IBD, IBS, Parasite?

[Sara M]

Hi there. Here's my story:  
*May 21 - thought I had bad food due to stomach rumbles + loose stools 3x per day.  
*May 23 - June 2 on vacation where my bowel movements turned into watery diarrhea (3 days). No accompanied fever, cramping/pain in abdomen or blood. After eating stomach noises elevated + nausea, gas and diarrhea (3x day).  Dr. prescribed immodium and then (symptoms weren't subsiding and had burning in my stomach area) Zantac and Riopan.  One immodium ceased diarrhea but caused bloating.  I stopped and let diarrhea pass through.
*June 3 - Came home. Couldn't give stool samples until Friday last due to constipation. Felt I was improving for my stools were more formed and gut noises down.  
*June 7 - loose stools, gas, nausea started and haven't stopped.
*June 10- started having burning, wrenching pain in my 'mid-riff' (stomach area and slightly below). Took Zantac but after an hour of no relief, went to hospital. The pain  started radiating in my lower (centre) abdomen - felt like burning menstrual cramps.  3 hours after onset pain lessened. I'd had 2 loose movements.  Dr. gave antacid + noted white blood cell count was elevated to 15.  
*Hist. - 2001 Gastroenteritis diagnosis. Pain in lower rt. quadrant of abdomen but it was a section of my large intestine (transverse colon?)that was inflamed + elevated wh. bld cells. No diarrhea/fever.  I do have IBS.
I'm scared.  My Dr. isn't too worried about Crohn's b/c no bloody diarrhea, pain or fevers. Will see a Gastro. Can a bacteria/virus/IBS cause this? Typical of Crohn's onset? Insights?  THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[hotinflaf]

hi i have had chronic diarrhea for 2 months...up to 8x per day watery stool and sometimes unbearable cramping until stool is passed...went to GI and he said it was probably due to IBS and to stop drinking alcohol, don't eat spicy foods, and take citrucel...if i stick to this regimen i am ok..unfortunately, i like to drink a few beers on the weekends but GI says the carbonation wreaks havoc on IBS...also have lots of gas and bloating..have lost about 5 lbs due to diarrhea. GI wanted to do a colonoscopy but diarrhea subsided (til i had a few beers) so i canceled it. good luck

[hotinflaf]

oops sorry i forgot to tell you..i was screened for parasites/bacteria and it was negative...

[wash918]

Is your stool a normal color? Is is orange or yellow at all?

I had very similar symptoms for more than a month, I had an endoscopy and my doc discovered excess bile in my stomach. Almost a year later I still have flare ups about once a month, but otherwise I feel ok.

mandy

[Sara M]

Hey Guys,

Thanks so much for your responses.  The Doctor too told me he thought it could be my IBS but I didn't feel too convinced only b/c this recent episode of diarrhea has been like none other (such a fun time it's been)!  I've never lost this much weight (10lbs) nor had so much stomach activity after eating.  The elevated white blood cells also have me nervous for they are indicative of some kind of infection/inflammation.
Re: colour of stool, actually, yes, mine has been kind of yellow from time to time.....I just thought it was from malabsorption.  So excess bile can cause diarrhea/constipation?  
I guess, inevitably, things will be as they will be.

Thank you again - your responses are support in and of themselves.  Please keep in touch.

SM

[alla]

I had similiar symptoms to start.  My doc at first said IBS, which ticked me off because that to me is diagnosed if they absolutely can't figure it out.  Are any specific foods bothering you?  High fat? I didn't to anything specific, even water bothered me.  GI did a liver function test done and found I have a disfuntional gall bladder.  I DO NOT have typical symptoms at all, but feel that is it.  I have midab to left side pain mostly, and chest pain to my throat almost daily.  These are symptoms of gall bladder, but rare.  Gall bladder inflamation (inflammation) can't be found via ultra sound, only the HIDA test.  Ask your GI.  I've lost about 15 pounds, I look good seeing I had a baby 10 months ago, but don't like the way I lost it.  The rule for gall bladder is female-fertile-fat-forty. Good luck.

[Fleur]

I've had somewhat similar symptoms.  Do have stools that are sometimes yellow.  My doctor thinks it's IBS.  I started out with upper GI problems about 6 months ago.  Went on Prevacid and about 3 weeks later started having diarrhea.  Been off it almost a month and still having diarrhea (diarrhea is a side effect of all antiacids).  I had an ultrasound and they said gallbladder looked fine.  Does excess bile cause diarrhea?  Do yellow stools mean excess bile?  I'd be interested to know how you do.

[cheffie]

FYI - being screened doesn't always show parasites. This happened to me. I was tested by my doctor for parasites and it too came up negative. I then started doing a cleansing program and changed my eating habits. While into my second month of cleansing I found that I passed parasites - these I had tested to confirm that they were parasites. So don't believe that the tests will always reveal the truth. Keep looking.