I am at a dead end!

Hello,
Back at the end of August I woke up one day and had severe pain in my abdomen and having bowel movements that were just yellow mucousy water, no stool involved. If I did it would be severely mucousy. I spoke with my family physician and he at first told me it was irritable bowel until I came in with a cup of the yellow water and he said it was stressed induced colitis and inflammatory bowel. I had upper GI done and it just showed an hpylori? and I have also had ultrasounds on my liver, gallbladder, kindeys, which came up fine. I have also had a colonoscopy done which also came up negative. At the time it all began I was extremely stressed at work and the night before it all began I had been pre-celebrating my 21st birthday with some jagermeister and haven't had a drop of alcohol or even soft drinks since. (I rarely drank prior to that.)I have lived off of water since all of this began. The yellow mucousy stool hasn't reoccured for about 4 months except for when I had a rough week one week and the stools were firm just a little slimy. (blech). I would be okay with all of this but here is the problem. I have pain directly under my right and left ribs. Mostly under my left ribs though, and it often travels around my side up my back and often up my chest. Usually it stays directly around the base of my ribs though. It is a burning stinging feeling similar to that of a first degree burn and has been pretty much consistent since the day this started in august. I have been monitoring my stress levels and even when I am just laying around relaxing its still there. I avoid spicy foods and just drink water, sometimes milk. Is this colitis / inflammatory bowel symptoms or could it be something else.

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Tough to say without examination.  I can say that you have had a pretty good evaluation including upper GI, ultrasound and colonoscopy.  

You may want to consider malabsorption - which can be evaluated with stool fecal fat tests and blood tests for celiac disease.  Chronic pancreatitis can lead to mucous in the stools, as well as pain in the left upper quadrant.  Blood tests looking at the pancreatic enzymes and plain film X-rays can suggest this diagnosis.

Another consideration would be an upper endoscopy which would be a more thorough evaluation of the upper GI tract.

You can discuss these options with your personal physician.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

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, M.D.
Medical Weblog:
kevinmd_b

[planetmars]

Have you tried taking a fiber suplement like fibercon  or metamucil?  I have the same problems on & off all the time, two doctors stating it is IBS.  Bieng young with no other symptoms like blood in stool or fever is a good sign that it is IBS and not Inflammed Bowel Disease or Collitis.  I have episodes of what feels like me haveing urine come out of my butt instead of poop, plus I  have had the pains under the ribs.   One time I wanted to go to emergency, but waited till I could see my doctor & that's when he told me about the fiber.  I also get extreme noises in my stomach, gurgles, growels, etc...

You would be suprised how much stress can reak havoc on the digestive system.  The last stint of the diareah I had, I started to do a lot of research on diet.  I began eating foods that are mostly starches like white bread, white rice, pasta, banana's, peeled apples..low fat dairy ie 1% Milk, low fat cottage cheese, etc...I lost 11 pounds, so that blows Atkins theory, but the most important thing is I started feeling much better, more solid stools and no pain.  I still have "episodes", like this morning after eating a Pazkci yesterday & a quizno's sub (BOT HIGH IN FAT).

I am not a doctor, but if you have already had all the tests with normal results, try the fiber & low fat high starch thing for a while.  I also take xanax for stress as needed, not all the time.  I own my own business and sometimes I get really freaked out, so it is a nice mellow out pill for me which eliviates stress.

Good Luck!  Maria

[hgirl01]

Thanks for the help guys. Planet I know what you mean about the watery stool thing. At first when it happened I thought It was urine!. I am a perfectly healthy 135 pound 21 year old except all this mess. I tried taking citrucel for a while but it made my stomach so gassy I just gave up on it. I have a three year old and my husband and I are wanting another but I stay so tired and fatigued and my ribs killing me it makes it kinda hard. Wish I could go back about 10 months ago when I could have drank a bottle of hotsauce, 3 bahama mamas and a whole gallon of milk after a stressful night at work and not miss a beat. That's probably what caused this. :D. Good luck to you too and if you find out and info let me know. I just now got back from my family phys. and he recommended Prilosec OTC (over the counter) that you can get at walmart, rite-aid etc for the rib pain. Maybe it might help you?. I will try the other fiber pills you mentioned and see how that goes. Thanks again and good luck to you!!!.

[sunny_one]

I have a long story of ill health that lasted nearly two years and included diarrhea for the entire time. Here are a couple of things you may want to investigate:

Parasites - need to do it properly by gathering at least 3 samples over alternate days. h. pylori can cause problems too. If you test positive, research treatments as some are very harsh and can also make you sick.
Gallbladder - a sick gallbladder can cause diarrhea, pain, absorption problems. (I'm glad mine is gone!)
Coeliac disease - this is a hereditary disease which can show symptoms at any time without warning and cause diarrhea, pain and malabsorption.

Good luck.
Sunny_one