Have Diarrhea off and on for some time, and seems like my food is starting to go right through me.

[kevea]

Hello,
Before I begin to ask my question, I would like to so Thank You in advance to those who will choose to help me with my problem that I have.

I have had diarrhea off and on for about a year now, which hasn't been too bad, just on the more annoying side.  I've seen a doctor about it and asked if I could take a stool sample, which showed no bacteria in my stomach. He said it could just be diarrhea from things I eat, or maybe just something in my stomach that causes me to have diarrhea.  He gave me aciphex and a antibiotic that works like imodium.  I took that for a couple days and that seemed to get rid of the diarrhea quite fast.  Its been a couple months now and my diarrhea has seemed to come back.  I go to college in the fall and spring time and come home during winter and summer.  I recently came home from college about a week ago and started to realize that my diarrhea has come back.  It started off as a loose diarrhea, went back to hard stool and now its a watery diarrhea.  The diarrhea I now have is literally like water just coming out and almost having nothing in it but color.  The diarrhea doesn't seem to be too bad, but it would really be nice to figure out what is going on with my body/stomach.
Starting from yesturday (12/27/2010), I woke up having to go, which seems to be fine with me. I took a couple of charcocaps to see if that would help with the gas (which I believe it did).  I ate some breakfast (white rice, scrambled eggs, link sausage and some ham) and was fine after that.  Later in the day, I ate some clam chowder and ate some fruit.  I ended up eating a late dinner which was a salad and had to go to the bathroom right after (about 20-30 minutes later) and another time after that. I noticed pieces of what I just ate (salad).  I am a bit worried to see that my food is going right through me and doesn't seem like its processing through my stomach very well.  I took a couple imodium because I know how useful it can be to restore the digestive system and get it moving at a slower pace.

I was wondering what could possibly be happening with my body and why is my food going right through me so fast.  I am a little worried that this could be a serious problem going on with my stomach and was wondering if there is anyone out there that could help me with this problem and could give me some information on what is going on?  Maybe even some remedies or advice that could be given to me to help me with this and help me to feel a little more relaxed and comfortable about the situation.
I could be taking this out of proportion and over exaggerating a lot, but I'd rather to be safe then sorry.

Any information about my problem would be awesome and amazing.  I am a bit worried that this could be very serious, so any information or suggestions would help me out a lot.

Again, Thank You to everyone who has read this and decides to help me.  I appreciate any kind of information or suggestions that could help me with this problem of mine.

Thank You!
K

[Ken6491]

I have used imodium every day for the past seven years. get the tablets so you can adjust your dose. I take imodium 3 or 4 times a day 1/2 tab.Yes, stress has a lot to do with it also.I am almost 65 and I have had a lot of stomach problems over the past 30 years that are still undiagnosed.

[kevea]

Im starting to believe my stress is what's causing me to have these stomach problems. Whenever I tend to worry about my stomach, my symptoms get worste and I seem to think about it more and more and start to over think it. I took two imodium a-d's last night (just about 24 hours ago) and it seemed to have wormed. I did not have to use the restroom today, probably because I never really ate anything last night untill tonights dinner. Seemed like my food didn't go right through me again. I did start to try and calm myself down and started to think about what could be the problem and it seems like its soothing my mind and stomach. Weird how the body/stomach works; but it could be helping me now. Hopefully what's going on in my stomach is from being too stressed and it seems like I should be taking it easy on myself for the next couple of days to see if stress is my issue. I'll definitely keep everone updated on what's going on and if i see a doctor i'll be sure to see what he says. Thank you everyone and Thank You Patient915! You've been so kind to me during the past day and a half. I can't thank you enough,  from my heart how much I appreciate everyone helping me out. And i'll be sure to keep everyone updated on how I am doing. Thanks again! :D

[patient915]

Yes, stress can cause these problems.  Keep us updated on how you are doing.

[kevea]

I think I will try the both at the same time. I barely eat dairy products but I have eaten more than I normally do last week due to a couple of birtday and ended up eating some coconut (don't care much for it) which I did eat quite a bit of. I was thinking that could have been the issue that re-started my stomach problems. Im trying to figure out what could have started this but trying to stay calm while doing so. I've been wondering if stress could be what's making my stomach like this? I tend to have anxiety abouteverything, not to sure why; just the way it is. Im sure stress could be a factor to this. Im really trying to stay calm about all this and im sure im over reacting to this like I always do to every illness that I've had.. thanks to you patient915 and everyone in this community, I feel a little better about this issue now that I have people to talk to. Thank you so much for the advice and comfort, everyone. Thank you. I'll try to cut down on all my dairy and lactose products until I can start a probiotics and see a   gastroenterologist. :D

[kevea]

I think I will try the both at the same time. I barely eat dairy products but I have eaten more than I normally do last week due to a couple of birtday and ended up eating some coconut (don't care much for it) which I did eat quite a bit of. I was thinking that could have been the issue that re-started my stomach problems. Im trying to figure out what could have started this but trying to stay calm while doing so. I've been wondering if stress could be what's making my stomach like this? I tend to have anxiety abouteverything, not to sure why; just the way it is. Im sure stress could be a factor to this. Im really trying to stay calm about all this and im sure im over reacting to this like I always do to every illness that I've had.. thanks to you patient915 and everyone in this community, I feel a little better about this issue now that I have people to talk to. Thank you so much for the advice and comfort, everyone. Thank you. I'll try to cut down on all my dairy and lactose products until I can start a probiotics and see a  gastro

[patient915]

If you want to try both at the same time, I would recommend eliminating 100% of all milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt, etc and starting a daily probiotic pill like Culturelle which can be found over the counter.

[kevea]

Thanks again patient915,
I'm hoping something serious isn't going wrong with my stomach and is only temporary.  I'm not to sure how soon I can really see a gastroenterologist, might be a couple weeks from now, so I'm really hoping my stomach can hang on until then.  As for the imodium, I've only take a couple thus far and it seems to be helping, although I haven't ate anything since dinner.  I'm a little afraid to eat something and have it go right through me.  I know I should probably be eating something to keep my energy up so I'll probably have some rice and a side dish.
Not to sure how I can start a probiotic, but I can eliminate any kinds of  lactose from my body.  I assume not eating any kinds of dairy, milk, cheese products would be of some help and possibly yogurt?  I'm not a food expert, so any advice for me on what I should and should not be eating would help me out a lot.

Thanks again! :)

[patient915]

I can't really tell you what it could be without you having more testing done, which is usually done by a gastroenterologist.  Immodium is okay to use on an as needed basis but it should not be used daily.  Food passing through you quickly is a sign of something wrong, but it doesn't necessarily indicate something serious.  I would recommend making the changes I suggested in my previous post to see if those help.

[kevea]

Hey patient915!
Thanks for such a fast response to my question!

I was thinking that I should go and see a gastroenterologist and see what they can do for me.  I may have to travel to see one being that there isn't one in my area that I currently live in.  I was hoping I could do something that could help ease my stomach and help it to fight the diarrhea.  Imodium seems to work well and a lot of people seem to use it to help them.
Does anyone know why my food could have passed through me in about 30 minutes?  I'm just a little worried about my body not being in working order and if this is a sign of something serious. Since I can only see a regular doctor, it would be good to know what is going on with my body until I can go and see a gastroenterologist,

Thanks you patient915 and everyone else in the Gastroenterology Community!
:D

[patient915]

Welcome to the gastroenterology community!  I would recommend seeing a gastroenterologist about your issues.  It sounds like you need some more testing done to really figure out what is going on.  In the mean time, I would recommend starting a probiotic (either in a yogurt or a pill) and trying to eliminate all lactose from your diet.  Good luck.