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In constant pain -- incredibly depressed.

Hello everyone.

My name is Sam. I'm a 22 year old recent graduate with a BA in literature and I am currently a self-employed artist.

I've been dealing with intense stomach pain and bowel movement issues my entire life, but it's only recently that I've allowed myself to take them seriously enough to pursue things with a specialist. I have an appointment scheduled next week with a gastroenterologist. Prior to this I've only seen general doctors who have dismissed my pain with literally no testing or recommendations to be tested elsewhere... I've been told it's anxiety, acid reflux, etc, etc. But none of the symptoms match up with my experiences.

I have to use the bathroom (#2) at least 4 times a day, and it's almost always painful and almost always diarrhea. For the past year I've had frequent nausea every time I eat, and often I just cannot eat. I have been logging everything I eat and every time I need to use the restroom, and I haven't found a correlation between my pain and diarrhea and any food in particular. It seems to be EVERY food.

The nausea is horrid and almost worse than the extremely painful diarrhea, because it is unrelenting and constant and while the bathroom episodes are more intense they are over in like 20 minutes and while I'm still a little uncomfortable afterwards it doesn't affect me like the nausea does. It's hard to stay productive and work, and in general I am exhausted all the time.

TBH it is just sapping my will to live and I just really hope I get answers soon, I can't live like this anymore. If I could even find a way to effectively relieve the nausea it would increase my quality of life so much -- thinking about this just makes me want to cry.

At the same time, I am frightened because in a lot of ways it's just easier to think it is just anxiety or something benign and I am worried that it is something worse.
 
Hi Sam! Welcome to the forum! I am so sorry things are not going well right now, but please know that you are on the right path to turning everything around. A specialist will be able to diagnose what is wrong through the correct tests, which will include a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. Don't worry about the colonoscopy--they put you under and then it's over and your GI can give you answers. If he can't find inflammation in the area he can reach, he might recommend swallowing a pill camera which is a very easy test. If it turns out that you do have inflammatory bowel disease, it's nothing to be scared about. It's not fun, that's true, but there is a broad spectrum of IBD from very mild to severe. There are many different medications that can help get an IBD patient into remission and to the point where he/she forgets they even have it. If it's IBS, then there are many drugs that can help the stomach spasms and the diarrhea. Just please know that there are answers waiting for you and that everything will turn around. It's hard when you don't know what's going on, but we've all been there and can tell you that this depression can and will pass.

Regarding the nausea, I would ask for Zofran immediately. The GI will schedule you for tests, but make sure you ask for Zofran to be able to help with the nausea in the meantime so you don't have to wait. A lot of folks find it helpful, although I prefer phenergan. I have a lot of nausea with my Crohn's disease and take phenergan on a daily basis. In fact, I just cheated and had Thai food so I had to take a phenergan 15 minutes ago. :)

Big hugs!!!!
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
Hugs being undiagnosised is the hardest.
Once you see the Gi things will move in the right direction.
My youngest was dx over a year ago with crohn's
Most days you would not even know he was sick .
But a year ago he was constantly vomiting , nausea etc...

Second the vote for zofran it really helps
Also ask the Gi about supplementing with ensure or boost .
Until your scope.
Things can and will get better.
 

nativesith

GTA ModLeader Psx-Scene
Location
Hobbema,Alberta
Undiagnosed and waiting for a GI is the hardest to deal with, I am in the same boat.
Get Ensure, drink Gatorade,Vitamin D3, Low residue and/or Gluton Free diet. These really make a difference. Really cut the pain down. Before I had these the pain was greater.
Please try it. It still makes me cry too, but na as much.
I send my prayers and hugs to you and everyone.
 
Thanks so much for all of the well wishes and support you guys... it really means a lot.

I saw my doctor on Wednesday for the first time and he immediately agreed to prescribe me Zofran, which has helped a lot already. It's like a huge weight is lifted off of me, even when I'm not feeling nauseous, knowing that I have something that will help the nausea when it occurs. It seems to do the trick for the most part... it doesn't go away entirely but I can definitely function now in a way I couldn't before and it's astonishing how much the nausea got in the way of things.

It does appear to make me a little sleepy but it's not terrible at all and I will take it over the nausea any day.

I had blood work and a stool sample done, I just got a letter in the mail today saying that my LFTs came back high and he ordered some more blood work because of it. I guess I'll have that done on Monday. I'm supposed to go in for a CT scan but I keep forgetting to schedule it, urgh. Hopefully I'll get that scheduled on Monday too.

The liver thing has me freaked out a little bit. My father has Hepatitis C but from what I know about it it's not hereditary? He got it from a blood transfusion in Vietnam. What could this indicate, especially considering the symptoms I have? I am so ignorant about all of this stuff. :(
 
Don't be scared. I know that what you're feeling right now sucks... but getting diagnosed, no matter what the cause is, will be a major step in the right direction because then doctors will be able to help you. If you have Crohn's, there are treatments available, and you should not have to live in pain. remission is always the goal. Good luck and keep in touch.
 
Definitely schedule the CT scan and don't worry about blood work. They can always come back slightly elevated and then further blood works shows everything's fine. It happens to me all of the time. I'm glad the Zofran is helping!!
 
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