Loose stools

[kyanah]

Hi was wondering if anybody had a bloated stomach and loose stools when injection is due.

[wedgewood]

Having stomach problems can be part and parcel of having Pernicious Anaemia , because of the lack of stomach acid that it brings .( antibodies attack the parietal cells in the stomach which supply stomach acid and the Intrinsic Factor ) Lack of stomach acid upsets the stomach flora , which can lead to constipation or loose stools, and bloating . Low/no stomach acid (Hypochlorhydria/Achlorhydria ) is not treated ( in fact my doctor did not know that Pernicious Anaemia caused this ), so one must try to find one’s own solution .

I found help in pro and pre-biotics . These are obtainable in capsule form . But better than capsules are the natural form of probiotics in food e.g organic sauerkraut , natural yoghurt , kimchi and kefir . All these one can make oneself at home . These foods are often an acquired taste , and maybe difficult to take to when one is older , but they are really the best way to obtain a good variety of the good bacteria that P.A.patients need . Prebiotics , which probiotics feed on, are found in the fibre of vegetables, so eating fibrous vegetables will provide this .

There is plenty of information available now about this subject since it is now realised how important gut health is. Lots of books have been written on gut health . P.A.patients need this knowledge .

I’m sorry , I haven’t really answered your question . I really don’t know why this would happen just when your injection is due, but I hope that my response is helpful . Very best wishes .

[bquoss in reply to wedgewood]

Wedgewood, this is a familiar problem with pernicious anemia. I have been surprised during the past year, since I began taking celebrex for arthritis, to find my digestive symptoms are much reduced. Apparently part of the autoimmune reaction in the stomach is inflammation, and celebrex works to reduce inflammation. I am not a doctor, and there are known risks when people with high acid stomachs take celebrex (PA is low acid). I found only one study directly testing celebrex with autoimmune gastritis, using rats (the inflammation was reduced but not cured). I am happy to be eating better and having fewer digestive symptoms, and my doctor is ok also. Just something to be aware of.

[Nanc72 in reply to wedgewood]

Just curious as I posted something about making a diet change to a low inflammation diet on here a while ago....it stated to stay away from dairy, other then yogurt. I am allergic to milk (by allergy skin testing) but the only thing it seems to do is bring on migraines. I guess in my case I should take pills then?

[MoKayD]

I had the same problem as you. It didn't happen all of the time but often enough to be annoying. I just started taking a supplement with the ingredients, betaine hydrochloride with pepsin. It's really helped with the loose stools. I don't even take it with every meal. I usually take it with one meal a day. Also, I was worried about loose stools when I went on a vacation last year. While researching the subject, someone suggested taking a calcium supplement to slow down the intestinal problem. I tried it and it worked for me. I take a very low dose calcium supplement because it seems like doctors are cautioning against taking huge amounts of calcium in supplement form.

[Ryaan]

I’m now 42. Since I was 21 I had these digestive issues, the main one being extreme bloating.

At the time I was positive for H-Pylori and given the course of antibiotics. It improved things but the problem never went away. My doctor never tested me if my H-Pylori had gone even till today I’ve never been tested again.

I had always suffered from the same symptoms until 3 years ago when my B12 was very low and I was put on injections. My digestive issues and bloating almost disappeared after about 3 months of weekly injections.

I now have to be careful about what I eat but after 2 weeks of a B12 injection in the 3rd week my bloating returns so I now self inject every 2 weeks.

So I don’t know why this happens but it does.

Loose stools might be your diet or something else going on, I would speak to a doctor to investigate further.

[kyanah in reply to Ryaan]

Hi I’ve been to the doctors they have done a stool sample, so hopefully get something from that I now have upper stomach bloating and feel drained feels like gastritis again which I had 4 years ago of the antrum.