28 yr old female - 36mo+ Ongoing loose stool

Hello,

For the last few years I have had, with increasing issue, 1-2 very loose to diarrhea-like bowel movements per day. They are very acidic and sometime noticeably hurt for hours after the BM. The exterior area has a burning or itching sensation throughout the day.

Every morning I wake up, eat breakfast and then have the sudden urgency (sparked by stomach cramps and pressure in the colon) to run to the bathroom for a BM which I described above.

Throughout the day I get mild cramping and bloating feelings. I saw a doctor a couple years ago and he took a stool sample to test it for parasites or celiac allergy but everything came back negative.

Now I am reading about IBS, inflammatory colon disease and cancer of the colon... and it is scaring me! Can someone please let me know what steps i should take? I don't have any health insurance.

I lead a relatively healthy lifestyle... exercise 4-5 times a week and try to eat fresh vegetables and good proteins. I don't drink that much milk... but I indulge in a couple slices of cheese a day with lunch and maybe cream cheese on toast for breakfast.

I also read that tests for Celiac are not always accurate... but I am definitely not the expert on this.

Please help.... Thank you,

Althea

[Kevin Pho, MD]

There are a variety of causes that can lead to loose stool, including the conditions you mentioned.

Further testing should be done to exclude these possibilities.  I would start with sending off stool samples to evaluate for infection as well as malabsorption.

If the tests remain negative, a colonoscopy can be performed, which can look for inflammatory bowel disease, polyps or cancer.

I agree that celiac disease should be part of the consideration, and can be evaluated with blood antibody tests.  

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin Pho, M.D.

KevinMD.com
Twitter.com/kevinmd