy doctor and it looks like I have no allergies (skin prick and blood test), even though my nose is stuffy and itchy every day, I sneeze a lot, and these hives keep coming up (these have stayed with me most of my life but the hives have only recently showed up). I've tried food elimination with little results. My moms doctor checked out the lower half of my colon and gave me an upper GI but it showed nothing. He was convinced at first that I had crohn's but quickly changed that opinion to IBS and speculated that my GI tract was not fully matured which could take a few more years. I told him about my excessive sleepiness during the day and after meals but he just said that I had just been tired beforehand (which I was, but no amount of sleep would change that). My blood results didn't show anything specific and nothing indicated thyroid issues. The hives don't show up when I'm stressed (and I'm as relaxed as can be), they show up pretty randomly but If I wake up with them, then I'm ready to go to sleep again. The blood results did show a rather high amount of Imunoglobulins E which could be causing these allergy symptoms and hives, but how can I get rid of them when I don't have allergies and my allergy doctor just refers me to some skin specialist for my hives?! All I ask for is a clear mind and not being sleepy all the time, I would gladly accept a some kind of a disease if that's the payoff (I know how it sounds, but I'm just so tired of this fight that I just want it to end).
I've tried putting off dairy and caffeine for a while and ate very diversified food. I even got off sugar and got rid of all the withdrawal symptoms, but no matter how I look at it... as soon as I get constipated I get more and more sleepy, my abdomen gets all bloated and I become more sluggish. I get headaches that last the day and migraines if I don't sleep enough. I have none of these problems if I'm not constipated (and no, these are not problems related to caffeine withdrawal). I do feel a lot more clear minded and alert If I only eat fruits for a while but I can't live off just fruits and vegetables without loosing too much weight). I don't usually feel any pain from my abdomen unless very constipated. I did try a low protein diet by eating pasta for a week with more frequent BM, but that didn't really solve my problem. If I conclude that I can only have very little protein, then that could mean a whole lot of other things are not being digested either. There is no way of being sure really, and I'm afraid to talk to my doctor unless I have something solid in my hands (he might think I'm crazy and he probably already thinks so, ha ha). He's already told me that there are no more tests that he can give me (meaning, he's not willing to give me more tests with the information he has).
I find it increasingly harder to talk about this subject with my family as more time passes. Now I try not to bring this up anymore and just say I feel fine even though I don't. I've developed quite a poker face, even though I hate lying to people.
I could go on for a couple of more pages but I'm gonna call it a day. There are still many blanks but this is already too long. I'm hoping I can find some answers here and I thank you for making it so far.
I'm not entirely sure if I belong here but I've been trying to figure out my problem for a while now and so far no luck. I've also been having a hard time deciding what to write so this text has probably been rewritten a few times. Btw, I'm a 21 years old Scandinavian and a male. I'm sorry if this is overly detailed or if I simply forget myself while explaining something, after all I've put a lot of thought into this.
I'll start by saying that my mother has crohn's colitis and also my cousin. If I have crohn's, then it has probably something to do with my small intestine rather than the large intestine (my guess, without knowing for sure of course). I had bad constipation problems when I was a child, but it cleared up and I started to have regular BM every 3 days. When I turned 16 I tried to gain some weight but I started to notice I kept having loose stools now every day. I now know that it has to do with caffeine and dairy so today I try to keep that at a minimum. The problem is that, now that I don't have either of those, I'm more constipated than ever. So you might ask, why not just have a little dairy and not be constipated? Well, first of all I don't have hard stools at all, so if I speed things up, then I'll have loose stools. So either I have to deal with being constipated for days or have loose stools, and neither sound too healthy. Laxatives don't help at all, all that works is dairy or caffeine. Fiber also doesn't help, no matter how much oatmeal, fruits or vegetables I have. I just get more gassy if I take in Psyllium husk fiber, like it's just sitting there being eaten by bacteria or something.
I suspect that the food is not completely digested when it reaches the colon and that's why I'm having these constipation problems (I read undigested meat putrefies and causes constipation, that a protein breaks down and gives off a chemical that promotes constipation and hives). I have symptoms that I think are related to this, such as hives, eczema, brain fog and sleepiness. I notice that I feel a lot better if I'm not constipated and my skin color even darkens quite a bit. I've tried ruling out any psychological factors and when I feel bad I do everything to get me in a better mood and I always look at the bright side of life. However, I recall times when I never put any thoughts into my symptoms and felt pretty much like a regular teenager. My point is that my state of mind or stress have not affected my symptoms the slightest and I'm not making stuff up either. I just always thought things would change to the better and it's not until recently that I finally opened my eyes and I saw that I was getting nowhere and all my efforts on a healthier lifestyle and on school gave me nothing in return. I am completely unable to gain any muscles but I can gain some fat If I eat like crazy the whole day (I can eat a lot for my size, especially meat). I've stopped doing that now because I just stayed weak and my stamina decreased dramatically with all that extra weight (I know a great deal about bodybuilding now, so trust me, I've done my research). Guys with worse diet, worse training schedule, and with the same body build have become much stronger than me by just blinking an eye. I've overcome my self esteem issues so that's not a factor.
I've tried going to an allergy doctor and it looks like I have no allergies (skin prick and blood test), even though my nose is stuffy and itchy every day, I sneeze a lot, and these hives keep coming up (these have stayed with me most of my life but the hives have only recently showed up). I've tried food elimination with little results. My moms doctor checked out the lower half of my colon and gave me an upper GI but it showed nothing. He was convinced at first that I had crohn's but quickly changed that opinion to IBS and speculated that my GI tract was not fully matured which could take a few more years. I told him about my excessive sleepiness during the day and after meals but he just said that I had just been tired beforehand (which I was, but no amount of sleep would change that). My blood results didn't show anything specific and nothing indicated thyroid issues. The hives don't show up when I'm stressed (and I'm as relaxed as can be), they show up pretty randomly but If I wake up with them, then I'm ready to go to sleep again. The blood results did show a rather high amount of Imunoglobulins E which could be causing these allergy symptoms and hives, but how can I get rid of them when I don't have allergies and my allergy doctor just refers me to some skin specialist for my hives?! All I ask for is a clear mind and not being sleepy all the time, I would gladly accept a some kind of a disease if that's the payoff (I know how it sounds, but I'm just so tired of this fight that I just want it to end).
I've tried putting off dairy and caffeine for a while and ate very diversified food. I even got off sugar and got rid of all the withdrawal symptoms, but no matter how I look at it... as soon as I get constipated I get more and more sleepy, my abdomen gets all bloated and I become more sluggish. I get headaches that last the day and migraines if I don't sleep enough. I have none of these problems if I'm not constipated (and no, these are not problems related to caffeine withdrawal). I do feel a lot more clear minded and alert If I only eat fruits for a while but I can't live off just fruits and vegetables without loosing too much weight). I don't usually feel any pain from my abdomen unless very constipated. I did try a low protein diet by eating pasta for a week with more frequent BM, but that didn't really solve my problem. If I conclude that I can only have very little protein, then that could mean a whole lot of other things are not being digested either. There is no way of being sure really, and I'm afraid to talk to my doctor unless I have something solid in my hands (he might think I'm crazy and he probably already thinks so, ha ha). He's already told me that there are no more tests that he can give me (meaning, he's not willing to give me more tests with the information he has).
I find it increasingly harder to talk about this subject with my family as more time passes. Now I try not to bring this up anymore and just say I feel fine even though I don't. I've developed quite a poker face, even though I hate lying to people.
I could go on for a couple of more pages but I'm gonna call it a day. There are still many blanks but this is already too long. I'm hoping I can find some answers here and I thank you for making it so far.
