Malabsorption Concerns

Hi,

I am a 26 yr. old male, who rarely drinks alcohol and eats fairly healthy.  For the last 9 months I have been experiencing terrible lower stomach cramping combined with loose stools which are greasy, foul smelling and yellow in color.  There are also some small amounts of undigested food particles within my stools. I experience upper abdominal pain after I eat combined with nausea. I have had a colonoscopy, EGD, Upper GI barium contrast, abdominal x-rays, 1 stool culture test and numerous blood tests done.  All were normal.  I was originally diagnosed with IBS by my specialist but he now thinks it could be malabsorption.  I was put on Pantaloc for 1 month for possible Dyspepsia but it did not work.  I also have a lot of gas with loud bowel sounds and a minor pain under my left shoulder blade.  The symptoms first began 9 months ago after a bowel movement which contained a large amount of slimy blue/green mucous.  I have also had small bowel biopsies done which appeared normal.  What could be causing my symptoms?  Could my pancreas or gallbladder be the cause?  What else could cause the malabsorption?  What other tests should I have done?

Thank you for your help.

[reb]

Hi, I had malabsorption due to the killing of my digestive bacteria with antibiotics. From what I believe there are no reliable tests for malabsorption. I cured my problem by taking probiotics (good bacteria to help you digest) and aloe vera juice (both available from health food shops) so I would recommend trying those, even if they do not help you, they will not harm you so it is worth a shot. All the best.

[Squash]

Malabsorption can be caused by Pancreatitis.  I would read all the posts relating to Pancreatitis.  Good luck

[Nanny]

Have you seen a gastroenterologist for this problem?  If the stool cultures came back "normal"  why does your doctor suspect malabsorption?  It surely sounds like malabsorption and the other complaints, (abdominal pain, pain and nausea after eating, pain behind left shoulder blade, gas, yellow stools, etc.)  certainly are all conditions common with chronic pancreatitis.  Was bloodwork done to check your amylase and lipase levels?  Sometimes they will elevate with pancreatitis, but not always.  A ct-scan of the pancreas would show some pancreatitis problems, but does not show sphincter of oddi dysfunction, and it is more revealing than an x-ray or ultrasound.  A trypsinogen test is  another diagnostic indicator to check for pancreatic insufficiency.  I would make sure you are seeing a gastroenterologist and have him further investigate pancreatic issues.  If you have any questions about acute or chronic pancreatitis, please feel free to post again or email me.
Nanny
***@****

[CFsucks]

Do you have an infection?  Pseudomonas aeruginosa has a blue colour to it...

[Concerned lady]

I agree with all the advice everyone gave you.

Here's an additional idea for you: Go over to the Peripheral Neuropathy forum, at http://www.braintalk.org  and look for the "thread" by JCC, about FOOD SENSITIVITY AND MALABSORPTION.

This can include Celiac Disease (gluten intolerance), &/or milk sugar intolerance (no lactase enzyme being produced by the small intestine's "villi"), &/or milk protein intolerance, & other food intolerances.

Celiac Disease is as common as one out of 150 people. Gluten is found in wheat, rye, oats, barley, & buckwheat. Avoid these glutenous foods for a month or so, and see if you improve.

There's a lot of info over at the braintalk.org forums (especially the PN/peripheral neuropathy one).

Good luck to you.

Sincerely, Concerned lady
http://cantbreathesuspectvcd.com

[gregd64]

I can't believe they haven't checked your gallbladder yet... are you losing weight? one other thing you may want to check is if your allergic to some form of food. My uncle became allergic to wheat at age 35 or 36 and had symptoms like yours but he lost alot of weight. hes fine now as long as he eats not wheat products.

[karie]

What allergy test and is it a blood , stool ?
I am having my Celiac blood work done this week......