Desperately seeking my life back

History: In the summer of 2006, when I was 16, I caught some parasite associated with lake/river/well water and was treated with antibiotics, as a result I got C. Diff. I was treated for C. Diff and have not tested positive for it since, however I still had terrible, chronic, mucus-y diarrhea with abdominal pain. I took immodium to attempt to control the symptoms. I had a colonoscopy (and upper GI) that same year that showed nothing.So I turned to dieticians for help. With a dietician we cut out all food allergens and intolerances leaving me with corn and rice - literally. Over the next few months we added back foods gradually to see if any foods affected my diarrhea. There was no change. I eventually had my galbladder tested and removed after a test showed it hardly functioned. I had my galbladder removed in January of 2007, which got rid of the pain I had going up my right side. Feeling frustrated a hopeless I (stupidly) decided to ignore it and let it run it's course. I was heavily medicated (seroquel, klonopin, trazadone, prozac) by a doctor who misdiagnosed me as bipolar from 2006-May 2009. When I got off the meds I was trying to get my life back together and was constantly frustrated that my diarrhea held me back. In August 2009 I had lapband surgery performed because seroquel and sleeping had caused a lot of weight gain, my diarrhea did not improve or get worse.

Currently: I am active, eat organic, exercise regularly, don't drink alcohol, smoke medical marijuana to help with abdominal pain and the spasms in my gut, and trying to lead a normal life. I take lomotil to help control my diarrhea. On a normal day I go 3-4 times, on a day I don't take lomotil I go anywhere from 5-12 times. I went back to a GI doctor this year (2010) and he performed blood tests (celiac) and stool tests and a colonoscopy. The blood test came back fine, although I did have salmonella from one of my reptiles but it has since gone away. The colonoscopy showed focal active colitis in parts of my colon but my doctor completely dismissed it and said it must be my diet. Saying because I am overweight, I must be eating fried food, fatty foods, caffeine and soda pop - ALL of which I have NOT touched since before my lapband surgery. He mentioned IBS and said the only thing he could do for me was antidepressants which I am strongly against. I am not stressed, I do have anxiety because I worry about having "accidents" in public (I have about 2 a month), but overall my life is low-stress. To say the least I am looking for a new GI doctor.

Question: Why? Why do I still have diarrhea after FIVE YEARS? I feel like I've tried everything. Is this a sign of another disease? Are they missing something? Are there any diseases associated with diarrhea that aren't IBDs?

Please help me, I'm 21, I want to be able to attend college classes regularly, I want to be to be spontaneous again, I want my life back. Diarrhea has ruined my life. There are much worse health problems, but this one is out of control.

[dollface121817]

A lot of doctors won't believe you.  I found the answer to my problem online, so do a little reasearch if you have time.  My symptoms were somewhat similiar to yours, but kind of diffrent.  I had muscle spasms and very painful diarrah, and had to cut ALL fat out of my diet.  Just potatos and rice!  I also found some relif with hyocosamine taken before meals, it will stop your gut from spasing and slow it down, so hopefully you wont have as much diarrea (diarrhea).  as for the antideppresents, they do help with your gut, and it has nothing to do with being stressed or depressed, but i wouldnt expect them to be fix everything, just a little extra help.  I had candida and had to live with it for 2 years (and missed my fair share of college classes!)! you prolly dont have it but look into the hyocosamine, it worked crazy good for me  Hopefully this will help you a bit