Chronic Diarrhea

[Rob]

Hello, I am 29 years old and male. I have been suffering from chronic diarrhea for the past 7 months. I am currently seeing a gastroenteroligist for my problem. He is struggling to find out what is wrong with me.

My symptoms first started just a few days following taking malaria tablets, prior to going on vacation to Hondurus (Central America). While on vacation the diarrhea started badly, which followed eating some 'home made' soup (tripe).

Upon returning home I still had diarrhea, but it had subsided. Then a couple of weeks later I found myself going to the toilet up to 20 times a day. I have found that it is when I eat I need to rush to the toilet. I sometimes have cramps, although not often. I also only have wind occassionally. The stool has never contained blood. The stool also varies from liquid to semi-formed (in the morning). When semi formed it floats. The colour varies from light brown to almost white.

I have had the following tests:

Blood Tests
Stool Culture Tests
Fecal Fat Test
Hormone Test
Barium Meal X-ray
CT scan
Abdomen x-ray
Nuclear Isotope Scan
HIV Test
Pancreatic (Urine) Test
Other Urine Tests
Endoscopy
Flexible Sygmoidioscopy

All the tests are normal, apart from the fecal fat test which showed that I am not absorbing fat and producing a huge amount of stool. The doctor described this as gross steattorrhea.

I am otherwise healthy apart from the diarrhea. I have lost 30lbs in weight due to this. I am also suffering from depression due to the diarrhea. I have been off work for 5 months.

I am currently taking Codeine Phosphate and Cholestramine, which don't seem to do anything. I have previosly tried Loparamide, Lomitil and Colafac also (to no avail). I am now on Fluoxetine for depression.

I do not smoke and only occassionally drink alcohol. I have never had surgery and never had a serious medical condition. I have never suffered from diarrhea before. I have not changed my diet apart from cutting out dairy products (as advised by my doctor)

Please give me some help and advice!!

Regards

Rob.

[Annick]

Hi,

My son 2 years ago was the age of 1 and hospitalized for two months with very similar conditions.  With lots of patience they were able to give to diagnostics.
C-difficile, which is caused by to many antibiotics
Coeliaque disease.  This is a chronic situation of the intestins with malabsorption of fat and diaharea.  It is caused by gluten which is found in most of the food we eat.  The cure is to eliminate this from your diet.  You can most probably do this diet on your own and if this is what you have, it will take up to 2 weeks before you feel better.  This diet is to be taken seriously and is for life.  Gluten can be found in most wheats.

Good luck with your health

[tracy]

Rob,
IBS is certainly a possibility, but the correlation of your trip to Central America seems to be the key here. Unfortunately, most western doctors usually only do a standard stool analysis, looking for the common "culprits". I am 31 and for years have had sudden onset of severe stomach pains and diarrhea, but not to the severity that you are experiencing. I also engaged in a battery of tests which always came back negative. I finally came across an acupuncturist that specialized in gastrointestinal problems. She suggested that I get a complete stool analysis from Great Smokies Diagnostic Lab. They are extremeley reputable and thorough. My results included two "bad" bacterias at really high levels, klebsiella pneumoniae and citrobacter freundii, thus causing a severe leaky gut. Thus the explaination for my severe fatigue and gastrointestinal problems. I also lived in Mexico for 3 months about 5 years ago when my problem began. This test will also find any parasites or yeast that could be in your gastrointestianl tract and the severity of them. Parasites especially are nasty little buggers that are hard to detect without the right tests. I think that at this point you need to find a health care practioneer that is willing to give you a complete stool analysis from Great Smokies. They also have a web-site that is helpful and can possibly help you get in touch with somebody in your area that uses their tests. Be strong and remember that you know your body better than anybody else and that you are paying the doctors for a service. It is your right to be heard and demand every test out there if thats what it takes. I suffered with this for years because my symptoms were always invalidated. Good luck to you and I hope that you will find the cause very soon. My thoughts are with you.  

[Karen]

I AM NOT TRYING TO SCARE YOU BUT YOU COULD HAVE GOT SOMETHING FROM YOUR VACATION.  BUT ON THE OTHER HAD IT COULD BE IBS, I AM 21 AND HAVE HAD IBS SINCE I WAS IN THE 3RD GRADE.  I WAS SICK ALL THE TIME I MISSED ALOT OF SCHOOL AND THE SAD THING IS I WOULD EAT ALL THE TIME AND NEVER GAIN A POUND I WAS IN THE 8TH GRADE AND WEIGHT BETWEEN 90 AND 100LBS IT WAS NOT UNTIL I HAD MY FIRST CHILD THAT I WAS ABLE TO EAT AND KEEP THE WEIGHT ON.  I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT HAVING TEST DONE AND THEY ALL COME BACK FINE.  I HAD 2 UPPER GI'S AND A LOWER GI AND COLONASCAPE.  THEY SAID I HAD IBS AND I HAVE TRIED SEVERAL MEDICATIONS THE ONLY ONE THAT WORKS IS LOTRENEX ASK YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT THAT AND TRY IT.  I HOPE EVERYTHING TURNS OUT OK.

[Lauro]

Sounds like my case of Giardia.  it was a bugger to diagnose.  Three separate stool samples did not show it but a good Gastro doc saw them swimming in the small bowel area when he did the esophagealduodenoscopy.  He retrieved for a biopsy.  I was treated I think with Flagyl and these buggers finally left me.
Alleluia..

[Amy Geyer]

I was there.  I found a wonderful dr. who put me through every test under the sun.  Finally a colonoscopy was given and he determined that I had Crohn's disease.  I suffered from what you described above for 5 years.  The Dr. prescribed Prednisone 80mg at first and all symtoms disapeared immediately.  I was on the prednisone for over 1-1/2 years.  I just started taking  Asacol which I will probably be on for the rest of my life.  But it works.  I am 32 and lead a very normal life compared to what what happening, like you are going through.  Crohn's is one of the most difficult diseases for a dr. to diagnose.  Please mention this to you dr. hopefully they will be able to get you on the correct medications.

[Joanna]

Hi, Rob, have you ever been tested for Clostridium Difficile ?  It is a bacteria that is found in foods and water, especially in Mexico.  I had this and still am battling the diarrea.  Good luck.  It takes certain antibiotics to treat this.  There are only two:  Metronozidole and Vancomycin.  Other antibiotics with this C. Diff can make it worse or even cause the bacteria itself.  Do some checking into this and tell your doctor to check for this bacteria.  I had this for four years and finally discovered this.  I think I got it from too many antibiotics ?  Don't really know, but do know from research you can get it from foods and water and other countries too.  Good Luck