- Joined
- Jun 4, 2014
- Messages
- 2
Hi everyone, I am a 23 year old female who is finally beginning testing to attempt to unvover the reason behind my moderate-to-severe bowel/stomach problems 5+ years, finally beginning testing for poss IBD.
A bit of back-story to better understand/possibly advise my issues:Never had more than a cold/fluor any real pain/discomfort/issued prior to age 16, at which point I began to experience terrible stomachaches and irregular, sometimes painful bowel movements. I constantly felt weak and fatigued, even in 'manic states.' I have Bipolar as well. I just didn't feel like me, and it was lasting longer than a cold would. Months after these symptoms began, I finally went to the dr. I went 4 times and was dismissed immediately as exaggerating and told I had IBS and that it was from me having anxiety disorder and maniv depression, despite my initial insistence that it felt much different than those mental illness symptoms and happened regardless of mood/stresslevel. It was not until a year later when I finally was able to get an abdominal ultrasound that a 13cm ovarian teratoma tumor was torsioned and I would have to have immediate major surgery to remove the tumor and the left ovary completely.
That was in 2007, when I was 17. The surgery was difficult, and I ended up losing over half of my blood and having to gave multiple blood transfusions as well as emergency to correct the bleeding. I ended up having to stay im the hospital for a week. I was on bedrest/sick/recoverig for nearly 4 months. I ate very little and began having a lot of stomach issues, such as cramping, freq diarrhea and urgency to move bowels, as well as periods of almost 'normal' bowel movements and little to no pain. I began to jusy adjust or think this was normal now, even though it did not feel right.
I worked fulltime for five yrs (until late 2013) when I simply became too ill. I would have to use the bathroom too much or have weird vomiting spells. I felt tired and weak andnmy joints, hip and stomach constantly ached. Everything seemed to upset my stomach. Then in feb of this yr (2014), I was rushed to the ER because I could not stop vomiting for over 48 hrs with absolutely no food in my stomach. I also had awful diarrhea and abdominal cramping, but was treated for dehydration and low potassium. I was given heavy duty IV antinausea drugs for cancer patients and still conyinued yo throw up. No food poisoning or infection, but my mom made them do am ulreasound since I had ovarian tumor in the past. Unbelievably, i found put I havw a 3cm ovarian teratoma on my right and only remaining ovary. I had laproscopic surgery on feb 14 to rile out endometriosis and clear adhesions from past surgery, but my obgyn decided not to remove the tumor unless it grows simce I only have 1 ovary, no children and I am 23.Felt fine until my period came the next month, and was again hospitalized tor dehydration, low potass, and antinausea iv to stop the vomiting. Still I threw up.I thought it might be the teratoma causing the bowel problems, weird stool, abdom pain, and fatigue/weakness, but that has pretty much been ruled out via tests and taking BC to eliminate period which makes thw symptoms less extreme.
Now my obgyn is concerned due to stomach and bowel symptoms as well as pain during rectal exam. He wants to refer me to the GI.The doctors both times could not believe how 'healthy' I seemed oe the things I had been able to do (exercise heavily, go to school, etc) despite being so ill. He said I must have a very high tolerance for pain if I was able to ignore something like that, which worries me that I may be ignoring or convincing myself that nothing is wrong, yet at the same time I feel immense pain too often for my age/lifestyle, and my stool is definitely not normal. Still not sure what the extreme nausea/vomiting episodes where I was hospitalized or stabilized in the ER were...anyone experience anything slightly similar at least?I am becoming sad and frustrated as I really want to move on with my life and be well, and I already have the ovarian tumor growth to worry about. I am worried they are not going to run the necessary tests. All of this time and I am just now being sent to the GI dr after pain during rectal exam from obgyn and hearing my symptoms/descripton of stool. Will they dismiss me vecause none of my liver panel or CBCs were abnormal, except a CBC and urinalysis performed before my surgery earlier this yr that showed elevated white and red blood cells. They said i had an infection and gave me antibiotics which I couldnt take due to the constant nausea during that time. Now my CBC and liver function tests came back normal today. I am worried this means I cannot get a referral now or will not be taken seriously. I feel like I need at least an x-ray of my intestines or a stool sample. Please comment if you have anythimg to share or anything I should expect from here on out. I am very scared and becomomg more anf more depressed as I am often stuck either umable to eat and in pain or constantly in the bathroom all day.
SYMPTOMS I HAVE EXPERIENCED OVER PAST 5 YRS:
- constant irregular bowel movements (often w/ urgency to void or inability to completely void)
- black or blackish stool that is usually half hard and half semisoft
- undigested foodstuffs
- porridgelike and foul-smelling bowel movement
- hemmorhoids
- extreme fatigue
- joint pain
- abdominal cramping
- lower back pain
- occasional green stool
- periods of vomiting bile and/or food
- nausea
- dizziness
- feel full quick
- feels better when I do not eat
-some weeks with no symptoms or very few
Thank you for reading.It had taken an incredibly long time to even reach this point;
A bit of back-story to better understand/possibly advise my issues:Never had more than a cold/fluor any real pain/discomfort/issued prior to age 16, at which point I began to experience terrible stomachaches and irregular, sometimes painful bowel movements. I constantly felt weak and fatigued, even in 'manic states.' I have Bipolar as well. I just didn't feel like me, and it was lasting longer than a cold would. Months after these symptoms began, I finally went to the dr. I went 4 times and was dismissed immediately as exaggerating and told I had IBS and that it was from me having anxiety disorder and maniv depression, despite my initial insistence that it felt much different than those mental illness symptoms and happened regardless of mood/stresslevel. It was not until a year later when I finally was able to get an abdominal ultrasound that a 13cm ovarian teratoma tumor was torsioned and I would have to have immediate major surgery to remove the tumor and the left ovary completely.
That was in 2007, when I was 17. The surgery was difficult, and I ended up losing over half of my blood and having to gave multiple blood transfusions as well as emergency to correct the bleeding. I ended up having to stay im the hospital for a week. I was on bedrest/sick/recoverig for nearly 4 months. I ate very little and began having a lot of stomach issues, such as cramping, freq diarrhea and urgency to move bowels, as well as periods of almost 'normal' bowel movements and little to no pain. I began to jusy adjust or think this was normal now, even though it did not feel right.
I worked fulltime for five yrs (until late 2013) when I simply became too ill. I would have to use the bathroom too much or have weird vomiting spells. I felt tired and weak andnmy joints, hip and stomach constantly ached. Everything seemed to upset my stomach. Then in feb of this yr (2014), I was rushed to the ER because I could not stop vomiting for over 48 hrs with absolutely no food in my stomach. I also had awful diarrhea and abdominal cramping, but was treated for dehydration and low potassium. I was given heavy duty IV antinausea drugs for cancer patients and still conyinued yo throw up. No food poisoning or infection, but my mom made them do am ulreasound since I had ovarian tumor in the past. Unbelievably, i found put I havw a 3cm ovarian teratoma on my right and only remaining ovary. I had laproscopic surgery on feb 14 to rile out endometriosis and clear adhesions from past surgery, but my obgyn decided not to remove the tumor unless it grows simce I only have 1 ovary, no children and I am 23.Felt fine until my period came the next month, and was again hospitalized tor dehydration, low potass, and antinausea iv to stop the vomiting. Still I threw up.I thought it might be the teratoma causing the bowel problems, weird stool, abdom pain, and fatigue/weakness, but that has pretty much been ruled out via tests and taking BC to eliminate period which makes thw symptoms less extreme.
Now my obgyn is concerned due to stomach and bowel symptoms as well as pain during rectal exam. He wants to refer me to the GI.The doctors both times could not believe how 'healthy' I seemed oe the things I had been able to do (exercise heavily, go to school, etc) despite being so ill. He said I must have a very high tolerance for pain if I was able to ignore something like that, which worries me that I may be ignoring or convincing myself that nothing is wrong, yet at the same time I feel immense pain too often for my age/lifestyle, and my stool is definitely not normal. Still not sure what the extreme nausea/vomiting episodes where I was hospitalized or stabilized in the ER were...anyone experience anything slightly similar at least?I am becoming sad and frustrated as I really want to move on with my life and be well, and I already have the ovarian tumor growth to worry about. I am worried they are not going to run the necessary tests. All of this time and I am just now being sent to the GI dr after pain during rectal exam from obgyn and hearing my symptoms/descripton of stool. Will they dismiss me vecause none of my liver panel or CBCs were abnormal, except a CBC and urinalysis performed before my surgery earlier this yr that showed elevated white and red blood cells. They said i had an infection and gave me antibiotics which I couldnt take due to the constant nausea during that time. Now my CBC and liver function tests came back normal today. I am worried this means I cannot get a referral now or will not be taken seriously. I feel like I need at least an x-ray of my intestines or a stool sample. Please comment if you have anythimg to share or anything I should expect from here on out. I am very scared and becomomg more anf more depressed as I am often stuck either umable to eat and in pain or constantly in the bathroom all day.
SYMPTOMS I HAVE EXPERIENCED OVER PAST 5 YRS:
- constant irregular bowel movements (often w/ urgency to void or inability to completely void)
- black or blackish stool that is usually half hard and half semisoft
- undigested foodstuffs
- porridgelike and foul-smelling bowel movement
- hemmorhoids
- extreme fatigue
- joint pain
- abdominal cramping
- lower back pain
- occasional green stool
- periods of vomiting bile and/or food
- nausea
- dizziness
- feel full quick
- feels better when I do not eat
-some weeks with no symptoms or very few
Thank you for reading.It had taken an incredibly long time to even reach this point;
