Nocturnal Diarrhea

[Catarific]

Are any of you plagued with Nocturnal Diarrhea that comes on in the middle of the night? :sign0085:

I know for myself - I usually am awoken about 1 to 3 a.m. and have to go to the bathroom either with watery, semi hard or even regular urgency. This might continue once an hour up to about 6:30 to 7:00 a.m. It is really annoying and it so disturbs trying to get a good night's sleep. I have never had an accident - but you sure know that your colon is calling you....

Is there anything you can do about this? I know I am not bothered all day - but somewhere between 7 to 8 hours after eating - this comes on.....

 

[tiloah]

I have experienced this, but not on a regular basis. The only thing I can think of is maybe eating earlier and/or later so that you can stay asleep longer? Does it change based on what you eat?

Sorry I'm not terribly helpful, but I hope you figure out something that works for you.

 

[hawkeye]

Just wondering if you were recently diagnosed. I had it initially but it went away when the prednsone and 5-ASA got things it under control.

 

[Catarific]

Based on what I eat does change the type of diarrhea I have - but no matter what I eat - I am now consistently waking up somewhere between 1 and 3. I tried going to bed earlier - but that really doesn't seem to help too much - since I still awake first with gas before the onset of the D.

Last night I felt great before going to bed - but again I woke up during the night. I really wish I had some answers. Sometimes I feel my body just is trying to reject something that it does not like - but I have no idea what that could be. I stay away from dairy, fried foods, gluten and cereal. It seems like it does not like complex carbohydrates found it bread (even gluten free), rice, sugar, etc.

 

[Catarific]

I am awaiting some biopsies that were taken - have an appointment Friday. If they have no answers - I really do not know what to do next... Both the endoscopy and colonoscopy looked good but again - I have not received the biopsy results yet....

 

[num1habsfan]

I have that problem when i'm having my flareups!

 

[denisk]

I had that problem until I got diagnosed I would not sleep more then 4 hours at a time. I also had to sleep in a chair sometimes or else I'd throw up and those nights I never actually slept. I can't stress enough how grateful I am towards my GI. I now sleep like a rock and I go to the bathroom maybe once or twice a day. I don't think there is any cure until you get the proper meds and then I can attest to the awesome life changing recovery.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I am like Habs, I only get that during a flare, thankfully.

 

[StarGirrrrl]

I get night attacks (as I call them), but they vary in frequency, I might not have a single one for months, or several in one month!

Sometimes looking back over the day I can see a cause but other times there is no reason.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

I have this problem on occasion. Its gross and very annoying. If you aren't flaring try fiber

 

[Catarific]

Honestly - how do you know if you are flaring? If you are having consistent daily problems - how much different is it with a flare up. Now, if you are feeling good with no problems and they appear - you know it is a flare up. But when you see no relief - is it a flare or just a general condition?

 

[allieinwonder]

I am with star, mine really varies. I get night attacks if I eat something my body hates (for example, I had cooked green beans a few nights ago that my body just outright rejected). The only time I have had more than one attack in one night is when I am prepping for a test.

I believe in the crohn's realm a flare is when you have any kind of symptoms...where remission is the opposite, where you have no symptoms and can eat freely. There is a thread on here about the lengths of flares, and they can vary from a few weeks to months. Everyone - please correct me if I'm wrong!

My flares are really short at the moment. I will be sick for anywhere from a week to a month and then suddenly I will feel fine. I have to admit though: during this flare, since I was hospitalized and STILL don't have a diagnosis, I have been eating foods that I miss and I think thats why this flare has kept going (been almost a month this time...almost twice as long as my other flares). For example, I am eating red grapes at the moment... big no no for me since this started but I used to eat a bag at a time when I was little. I am so tired of this IBS stuff that I don't care about trying to get better until they realize it.

 

[ameslouise]

Catarific - That was my life for the last two years. Fine during the day (well, not fine, but not going every hour) and at night - up 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 times a night. Started at 11 pm and would last until 4 am, when I would die for two hours until the alarm rang. It was brutal.

I tried adjusting when I ate, what I ate, how much I ate - nothing seemed to help. It was all night every night for two years. It got really bad at the end, with accidents almost every night.

What meds are you currently on? Have you talked to your doc about it to see what s/he suggests?

Good luck - I hope you can conquer it.

- Amy

PS I have a bag now and let me tell you how awesome it is to sleep 6-7 hours at a clip!

 

[Catarific]

Amy, are you better now? Did you get diagnosed? And if so, what are you taking now for those symptoms?

I just got back from the doctor and all my biopsies were negative (sigh), no diagnosis. I told him that I need something - I am down to 98 lbs and I cannot afford to lose any more weight. He did give me a prescription for Questran and asked to see me in a week. He still calls my condition IBS since he can not find any clinical evidence of anything else so far.

Oh and here is a funny one - the nurse took my weight - which was 100 lbs and she wrote down 150 lbs. When I told him I was 98 - he said huh? It says here 150 - gee doesn't anyone have any common sense - if he took the time to look at me, he should have known I am definitely not 150 lbs......

Have any of you tried Questran - and if so - any relief??

 

[Jennifer]

I believe in the crohn's realm a flare is when you have any kind of symptoms...where remission is the opposite, where you have no symptoms and can eat freely.

A flare means that your condition is not under control which means you have really bad symptoms or other such bad things happening even if you don't feel it (some people have mentioned having little to no symptoms yet they have inflammation or sores in their intestines that need treatment). Remission means that your condition is under control but does not mean you will never suffer from any symptoms and certainly doesn't mean you can eat whatever you want. We all have trigger foods and these foods generally affect us whether we are having a flare or not. To recap, flare means out of control, remission means under control.

 

[allieinwonder]

A flare means that your condition is not under control which means you have really bad symptoms or other such bad things happening even if you don't feel it (some people have mentioned having little to no symptoms yet they have inflammation or sores in their intestines that need treatment). Remission means that your condition is under control but does not mean you will never suffer from any symptoms and certainly doesn't mean you can eat whatever you want. We all have trigger foods and these foods generally affect us whether we are having a flare or not. To recap, flare means out of control, remission means under control.

Thanks for the correction. I have seen some say that they can eat a more variety when in remission, but I guess that is not the same as freely! Sorry for the confusion.

 

[dannysmom]

Sorry Catarific. My son also has diarrhea several times at night (everynight for the last 4 months). It is awful. He is sometimes in there for hours because the urge has not subsided and he feels he may have to go again in a few minutes. He also does not have a definitive diagnosis - but biopsies did show inflammation throughout.

 

[Catarific]

Sorry about your son. Hope they can give him something to relieve this. My biopsies showed that everything was great - geez - if it were - I would not be complaining so much.

 

[ameslouise]

Amy, are you better now? Did you get diagnosed? And if so, what are you taking now for those symptoms?

Probably not what you want to hear but I just had surgery and got a permanent ileostomy placed. So yes! I am tons better now!!

But it was two years of suffering like that until my doc and I finally decided enough was enough!

- Ames

 

[Catarific]

Ok here is an update I started taking the Questran (before breakfast and before dinner) and so far for two nights - no nocturnal diarrhea! And today - I even went sort of normal. Even though we cannot figure what I really have - if it is or isn't more than IBS-D - I am still happy to find that for two days - I got a good night's sleep!

 

[allieinwonder]

Thats great! I am so happy for you! Hopefully that will help your doctor figure out what is wrong!

 

[tiloah]

Ok here is an update I started taking the Questran (before breakfast and before dinner) and so far for two nights - no nocturnal diarrhea! And today - I even went sort of normal. Even though we cannot figure what I really have - if it is or isn't more than IBS-D - I am still happy to find that for two days - I got a good night's sleep!

That's fantastic news!