- Location
- Washington, DC
I'm totally new here, and for all I know, I don't have IBD at all. Maybe it's in my head.
I guess I just need some support -- or maybe someone to tell me to chill the heck out. Anyway, here's my details:
I'm 25 recovering alcoholic with 13 months of sobriety. (Sobriety's a side note but I know booze can cause all kinds of tummy trouble. All my liver functions and such were normal when I went to detox though.)
Anyway, I've had IBS w/painful diarrhea since I was a little kid with phases where I'd have a lot of trouble and periods of no problems at all. About eight months ago, after a couple symptom-free years, I started getting unexplained diarrhea again. For a couple I'd get it a few times a week and then it'd go away again. This diarrhea was much worse than I remember from a few years before: really horrible pain, often blood, even some nausea -- all new to me -- but I wasn't to concerned until mid-April or so, when I had a couple bouts of diarrhea with more blood than I was willing to chalk up to a hemorrhoid.
Flash forward to late June. All hell breaks loose. About a month ago, I started getting crampy pain -- typical diarrhea cramps, but without any diarrhea. Just blood and some mucous. And the pain didn't go away after a day or so like usual. The pain got worse until I finally had a week or so with a lot of diarrhea with the WORST pain I've ever been in. There was quite a bit of blood in there too. I went to the ER, but the bloodwork + quick rectal exam looked normal and they sent me home. So I didn't go to the doctor a few nights later even though pain was getting steadily worse. (There was one night when I actually thought I may have had a gallbladder attack. Excruciating. And in a weird place, too -- right side, just below ribcage.)
I'm feeling better now, sort of, BUT: I'm still having low grade fevers on a daily basis and have started pain in my lymph nodes. Sometimes I get brief stabs of pain on the lower right and middle left abdomen. And I'm still sleeping a ridiculous amount -- despite the fact that I take stimulants for ADD which typically keep daytime fatigue at bay. The craziest thing though? Since about 10 days ago, I've been super constipated. And I've NEVER had that problem before. EVER.
Moral of the story? I don't know. My body is freaking out and I'm at my wit's end because no one seems to believe me. I'm bipolar and very balanced on my meds, but when you feel sick and sleepy all the time, it's very hard to fight depression. I feel like my doctor thinks I'm crazy or lying, which just makes matters worse. I don't know what to do.
I've had some blood work and tests. Blood was mostly normal. Monocyte % was high, and MCH was high as was RDW, and protein and albumin were borderline low. An upper endoscopy was normal, including intestinal villae. I had a punch of little pinprick sized erosions in the gastric antrum, but my doctor said that was probably just acid. Ok. So it looks like infection and celiac are ruled out, at least from the duodenum up.
Help! What the heck is wrong with me? Am I really just letting my anxiety get the best of me? People don't normally just run around pooping out blood on the regular, right? That's bad??
I guess I just need some support -- or maybe someone to tell me to chill the heck out. Anyway, here's my details:
I'm 25 recovering alcoholic with 13 months of sobriety. (Sobriety's a side note but I know booze can cause all kinds of tummy trouble. All my liver functions and such were normal when I went to detox though.)
Anyway, I've had IBS w/painful diarrhea since I was a little kid with phases where I'd have a lot of trouble and periods of no problems at all. About eight months ago, after a couple symptom-free years, I started getting unexplained diarrhea again. For a couple I'd get it a few times a week and then it'd go away again. This diarrhea was much worse than I remember from a few years before: really horrible pain, often blood, even some nausea -- all new to me -- but I wasn't to concerned until mid-April or so, when I had a couple bouts of diarrhea with more blood than I was willing to chalk up to a hemorrhoid.
Flash forward to late June. All hell breaks loose. About a month ago, I started getting crampy pain -- typical diarrhea cramps, but without any diarrhea. Just blood and some mucous. And the pain didn't go away after a day or so like usual. The pain got worse until I finally had a week or so with a lot of diarrhea with the WORST pain I've ever been in. There was quite a bit of blood in there too. I went to the ER, but the bloodwork + quick rectal exam looked normal and they sent me home. So I didn't go to the doctor a few nights later even though pain was getting steadily worse. (There was one night when I actually thought I may have had a gallbladder attack. Excruciating. And in a weird place, too -- right side, just below ribcage.)
I'm feeling better now, sort of, BUT: I'm still having low grade fevers on a daily basis and have started pain in my lymph nodes. Sometimes I get brief stabs of pain on the lower right and middle left abdomen. And I'm still sleeping a ridiculous amount -- despite the fact that I take stimulants for ADD which typically keep daytime fatigue at bay. The craziest thing though? Since about 10 days ago, I've been super constipated. And I've NEVER had that problem before. EVER.
Moral of the story? I don't know. My body is freaking out and I'm at my wit's end because no one seems to believe me. I'm bipolar and very balanced on my meds, but when you feel sick and sleepy all the time, it's very hard to fight depression. I feel like my doctor thinks I'm crazy or lying, which just makes matters worse. I don't know what to do.
I've had some blood work and tests. Blood was mostly normal. Monocyte % was high, and MCH was high as was RDW, and protein and albumin were borderline low. An upper endoscopy was normal, including intestinal villae. I had a punch of little pinprick sized erosions in the gastric antrum, but my doctor said that was probably just acid. Ok. So it looks like infection and celiac are ruled out, at least from the duodenum up.
Help! What the heck is wrong with me? Am I really just letting my anxiety get the best of me? People don't normally just run around pooping out blood on the regular, right? That's bad??