abdominal bloating lasting for a week please help!

Hello everyone

I am a soon to be 22 female 5'2 about 123 lbs, with some strange symptoms going on. I originally went to my doctor a week ago for non gastroenterology symptoms but while checking me out, she said she felt some inflammation in my lower abdomen. I've been having digestive issues on and off for the past two years; some days getting severe cramping and very loose stools to times of severe constipation where my anus bled and there were small tears and a bit of a swollen vein on the outside of my anus. I chalked this up to IBS, stress from college, and not always eating the best at school aka not getting enough veggies and fiber. I noticed it got bad when I ate dairy so I've since switched over to soy. I also have had some acid reflux that occurs if I don't eat or if I eat certain foods (such as tomatoes) but its been manageable with zantac. But back to my current symptoms. So about a week ago my stomach ballooned to the size of a five month pregnant woman!  It is not hard bloating, its soft to the touch but very tender and warm and does hurt if someone presses on it hard enough.  I'm also experiencing hard stools and diarrhea intermittently, around 4 bowel movements a day sometimes more, but now it doesn't matter what I eat I'm still getting sick. I'm also having shortness of breath, like something is pressing against my diaphragm, having a stabbing pain of sorts in my upper left abdomen but no pain near my pancreas, liver,etc.

The pain in my upper left abdomen got so bad Wednesday night that I went to the ER. They examined me, did a chest xray for shortness of breath, did blood and pregnancy test (pregnancy test was negative which makes sense because I'm on birth control, bloodwork the hospital did was normal) and a transvaginal ultrasound to make sure it wasn't an ovarian cyst or fluid build up, and the tech says she sees some air pockets. But then  everything else was normal. I got told take an advil and go home cause it "wasn't serious" I go back to my regular doctor yesterday and she says its a soft bloat and not of a fluid variety. I see the gastroenterologist on Monday but my question is what could this be? I would be surprised of IBS could give me serious enough bloating where I can't fit into any pants but sweatpants.

I've taken gas-ex and any other anti gas med you can think of. I'm passing gas and having bowel movements very often but the abdominal distension hasnt changed in a week. I have a loss of appetite. I was weighing 126 but I've gone down three pounds in the past few days. I'm not stressed just feeling super fatigued and frustrated no one knows whats wrong with me. I've also had a low grade fever (99.5) on and off for the past week and the bloodwork my Dr did for my other health complaints came back with a positive ANA so I'm not sure if that factors in (my sed rate, complete blood count, etc are all normal.)

I'm currently on 50 mg zoloft for anxiety and depression and ocella birth control and have been for two years with no problems. Also I am very prone to migraines and have at least three headaches a week in addition to severe lower back pain and occasional swelling of my hands of I eat too much salt, and I lose feeling in my fingers and.toes randomly. IBS also runs in my immediate family.

Please help!
Kristin

[patient915]

Welcome to the gastroenterology community!  IBS can cause bloating, but it won't cause rectal bleeding.  It sounds like seeing the gastroenterologist like you had planned is a very good idea.

[lilmisskris0307]

Yeah I see the doctor monday I'm just so frustrated. I can't wear any pants but sweatpants because I can't have anything constricting my stomach, even yoga panta hurts. my pcp said it was air bloating but if I've been passing gas and the bloating is staying the same that's a problem

[patient915]

Bloating can be caused by many different things.  If you wanted to try something before you saw your doctor, you could try eliminating all lactose from your diet to see if that helps.

[lilmisskris0307]

Ok so I saw the gastroenterologist and he's narrowed it down to four possibilities: IBS by itself, IBS in addition to Celiac Disease, overgrowth of bacteria in my small intestine, or a partial blockage. I had a 3 way abdominal xray yesterday that I'm waiting to get a call back on, and I have to get bloodwork to see if I have Celiac and they are also testing for vitamin deficiencies. He did not seem to want to do an endoscopy, and i've also been instructed to stay dairy free ( which I mostly am anyways) and to take align probiotics for a month. The bloating is still there and all of my symptoms are as well. would anyone also recommend going gluten free for just IBS? I've heard this alleviates symptoms as well

[patient915]

You can have a gluten sensitivity (that can go along with IBS) and not have celiac disease.  However if you are going to have bloodwork for celiac disease or an endoscopy with biopsies for celiac disease, you would want to start eliminating all gluten after you complete these.

[lilmisskris0307]

I got a call from my gastroenterologist about an xray i took monday and apparently I have a large amount of stool in my intestines even though I've been going to the bathroom. he's having me take miralax but in the meantime I've been researching and saw that a vitamin d deficiency can be related to severe constipation due to malabsorption and can also be linked to celiac. I'm still waiting on my vitamin deficiency blood results to come back but some of the symptoms sound similar. anyone have experience with this?

[patient915]

If you are having regular bowel movements then you don't have severe constipation.  X-rays aren't great at showing how much stool you have in your large intestine (there isn't really any good test for this).  I would recommend waiting for your blood tests to come back.

[lilmisskris0307]

all my blood tests came back ok. I just got diagnosed with fibromyalgia a few weeks ago, had an endoscopy and colonoscopy where a 4 mm benign polyp was removed and i found out I have h. pylori in addition to what is most likely ibs

[patient915]

Well, your symptoms could definitely be caused by the H Pylori or IBS.  Also fibromyalgia can also have GI symptoms that go along with it sometimes.