I apologize in advance, because this is long - but if you could measure frustration by word counts, it should give you a pretty good indicator of how fed up I am with my stomach.
Anyways...
I have always been prone to loose stools and diarrhea. I used to get it once a month as a teenager and after my gallbladder was removed in 1999, almost every movement would be puddingesque.
After about five years post-lapcholi, I developed alternating diarrhea and constipation. But it was mild.
Fast forward to March of 2009. I quit smoking and was bound up tighter than a drum for about four straight weeks. At the end, I couldn't even eat because it seemed as though my bowels were full straight through to my stomach. I'd eat and it would sit in my chest (at least it felt like that). I would be burping up chunks of undigested food for up to six to eight hours after I'd eaten it. Nothing I tried unlocked my bowels. It was like they just stopped. I couldn't even produce a fart. What was most bothersome was the pressure and bloating. I looked pregnant and there was so much pressure under my ribcage I felt like I couldn't get a deep breath.
Started smoking again. Flushed out and felt "normal" (semi-diarrhea) for the next several months. In August 2009 I had this weird breast infection and they gave me Augmentin. I had liqui-poo for two weeks. Stopped taking it. Quit smoking again. Had constipation this time for about six weeks. Nothing would work. Miralax, Senna, Cascara Sagrada, Enemas, Magnesium Citrate, Dulcolax... And, just like before there wasn't even a hint of movement, gas, liquid, solid or otherwise. Backed up all the way to my throat and yes, began smoking again. Took a little longer to recover from this bout, however.
Last June I started feeling kind of "caffeinated" all the time. My TSH was really low (they say it doesn't matter) and I was having really bad palpitations all summer. Sweating, and... near constant diarrhea. I felt really good, lots of energy and best of all - no bloat.
In November of this year I felt like everything was slowing down again. By December I had become so constipated that I had to perform circus acts on the toilet to get my poo's out. That led to a very sore anus and rectum. A week later I started having gurgly pains from where my appendix is up to the bottom of my right ribcage. It felt like it was burning inside of there. This was followed by super-liquid diarrhea and then another lockup. I went to my GP, had a pelvic ultrasound (because I had complained of rectal pain and burning). Did a digital rectal exam. Felt nothing.
Started having lower back ache. Lasted the whole while I had this burning plus diarrhea. I get sharp stabbing pains in my anus/rectum. I get pain when I push a bm out.
On top of this I am bloating like crazy, but mostly during the constipation. I can't have a normal bm it seems. Either loose or can't get the concrete slab out.
I don't think this is isolated to my colon because it seems like if I'm backing up all the way to my throat, there has to be a small intestine component. I have an appointment with a GI on March 30 and while I'm relieved, I'm getting nervous!
Other symptoms: (there are probably a lot more that I'm not remembering right now too!)
My GP says IBS, but I worry about this constantly. Has anyone ever had similar symptoms? Any suggestions? I am terrified that I have bowel cancer and it's freaking me out. I'm a 36-year-old female, btw.
Anyways...
I have always been prone to loose stools and diarrhea. I used to get it once a month as a teenager and after my gallbladder was removed in 1999, almost every movement would be puddingesque.
After about five years post-lapcholi, I developed alternating diarrhea and constipation. But it was mild.
Fast forward to March of 2009. I quit smoking and was bound up tighter than a drum for about four straight weeks. At the end, I couldn't even eat because it seemed as though my bowels were full straight through to my stomach. I'd eat and it would sit in my chest (at least it felt like that). I would be burping up chunks of undigested food for up to six to eight hours after I'd eaten it. Nothing I tried unlocked my bowels. It was like they just stopped. I couldn't even produce a fart. What was most bothersome was the pressure and bloating. I looked pregnant and there was so much pressure under my ribcage I felt like I couldn't get a deep breath.
Started smoking again. Flushed out and felt "normal" (semi-diarrhea) for the next several months. In August 2009 I had this weird breast infection and they gave me Augmentin. I had liqui-poo for two weeks. Stopped taking it. Quit smoking again. Had constipation this time for about six weeks. Nothing would work. Miralax, Senna, Cascara Sagrada, Enemas, Magnesium Citrate, Dulcolax... And, just like before there wasn't even a hint of movement, gas, liquid, solid or otherwise. Backed up all the way to my throat and yes, began smoking again. Took a little longer to recover from this bout, however.
Last June I started feeling kind of "caffeinated" all the time. My TSH was really low (they say it doesn't matter) and I was having really bad palpitations all summer. Sweating, and... near constant diarrhea. I felt really good, lots of energy and best of all - no bloat.
In November of this year I felt like everything was slowing down again. By December I had become so constipated that I had to perform circus acts on the toilet to get my poo's out. That led to a very sore anus and rectum. A week later I started having gurgly pains from where my appendix is up to the bottom of my right ribcage. It felt like it was burning inside of there. This was followed by super-liquid diarrhea and then another lockup. I went to my GP, had a pelvic ultrasound (because I had complained of rectal pain and burning). Did a digital rectal exam. Felt nothing.
Started having lower back ache. Lasted the whole while I had this burning plus diarrhea. I get sharp stabbing pains in my anus/rectum. I get pain when I push a bm out.
On top of this I am bloating like crazy, but mostly during the constipation. I can't have a normal bm it seems. Either loose or can't get the concrete slab out.
I don't think this is isolated to my colon because it seems like if I'm backing up all the way to my throat, there has to be a small intestine component. I have an appointment with a GI on March 30 and while I'm relieved, I'm getting nervous!
Other symptoms: (there are probably a lot more that I'm not remembering right now too!)
- Pressure/crampy/stabby pain under the right ribcage and down a few inches.
- A feeling of "fullness" all along my ascending colon, with a big lump the size of a baseball every morning right where my appendix would be. Dr. told me that was my colon bunching up when it activates in the morning. I only get this when I'm constipated. It doesn't look normal to me. It's not super hard, but firm and I can move it around a bit. It rolls kind of like a baby when it's moving in the womb. Really weird.
- When i get really constipated it feels like my entire transverse colon is trying to crawl up inside of my chest.
- I get pains a few inches above my belly button, most noticeably when things are moving through that area.
- I have a very slow transit. My stomach either takes hours upon hours to empty, leaving me feeling like I have a concrete balloon under my sternum, or... conversely, sometimes the moment I swallow I can feel the food hurtling through my intestines and will have diarrhea within twenty minutes.
- I am getting rashes that seem to be in conjunction to my constipation. I know this sounds truly bizarre, but every single time I get bound up, I get this extremely itchy skin rash on my upper body. It's red and kind of starts out looking like a heat rash or pimples, but takes forever to go away.
My GP says IBS, but I worry about this constantly. Has anyone ever had similar symptoms? Any suggestions? I am terrified that I have bowel cancer and it's freaking me out. I'm a 36-year-old female, btw.
Maybe it's nothing, but maybe it's not.
