Doctor states i am perfectly fine....however

[Gerdman21]

So ive been having gut issues for about 6 months now.... bowel irregularity, abdominal pains, reflux reactions, and what i consider flare ups that have lasted days.. constipation follows those flare ups, with a few days of normality in between. I was told its Gerd, then IBS... got prescribed Bentyl for pain, Omeprozole for Gerd, none of which helped.

I had a colonoscopy done, nothing found except a few pockets of divertculosis and an inner hemorrhoid.

I finally got to see an actual GI Doctor yesterday. He went over my 3 blood tests, my 2 stool samples, urine samples... and told me that nothing is wrong with me at all.

this past weekend i had abdominal pain that would flare up every 30 minutes or so, i was pooping mucus... i asked him how i could be perfectly normal if things like that are happening to me??

he told me to take metamucil for three weeks and follow up with him to see how i feel, at that point ill have a CT scan done.

I have stopped the Omeprozele, the bentyl, stopped all the suplements ive seen and read about on the internet.... at this point i have no idea what to do.

suprisingly enough, today ive had two normal bowel movements, and the pain in my abdomen is about a 1 out of 10....

i am wondering if the stress of it all worsened my symptoms, and if i was causing most of them by trying various things all at once.

I am pretty much lost now, i have no idea what to think...

[winfong]

Nothing is wrong with you at all ... except IBS. Did he (or someone) at least give you a diagnosis of that?

Do you attribute the normal bowel movements to the Metamucil? Also, is your IBS C, D or mixed, would you say?

What's your diet like? Lots of fiber? How about dairy, gluten?

And yes, you are correct, stress plays a huge role on IBS. Is there anything you can do/take to reduce some of that stress?

[Gerdman21 in reply to winfong]

i asked him straight out if i have IBS, and he was hesitant to respond and said that he wouldnt call it IBS.... he asked if i have a weak or sensitive stomach, i told him a year ago today i could eat anything i wanted, very spicy food without feeling anything close to what i feel today. he still didnt diagnose IBS.

I dont know if its just a good day for me, or if it was the metamucil, its too early to tell. I would have to say IBS C 90% of the time.

my diet has drastically changed. smoothies in the morning, eggs, for breakfast, smaller portions of meals, meats, fruits veggies. ive quit drinking alcohol (4 months now) and Coffee (on and off for about 4 months as well) no Junk food, very to little sugary food. i wouldve thought with a diet like this i would feel great. the rest of my body feels fine... its just my abdomen region thats in pain. I dont drink Dairy, and i tested fine for Celiac disease, so im not allergic to gluten...however my carb and gluten intake is very low.

as far as stress goes.....

when this all started, i had lost my job 2 months prior...so that really stressed me out, my drinking of beer increased... after getting a new job, i had my first GERD reflux which i thought was a heart attack, i went to the ER and it was my first time going to the ER, even going to a hospital for any serious reason...so that may have given me PTSD and thinking i was going to die. plus i have a new child on the way..... so the stress factor was definitely there.

[b1b1b1]

Don't take supplements unless your gastroenterologist tells you to take them. This would apply to probiotics as well, as they are becoming a bit more controversial, at least in the US.

[Gerdman21 in reply to b1b1b1]

yeah i am not gonna take anything anymore. i tried this Silver Fern Brand supplement... not sure if that helped or made things worse.

[winfong in reply to b1b1b1]

Controversial? Hadn't heard that. What have you been hearing?

[b1b1b1 in reply to winfong]

My gastro told me that there is less positive news about them. He said to take them for a maximum of one month to see if there was any benefit. I believe one thought is that they can contribute to SIBO. I did not question him further, however he is highly experienced and at a major medical center.

[Sallybt in reply to b1b1b1]

I was diagnosed with SIBO a year ago. Have more or less got on top of it after a very strict diet for 3 months after advice from a Naturopath. Can’t eat a lot vegetables mainly brassica and a lot of fruit a no no as is any fermented food and alcohol. I tried Alflorex after 3 days it made me ill for a week. I can’t touch any probiotics which I took for years prior to SIBO.

[winfong in reply to b1b1b1]

Good to know. Thanks. Found an article documenting it: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....

[Meleber in reply to winfong]

Thanks winfong 👍🏻

I do suffer from dysmotility in my bowel but the cause is not yet known. I have had a transit test but this could only be done by continuing taking prokinetics, also during the transit study. Maybe because of the slow transit in my gut a probiotic wasn't working for me or even made my symptoms worse. I also have been tested for SIBO in a tertiary hospital however not by a "small bowel aspirate and culture" but by using a breath test. I think, also because I'm using a prokinetc multiple times during the day and use natural antimicrobials, the result of this test was negative at that moment.

[Meleber in reply to b1b1b1]

My first, now retired gastroenterologist, in the Netherlands, told me that he wouldn't recommend taking any probiotics either, that was in 2019. However, despite his advice, I did try several probiotic strains but none of them seemed to be helpful in my situation and some made my symptoms even worse. The gastroenterologists, 4 different ones of which two of them working in a tertiary hospital, still don't know why my gut is malfunctioning. I will go to Belgium for hopefully an accurate diagnosis of my functional bowel problems but my first consult is mid August this year. My gut is still an enigma.

As winfong I'm also interested in the reason (source?) why probiotics are becoming 'a bit more controversial' in the US.

[b1b1b1 in reply to Meleber]

Meleber - See my answer to Winfong. I am not sure of all the details either.

[Meleber in reply to b1b1b1]

👍🏻

[Orchard33]

From my own experience I think it likely that the stress of having an illness can make the illness worse, especially in the gut, which has a mind if it's own and can be ultra sensitive to all emotion and especially anxiety.

[Gerdman21 in reply to Orchard33]

Thanks, im working on the stress, its gone down significantly since the colonoscopy. Ill try some relaxation methods.

[Puffnstuff in reply to Gerdman21]

I am stressed and have got very bad ibs at the moment I'm sure it's because I'm waiting for colonoscopy and I have heard so many different stories I'm wondering if you found it to be not as bad as it sounds. Thanks.

[xjrs]

You may have IBS-C with visceral hypersensitivity, which is what I suffer from. You further mention that your diet is low carb. Unfortunately, being low carb or low on cereal fibres will impact your microbiome, since this reduces feed for it. This makes the microbiome less diverse and lack of diversity can contribute to IBS symptoms. It can be a vicious circle since many people with IBS reduce variety in their diet to control symptoms. This helps in the short term but in the long term it can make IBS symptoms worse. Additionally gut bacteria makes up a big volume of stool, so lack of feed for the microbiome could impact stool volume.

In terms of visceral hypersensitivity, (functional abdominal pain) - there is info about it here:

iffgd.org/lower-gi-disorder...

It is where the brain interprets the normal activity of the bowel as pain - this is due to a wearing down of neurons in pain control centres of the brain which can be caused by PTSD, neglect or abuse in childhood, extreme stressful events etc. The first line treatment is nerve pain agents such as low dose amitriptyline. There is a theory that being on something like amitriptyline for 6-12 months can help the pain control centre neurons to regenerate. Unfortunately amitriptyline can cause constipation, so may not be appropriate for you. I couldn't tolerate amitriptyline.

I take Linaclotide which is for IBS-C only. This helps to relax intestinal nerves that are sending pain signals to the brain. It is also meant to help with constipation. When I took Linaclotide, this reduced my pain by 50% to 60%. I also took Alflorex probiotic which has been scientifically studied for IBS. This reduced my pain to zero. It only comes back when I try new foods until I get used to them (or find I can't eat them). A gut bacterial balance means bad bugs can dominate in the gut. These bad bugs can sensitise intestinal nerves, causing pain, food intolerances and other symptoms. The strain in Alflorex is the one passed from mother to baby during a natural birth to prime the gut's defences and it is particularly good a kicking bad bugs into touch. I have tried many probiotics over the years and it worked the best for me. It has made me more tolerant to a much wider range of foods, which has also helped my IBS.

I see there is a discussion about not taking probiotics. There are rare cases of an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine (SIBO). If someone has this, taking probiotics will make symptoms worse. However, SIBO is rare and statistically it is more likely to be IBS.

There is also a need to work on constipation through diet, as I initially mentioned about increasing cereal fibres and other high fibre foods. You may find this thread that I wrote the other day helpful on this (see my 3rd xjrs post on this page):

healthunlocked.com/theibsne...

Helping constipation can also help GERD symptoms since food getting backed up can increase pressure in the system, putting more pressure on the valve that sits between the stomach and the throat allowing acid to flow back. If you are able to clear out regularly, this can reduce pressure helping to tighten the valve. Pooping mucus can also be a sign of bad constipation. It is also possible to have what is known as overflow diarrhea which is where liquid food flows around impacted stool. Dealing with the constipation eliminates the overflow diarrhea and should help to reduce the elimination of mucus.

[Gerdman21 in reply to xjrs]

Thank you for the information, I appreciate the response and the time!

[Cimmy]

I find stress is a massive factor to exasperating symptoms, I have ibs and if I’m stressed over having IBS my pain is increased along with nausea and anxiety so it’s a viscous circle. Hope you find peace

[Gerdman21 in reply to Cimmy]

Thank you!

[Carsok]

I know exactly how you feel. I've been living like that for years and everyone says there's nothing wrong. My doctor did a breath test a few weeks ago and found (along with GERD, IBS, diverticula throughout my whole colon) I have spikes of Methane gas. Now trying to figure out what to do about that. The medicine he first prescribed was $927 for 14 days and found a SIBO site online and people have said it really didn't work that well and on their website for it said if it doesn't work the first time you might need a 2nd dose!! Who can afford $2000 for meds that might not work. You need to be your own advocate with your health and fight for yourself.

[Gerdman21]

Thank you for the reply, at this point i am beginning to think my stress might be the major factor here. Time will tell.... I appreciate your time.

[Blue_81]

In my experience I have lost trust in doctors. I been having abdominal pain for the last 3yrs. Doctors assure me it was my gallbladder, even when I told them that fat did not have an impact on me nor did I feel Right Quadrant Pain. My pain was just right there in the middle. All labs/test came back okay except I had some gallstones. The three doctors I consulted said it was my gallbladder and desperate for relief I accepted to get it taken out. Ohh, the procedure did not work and im in a worse situation…My pain started when I was just over working myself. So stress did have something to do with it. I have given up drinking, carbonated drinks, and coffee for a long time but that did not prevent it. I think its either the food we eat and/or the stress. I notice that when im in vacation my symptoms tend to get better and worse when I go back to work.

[Gerdman21 in reply to Blue_81]

Wow, that sounds horrible. to have something removed and it not even help?? what line of work are you in if you dont mind me asking?

i got my gallbladder checked and i dont have any gallstones, they did an ultra sound on me and all they found was tiny cists. my liver looks good as well....

im on day 2 of the metamucil, and so far its giving me some solid bowels, and it almost seems like the pain is subsiding, i just hope its not temporary

[Blue_81 in reply to Gerdman21]

I am required to do many things. Also, I wanted to do more so I could get a promotion etc. and its not that its bad because it all comes down to how you intrepid stress. Im not really that good at it, so I need to work on myself and take tiny steps for me to improve.

[Blue_81]

nothing abnormal with my gallbladder, just had a few small stones and sand. However, they would not listen to me that I did not have pain in that area and fat was never an issue. They just saw stones and they were like we found your problem. I wanted to dissolve it with medication or get the stones extracted but nope, they were not open to the idea. Just kept getting turned down. What would I know.

[Lamly]

You would be surprised what stress can cause, it well could be stress and it is hard to get rid of.

[Gerdman21 in reply to Lamly]

it seems as stress was a major part of it. but i still want to get checked out just to be certain

[Puffnstuff]

You sound like you are writing this for me as I have exactly the same symtoms after weeks of being normal the poo test blood test and scan showed no sign of anything bad and I am now waiting for endoscopy and colonoscopy to be done. I don't know if it is worrying about the test has has set me off again but I'm finding it difficult to go out because of the symtoms. I know what you are going through and I hope you find the answers you are looking for.

[Gerdman21 in reply to Puffnstuff]

sorry that you are going through it too. I would want to do an endoscopy as well, but the dr. is certain nothing is wrong with me, however He i just going off the blood work and colonoscopy.

dont stress to much about the colonoscopy, its very easy and doesnt hurt, the worse part is the Prep you have to do, and that isnt too bad either. it tastes like salt water and you keep pooping out water... youll feel better once its done and you can check one thing off your list.... i felt a great deal of relief once i got it done and they came back with better news that i expected.

good luck to you!

[Puffnstuff in reply to Gerdman21]

Thanks your reply has helped a lot.