Soft sticky stool, pain, gas, for long periods of time

[DunDun]

I have a few different GI symptoms that are possibly related:

1. Soft stool

I can't remember the last time it wasn't.

Sometimes it is just soft and there's no trouble getting it out.  Often it's sticky and hard to clean, which is really frustrating.  Often I'll have smelly gas.  Sometimes it's hard to push out and there are just small pieces.  Maybe once or twice a week, there will be a lot of gas, pain in the abdomen, and then "feathery" diarrhea, in multiple trips, like my body's just dumping out everything.  This is pretty unpleasant and painful.  Usually there's undigested food particles when this happens.  No red or black.

I've tried cutting out wheat, eating gluten-free cereal, etc. and it didn't have any effect.

For the last few weeks I've been trying to eat a lot of fiber, including whole wheat bread, shredded wheat, raisin bran, etc. and it hasn't had any effect.  I still have problems like this every day, though they are different on different days, it's never "normal".

2. "Pinches"

I'll occasionally get a very intense sharp pain, like a pinch or sting, but feels like it's inside the rectum, and very short lived. It makes me jump up in surprise, but only lasts a second or two, and then it won't happen again for months.

3. Abdomen pain

I'll get pains in the area below my rib cage or lower abdomen when coughing, sneezing, or stretching.  It tends to be a duller pain on the left side or sometimes the right side, or a sharper pain in a line down the middle below the navel.  If I wear tight pants, I'll get a "strange" sensation in my lower left abdomen that isn't pain, but things feel "out of place" from being pushed on by the waistline.

4. Heartburn

I haven't had this very often lately, but I've had episodes of weeks-long bad heartburn in the past, and my grandma just died of esophagus cancer, so I probably have GERD, too.  I don't know if this has any relationship to the other things, though.

[Donbosco1234]

HI, I have exact same symptoms of yours. have you got treated yet?

[Donbosco1234]

HI, I have exact same symptoms of yours. have you got treated yet?

[DunDun]

Heartburn went away for a long time after taking omeprazole for a month straight.  has been happening again lately, including weird intensely painful cramps or spasms at the top of the stomach or bottom of the esophagus?  been taking omeprazole again for a week and it seems to be helping.

[DunDun]

Finally went to a GI doctor, had a colonoscopy, said there was inflammation but it was benign.  Said I have a small belly button hernia but doesn't need to be treated.  I'm not sure if that explains the pains in the lower left abdomen, though, since that's not next to the belly button.

[DunDun]

Also, I started taking fiber pills and eating more cereal, and either that or walking more often helps the stool not be so soft.  After walking around the city a lot it was very normal, so maybe I just need to exercise my torso.

[DunDun]

I have the weird sensation in the abdomen again today.  This time and the last time bot happened after stretching.  I stretch in the morning, and it feels like something "popped" in my left abdomen, right below the rib cage.  The rest of the day, it feels like something's "out of place".  Occasionally I'll move in a certain way and I will feel slightly nauseous, but it goes away.  It doesn't really hurt, just feels strange.  Also, when I was squatting, I felt a sensation in the lower left abdomen like the one a man gets when the testicles retract into the abdomen, but they weren't retracted.  I worry that it's a hernia, but would the sensations be off and on like this?  The last time  I wrote these symptoms was in June.  It seems to go away after a few days.

[michell221]

You could just have plain IBS.  You should get some basic tests done to rule out celiac disease and allergies.   If the doctor cannot find anything then he can do endoscopy to look for Gerd and prescribe you medicine if you do have it.  This should help some of the symptoms.