Will I be ok

[Alexcx42]

After 6 months of waiting to get a referral I got a GI doctor. I told him what's going on and he said "no procedures let's do medicine!" He said linzess which I tried once and passed out. I lost so much fluid I turned blue and my mother is an emergency room and was the one who gave it to me. I told him and had to report him to the board after inappropriate texts. Days of him sending me texts and voicemails to do an exam and talked about my boyfriends. Since I've been taking laxatives and magnesium every day for the last month waiting for a new referral. Without it I can't go the bathroom. And with it it feels blocked I have to reposition my rectum inside to get anything. Ive had cancer in my family and my blood came back low rbc and wbc. I'm very nervous. Has anyone has this experience? I can't see anyone till December.. will I be ok? I've lost a lot of weight. I feel weak. I've never had issues till 6 months ago. It comes out like clay or like slivers very thin. Very dark. I have to use wipes every time. I'm only 29

[Grateful71]

Hi, I know your fear very well. I began having major bowel problems about 2 years ago and had lots of tests which showed I had areas of diverticulitis and IBS but I continue to have major anxiety especially when I have blood 😢 it sounds like you had a terrible experience with the other Dr and completely inappropriate. What I learned from my experience is that the digestive system is complex and affected by everything from diet to stress levels, exercise and sleep patterns. I am about to engage the help of s nuticionslist to work out a food and drink plan, I don't drink enough water and eat too fast. Hopefully everything will be ok and not worst case scenario, god forbid even if it was , treatment early is very very effective. Hold on tight and if you can let us know how you get on 🌈💓

[Hidden]

Bowel problems aside (although I hope you get this sorted) I'm really worried about that doctor. Stress like that would make things worse.

[xjrs]

Sorry to hear about the bad time you have had with your health problems with your GI doctor - good that you have reported him! Have you had a wide spectrum blood test including calprotectin (you mention white and red blood counts being low - what did the doctor say about that?) It sounds like you have IBS-C, but that would need to be confirmed by a specialist. I have been diagnosed with a long loopy (redundant) colon. This means that it takes longer for waste to go through the large intestine than the average person. The longer that wastes stays in your intestine the more water gets drawn out of the stools, the harder they become and more difficult to pass. I have also had IBS-D in the past when under stress, so you can switch between the two. Different types of stool can come from disordered bowel movements typical of IBS. Previous to get a full diagnosis I used to have to eat a huge amount of fibre to get a bowel movement but I didn't know why. Unfortunately my IBS has progressed to include visceral hypersensitivity (intestinal nerve pain) and a lot of fibre gives me pain, so I've also had to use Magnesium Oxide (and 1ml ginger extract - 28 drops) at night to get a bowel movement. I've also just been trying to replace Magnesium Oxide with pysillium husk powder, which is supposed to be gentler on the system (but you may be doing something similar depending on the laxative you are taking). The main thing is to get a formal diagnosis, which you have in hand. In the mean time it's a case of just concentrating on what you have to do each day and try not to look ahead. You are more likely to be diagnosed with IBS-C than anything else and once you get the diagnosis it's about managing the symptoms which you have already started to do. Good luck!

[xjrs in reply to xjrs]

By the way, have they also ruled out Coeliac Disease? I had a friend who suffered from anemia for years and was very weak. It took them some time to find out it was Coeliac Disease. She followed a strict gluten free diet and was as right as rein. In people with Coeliac Disease, gluten can block the absorption of some nutrients such as iron which leads to anemia and I notice you say your red blood count is low. If you haven't had the Coeliac test you need to continue consuming gluten prior to the test otherwise if you have it, it may not show up. People also shouldn't exclude food groups such as gluten unnecessarily unless it is really causing them problems.

[Alexcx42]

I asked for a allergy test for those reasons and the doctor said I will have to have another doctor referral. I've tried gluten-free diets over and over because I did a 23&me dna test and it said chance of celiac. It's more the feeling at the end of my body making my stool skinny and mushy. Which is very irregular. It's been over 6 months. I've been waiting on new doctors and tests. It's all very frustrating because my life has now become a diet and almost anorexia scared to eat and have the same reactions. Every day I have to eat a different way. And just wait for a BM. Then I eat again when I can.

[xjrs in reply to Alexcx42]

Are you in the US? It's a shame since you seem to be being pushed from pillar to post. In the UK there are set protocols for dealing with this type of situation and one of the first things GPs would do with those sorts of symptoms is the specific coeliac blood test (nhs.uk/conditions/coeliac-d... - I'm not sure what you mean by an allergy test or whether this will cover it. Having odd stools can be typical of IBS and nothing to worry about although it may seem very scary. If you are managing to go once a day (or even every 3 days) and don't need to rush to the toilet or have accidents when you are out, you are very lucky. I am concerned about you avoiding eating - what specific fears are stopping you from eating - what is the worst that can happen when you eat? If you are diagnosed with IBS there are high fodmap foods to consider and sometimes this sorts people out. If you are loose and worried about that in the mean time you can take immodium (loperimide) after any loose stools to give you confidence to go out.

[xjrs in reply to xjrs]

There's also the possibility of you overdoing it with the laxatives and magnesium which is giving you the odd stools and maybe need to cut back the dose a little and see what happens?

[xjrs in reply to xjrs]

Another thing the mushiness can be is what is called overflow. This is where you have compacted stool and when new waste arrives to be processed (which is liquid), it has no where to go and then seeps down the side of the compaction. This is diarrhea like but actually isn't diarrhea - the cause is actually constipation which means the stools need to be made softer.

[xjrs in reply to xjrs]

I was also once prescribed Normacol laxative, which made me rush to the toilet and my stools came out weird - very long and stringy. I stopped taking it and switched to a more natural version of cellulose: allstarhealth.com/en-gb/de_.... I took it 3 times a day in water before meals and alongside a high fibre diet this worked for me for some time.

[IBSNetwork Partner IBS Network]

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