Dear Ch,
I saw where you had posted over in the anxiety forum, because in the middle of all this irritable bowel syndrome, I've been changing my medicines for anxiety, so I was reading the posts over there.  Yesterday, I just changed my last medicine from ativan to valium, and I had a very hard time last night.  So, maybe you can help me.  I would have posted over there, but my mind is so messed up, I can't manage getting logged in there.

I was taking ativan for about six months, because the klonopin I had been on for many years just wasn't working anymore.  I have panic disorder along with this IBS, as well as RLS.  Well, I talked to my doctor, and told her I was getting more and more anxious with this irritable bowel syndrome, and the ativan wasn't working.  So, I started taking valium yesterday.  

Unexpectedly, I had a lot of trouble falling asleep, woke up a few hours later with a nightmare, and was even more anxious than ever.  So, I went online and found a website that explained how this fellow was on ativan for a long time, and had trouble getting off it, and went to a hospital and they gave him valium as a substitute, and he could not manage, and he went home and took an ativan again, and it cleared up his anxiety.  His story scared me.  I did not realize I was possibly withdrawing from ativan.

So, I just immediately got up and went and took an ativan, and my anxiety symptoms improved slightly.  I thought I could substitute one medicine for the other, and so did my doctor, but I'm thinking now that I need to go off the ativan more slowly, while adding the valium.  What do you think?  Thank you.  I'm really having a rough night.

By the way, I appreciated your info about the fatty liver causing bloating.  That helps me not to worry as much about that now.

Hi Pika and Gregg
Have you been tested for Cpn (Chlamydia Pneumoniae)? It is a little known cousin of the sexually transmitted disease Chlamydia Trachomatis, but is transmitted via droplet infection a little like tuberculosis.   It is very difficult to detect and often does not produce symptoms until people get into their 50s.   It can affect all parts of you body, and cause such diseases as MS, CFS, IBD (irritable Bowel Disease) Asthma, sinusitis, Arteriosclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, etc etc.
For more information please visit www.cpnhelp.org
I am being treated for Cpn for IBD, sinusitis, asthma, alopecia, hypertension and peripheral neuropathy.  The treatment is a long term Combined Antibiotic Protocol, (CAP) similar to one use to treat tuberculosis.
Regarding the shrimps... this might be the triggering additional irritant that your bowel did not need and could not get over.   There may have been some problem there before that was aggravated with the 'bsd' shrimps.
I am not a doctor and am only passing information on that might be useful to you.
Michele

Pika, thought I'd give you an update on my diet I posted about.  It made me worse.  So I'm eating normally now.  Just trying to up the protein and more exercise in an effort to keep the weight and bloat from getting worse.

Idab, I will tell my docs about the small bowel barium xray you mentioned.  Thanks for the tip.  Another of my docs suggested an ultrasound, too, which would give me peace of mind on my ovaries and also my gallbladder.  I simply cannot understand how I got this way, all bloated, sickly, can't do anything.  Again, you say you got thru your IBS.  How?  What did they decide was wrong finally?

EK - Here is a website about colors of stool, maybe it will help you and others.  The yellow is described under the orange heading.  And there IS a doctor monitored part of our gastro site if you'll look through.  Here is the color website:

http://www.enzymestuff.com/rtstools.htm

CHC - My liver enzymes are not too high yet to be Hep C.  My gastro doc told me to have my family docs keep a check on those, so it won't go into full-blown hepatitis.

I was recently given a different nausea and diarrhea medicine, hyocyamine, which helped for several days until this morning.  My tummy was upset when I got up too early and it's still upset despite taking the medicine.  I'm assuming whatever I ate yesterday threw my digestion off more than normal.  I was told my anxiety over the situation is making it worse, too.  I was put on another medicine for my anxiety, too, so hopefully that will help, although today NOTHING is helping.  I have new docs that are finally paying attention to me.  But of course something is still terribly wrong.  I read back thru all my posts and I apologize for getting so detailed.

I'm just glad I can go somewhere and find other people in the same ugly place I'm in.  Sort of helps me get through.

Have been reading all of these comments, and agree that the doctors do not have answers. I have a bout of yellow diarrhea every few days. Seem fine in between. I mean yellow watery stuff, with cramps etc. It is intense and sometimes I almost don't make it to the br. I am afraid to go anywhere, cause I never know when it will hit me. Are there any answers from Doctors here at this site? Ijust found this site myself. It is a miserable experience.

Hi ggreg.  I'm sorry you've having such a hard time.  Fatty liver could cause these symptoms (the pain and bloating), but other things can, too.  I don't want to add to your stress  (what you're dealing with now is stressful enough),  but - as I was reading your note and looking at all the workups they have done so far (CT, ultrasound, colonoscopy, labs, etc), I was hoping I would see where they had ruled out Hepatitis C as a possible cause of your apparent liver problems.  Hep C is a virus that can cause liver disease and cause the symptoms you are having.  Your swollen belly could be ascites (which is an accumulation of fluid in the abdomen / peritoneum from liver disease.) Have you ever been told that the bloating is ascites and that it's from the fatty liver?   CT and ultrasound of the liver are good diagnostics, but they don't always show the entire picture, and they especially won't show the entire picture if  (IF) your liver is diseased or damaged on account of the Hepatitis C virus.  With Hepatitis C and liver disease from it  (even severe liver disease from it), one can have totally normal liver function tests, normal liver enzymes, normal ultrasound, etc., and still be very sick with liver disease.  Hepatitis C is called the "silent killer" because it's frequently not diagnosed until it has caused severe liver damage. If they have not ruled out Hep C on you, I would ask them to just to be on the safe side.  

I was diagnosed four years ago with it after being seen for "sluggish, weak, nausea, diarrhea, bloating", etc. The docs could not find anything wrong.  My liver function tests were fine.  So was my entire CBC.  By the time diagnosis was finally made (Chronic Hep C) the Hep C virus had caused quite a bit of liver damage.  30% of people diagnosed with Chronic Hep C who have liver damage on account of it have normal LFTs, normal liver enzymes, normal ultrasound, normal colonscopy, normal endoscopy, etc.  Once I was finally diagnosed, I was referred to gastroenterologist for liver biopsy and genotyping.  The Hep C virus attacks the liver.  It had caused quite a bit of damage to my liver (silently on labs / not so silently as far as symptoms).  On liver biopsy, I was grade 3 / stage 2.  To give you an idea of what that is - cirrhosis (the worst damage) is grade 4 / stage 4.  

With your continued symptoms and the bloating and GI distress - even with the diagnosis of fatty liver - I would ask the doctors if they have ruled Hep C out - JUST to be on the safe side.  I hope you'll start feeling better soon.  If you keep feeling bad or worse and keep having the bloating and feel the docs are just brushing you off or aren't helping, definitely get a second opinion.  Best of luck.

Thank you for your kind words.  I already had a CT scan, as I posted at the first entry.  It came back clear except for mildly fatty liver, which they watch the enzyme levels.  It was an abdominal CT scan, but I assumed my ovaries would have showed up.  I don't know.  I told my doc many times I was worried about ovarian cancer became my grandmother died from it, and yet she did not include a pelvic CT.  My grandfather died of liver failure, so of course I worry about it, too.  

What I would like to ask you is, how did YOU get over your bought with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which is what they've said I have, altho they have no "cure" for me.  Any advice on what I can do to make it go away?  I mean, supposing they do an esophogeal, barium, and ultrasound exams and nothing turns up?

Just this morning I had a dreadful episode of indigestion.  I was sick for hours, as I often am every morning for the last six months.  No matter what I eat, I get sick.  And I have to wait a while to take my regular meds for other conditions, including anxiety; otherwise they get "stuck" and don't work for another several hours, if at all.  Being anxious in the middle of this is a nightmare.  I am so low-functioning, I can barely go get groceries.  I cannot work.  And I am miserable day after day after day.  Any advice would be appreciated.

It was good to read comments that made me feel normal - I too have been through hell and back, lucky I made it back!  Ggreg,if those pains and bloating persist, I would try and have the CT scan carried out, esp if you are worried about the ovaries as well. An abdominal CT scan will pick up many/most stomach/ovary problems.  It is expensive though, but pretty accurate and will put your mind at ease. However, if you think there is some sort of blockage in the small intestine - then there is a procedure called a small bowel berium x-ray (15 x-rays taken over approx. 3-5hrs).  This will eliminate any diseases that may be lurking in the small intestine and is less expensive, but will only give results on the small bowel section.  Take care.

Dear Pika,
Yes, I want help, too!!  I eat a couple prunes with my Cheerios now.  Used to eat them long time ago to keep my digestion whole and regular.  I hope to start my cranberry-water diet next week.  It includes eating protein and vegies.  I don't cook, so thought I'd get some lean cuisine TV dins and eat those a couple times a day.  Also have to exercise.  I will try to post to you and let you know if my diet improves my bloat.  It's called a "Fat Flush" diet.  You go two weeks on strict food intake, then add some stuff for however many more weeks you want to be on the diet.  I plan to stay on the diet for a total of three weeks.  I have no set goal in mind, just to get the bloat down and some of the weight off.  I have gained SO much weight.  Thanks for posting.

I'm taking some herbs now.  It seems working but how long...?  They said one packet a day 20 minutes before breakfast.  I took every time when I feel very very acid and nausea, it helps with the acid but didn't help for bloating.

I didn't have a thyriod problem (being tested for 3 times).  I also have restless legs syndrome.  My hands and legs vibrate (not shaking) like blowing bubbles feeling.  I got hot flashes in my face and squeezing head.  They said it could be menopause.

Doc prescribed Nexium 40mg twice a day for me but it didn't work at all!  Gastro Dr said the Metformin (for diabete) can cause heart burn.  Now the diabete Dr prescribed MiniDiab, I didn't feel it is any different!  I stopped it but I take it when I have a bit starchy or sweets food.

I feel I want to go to toilet all the time but nothing come out????  This morning when I woke up, I found my tummy didn't blow that much....  But after eating, it blows again......... it hurt!  Oh, please help!  Why life is so hard to maintenance?

Pika

Baggins, I was tested for Giardia, that is, for worms, also tested for almost anything that could be in the bowel thru stool samples and blood.  Nothing is showing up.  I WAS given stuff for nausea, which helped, but I hallucinated and had bad dreams and went around the bend, so of course I don't take that pill anymoer.  I was given antacids in pill and regular stuff, and as I posted, they ended up constipating me.  I do sometimes take Tums which work and I sometimes tke alka seltzer which sort of works.  But I'm still bloated.

Pika, I know exactly howyou feel about the bloating.  It is an awesomely awful thing to be sticking out in my gut, feeling nausea all day long.  I'm with you, I gave up.  I feel like a beached whale for sure.  It's like our little acid-making machines are just running full-blast for no reason.  I eat toast and cereals to absorb the stuff.  I have never had an allergy to any food at all, drank tons of milk all my life, never had a problem.  I do not believe it is my food.  Especially since I don't want to eat becuz I feel full all the time.  I have to make myself eat.  I can actually feel the stuff finally going through because I'll have a day or two of feeling just fine and I don't feel full.  Then it starts all over.

Does anyone know how to unclog the liver?  I'm getting ready to go on a diet that includes protein/vegie meals and lots of cranberry juice and water.  The cranberry is supposed to clean out bloating.  it's supposed to get rid of toxins.  I drank some cranberry juice and water for a while, and I did feel better while I was drinking that stuff, so I'm hoping this modest diet will help with that.

Pika, did you begin to get sick after you ate at a restaurant?  My Dad and I both got sick after eatig a bunch of shrimps.  He got better after a few days, but I did not.  I keep thinking one of those things are stuck in my small bowel.  That would explain why the acid keeps churning, because it knows its there and it is trying to get it out.  I have been eating Activa yogurt which has probiotics to eat up everything, and I am hoping EVENTUALLY it will eat it up.  Does anybody know, do the probiotics eat up pretty much everything that might get stuck in there?

My last idea, other than ovarian cancer or some other gland, even tho I had a clear CAT scan, is my pituitary gland.  I have a rash at the base of my skull that my husband noticed in the middle of all this when he was combing my hair.  Does the pituitary control any of this digetive situation?  I had an MRI of my head a few years ago and it was normal.  But I never looked at it.  My neurologist said the pictures showed no abnormality.  But I wnoder if he looked at the pituitary.  I had a thyriod problem one time, and also have restless legs syndrome, and now this irritable bowel.

Gosh, it's amazing what can go thru one's mind when you're faced with this endless problem for months and no one has got the first idea about what it might be.  I'm glad I can come here and hear other people in the same boat.  Keep posting to me Pika, it helps to hear you're having same problems as me.

Might want to have them check you for Giardia. That can last for months.

Additionally, they should have given you something for the acid. If not, you could always try Tums or Prilosec OTC.

No, I did not get yellow stains after the colonoscopy.  My prep may have been diff from yours, and so I may have had a "cleaner" bowel.  Yours just sounds like drainage to me that is colored by what was left in your bowel.  But I'm no expert o what those drainage colors mean.  If you have diverticulitis, a colonoscopy only looks right at the large bowel.  If your doc knows what he's doing, he would have reported seeing it there.  So, perhaps IF you have diverticulitis, it is in your small bowel.  I do not have that problem, so I can't comment any further than that.

My liver does not hurt.  I saw it on the CAT scan and while it is swollen, it does not have any irregularities on it like some CAT scan photographs I've seen online.  Also, my enzymes are okay, no anemia, so my liver is not in any test-detectable trouble yet.  I have read that livers can get conjested with bile that kind of coagulates in there.  But I know of no way to "decongest" the liver, other than some wild Chinese herbs which I am totally against.  I personally wish there was some treatment that would "cleanse" the liver and related organs.  Also, pain in the right side can indicate stones, which is solidified bile.  Stones can end up in a lot of places, in a lot of organs.  Usually stones pass normally, but perhaps you've got some hanging out in there, which would indeed cause pain in your liver area.  But the pain can come from other things, too.  

Like me, I think you need the same thing I do, have an ultrasound.  It will pick up all sorts of stuff that CAT scans do not.  You say you are anemic.  I surely hope you are being treated for that, because that's something you can get rid of.  That is something that untreated will make you feel weak.  Just a change in diet can help, as it can be caused by an iron deficiency.  It can also be caused by bleeding internally from some irregularity, which is very serious.  

But my tummy is swollen out just like yours is, like a pregnant woman.  You would think the docs would have something to say about a thing like that in the way of a treatment!  I have lots of indigestion and nausea and diarrhea.  No meds or recommendations have done ANYTHING to correct my ill health, which is why I posted.  I am completely disabled by my health problems and feel a lot of fear at the very idea that I could be just cast aside.  I mean, I can't go on like this.

If any doctors are reading this, PLEASE HELP US.  I can't afford to go to the doctor-monitored site.  My OWN DOCS don't know what is wrong with me.  I am so afraid I have ovarian cancer or a blockage in my small bowel or some other serious problem.  WHY AM I BLOATED?  What caues bloating?

Just wanted to add this bit of info:  I came across a post on that yellow staining you had:

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/gastro/messages/37257.html

Like I say, don't know much about what colors mean, but figured since this post was at this site somewhere, you could learn something from it.  Has something to do with bile.

Thanks, Ggreg.

I'd the CT abdomen and also had an ultrasound abdomen and Pelvis follow up.  They all said I got no stone in my gallbladder or kidney.  

I also received non treatment and the bloating seems like up and up.  It really make me hard to breath.  Harder to run the life like that.....  I'm sort like given up now.

After receiving the gastroscopy and colonoscopy, my tummy hurt and hurt and even worse.  Burns up to my mouth and tongue, sore at the lower abdomen.  What's left to be normal?  Not seems like a human life...  

Pika

I got the very early stage of fatty liver too.  Mine was induced by the medicine.  It was hurt (mild) all the time there.  Mine cardio said if my anemia corrected then mine fatty liver will go away.  But other GP said "NO" once is there is there and never go away.

I just have my colonoscopy and result completely fine.  Even though multiple diverculars showed on the CT and said it affected most of my bowel.  Colonoscopy didn't show any divercular!

I'm curious, the prep for colonoscopy should be turn up clear muscous at the end of bowel movement.  Mine still turn up bright yellowish fluid.  After the colonoscopy, when I woke up I saw my bed got all those bright yellow stain (large)!  The report said my bowel preparation is good.  I wonder is my gall bladder produce too much bile?  Are yours one like that too?

Mine tummy is bloating up like a six month pregnant women.  I'm nausea all the time too.