dominican holiday diarrhea

[AngInver]

Hi there i am just looking for help or advice to finally get a diagnosis and treatment for my illness..long story short, i was a perfectly fit and healthy young woman before going on holiday to dominican in 2007..on this holiday i got seriously ill and hospitalised with diarrhea,i was rehydrated and given tablets to 'protect my stomach'  on returning from holiday i still wasnt better and so went to my gp who was totally unhelpful and didnt even conduct a stool test which i cant actually believe thinking about it now!! Anyway fast forward almost 3 years and im still not well symptoms the same, diahrrhea,bloating gas weakness ..and some newer ones tingling in fingers, pressure feeling in my chest as if someone is sitting on it..i am certain these are related to deficiencies due to malabsorbtion..my doctor has only just referred me to a gastrp who i am praying can give me some answers my own gp just keeps saying ibs and ill have to live with it...i know its something underlying causing it...any ideas?i wondered about tropical sprue but i do not have much weight loss

[AngInver]

hi thanks so much for replying, sorry im so late in getting back to you, ive been signed off work with all this and not been online much! ive finally seen a gastro doctor yesterday he was the first person to take me seriously and is doing all sorts of parasite testing, had a chest x ray and have to do 4 stool tests, if these dont show anything he is going to do ultrasound and a colon+endoscopy, he says , as you did that there is every possibility this could still be a parasite picked up..and that my symptoms arent typical of ibs!!such a relief to see someone who obviously knows what they are doing!!..when i was in dominican hosp id had dia for about 5 days and hadnt eaten for about 3 days by that point..i remember they kept coming in and asking if id 'gone' to the toilet...i acually think they may have managed to do one stool test, but wasnt really given any info on what they were actually doing half the time! thanks again!!

[pirilla]

didn't they submit a stool sample for testing in the dominican republic ??!

[pirilla]

i'm no doctor, but had many a traveller poopooripoo and seriously, if you're still like this years later, i would think that you should get tested and find the pathogen, if any. you see, you could still have some nasty bug around or as your gp said, just a post infectious ibs.  i wish i could find the literature again, but i recall reading a published article stating that L. sallivarius and b. infantis were giving good results for treating the ibs your doctor told you about. still, get tested, please!