Veteran Help Please.

[erik86]

Hopefully this is the right section. So I was in the military as an 11B (Infantry) and I was deployed to iraq. I've ate food from Iraq, and lived in an outpost for some time that didn't have running water. The whole time I was in Iraq, me and my buds all had really bad diarrhea but it seemed normal considering where we were, and everyone else said they had it to. I returned in 2008 and since then I've had the worst diarrhea. I got a check of my stool sample and it came back fine. But no matter what I will go to the bathroom on average atleast 8 times a day(and that's a good day.) I workout and eat good so I am not losing weight, i'm about 5'8 and weigh 183lbs. I don't know if some of it has to do with anxiety. I get real bad anxiety when I have to leave my house. Say if me and my fiancee are going to walmart or something, I just get nervous being in large crowds. I will complain and the moment I walk out the house I immediately have to use the bathroom. When I eat it gets real bad. I have to go to the bathroom immediately after I eat. Sometimes when we go out and eat I can hardly make it home. Sometimes its just like water, and sometimes it might just be pencil thick. I was given some medication last year but it didn't help. I really don't know what to do. I go to school for 4 hours monday through thursday, and when I'm at school i'm fine, but the moment I go home im right on the toilet. Hopefully this makes sense... a lot of rambling. I don't take any workout supplements like creatine, or anything, just a daily vitamin, and protein pre and post work out. I doubt it's those though because I've had times where I didn't take those and still am running to the bathroom. I have free medical I guess I just don't know what to tell them? They gave me pills before but they didn't work.

[erik86]

One more thing, sorry.

Sometimes when I go to the bathroom, it feels like my stool should be hard, like I can feel it coming out? But then it doesn't, it's either liquid type or just really soft. The only way I could explain it is like water going through a straw. The straw being what I feel is the hard stool, and the water being my annoying diarrhea. Does that make sense? sorry if i suck at explaining things. :(

[erik86]

I don't think I am having any other symptoms. I suffer from severe headaches, doctor diagnosed me with a TBI when I returned from Iraq. I get heartburn frequently. It gets bad sometimes. Almost like a lot of weight is on my chest and it feels like it is in my jaw line. Not really my tmj but more in my gum line underneath my molers if that makes sense (Don't know if that helps?).

No issues of GI in my family I don't think. My father died of a massive heart attack in his 40's (what his side of the family says, and death certificate but my mother says it was induced by drugs?) He served 20+ years in the air force.

No foods seem to make it better or worst. I eat a variety of foods, and a good amount of fruits and vegetables. I stay away from carbonated drinks. I drink water almost all day as I am very active, and the most juice I drink is a cup of V8 in the morning and sometimes I'll drink a cranberry/cran-grape type drink during dinner. Actually, I don't really deal with dairy. Ice cream, a lot of chocolate, or cheese will make it worst. I thought maybe dairy had something to do with it since my last deployment was 15 months in which case I don't think I really had dairy at all.

I'll try to get those meds that you put up here. Thanks for your reply. This is getting out of hand and is just plain annoying. Here is something though that I noticed last week:

So I had gotten 11 hours of tattooing done in two weeks and my back was hurting bad when I got home. I had some loratabs from a broken bone when I was in the military. I decided to take them for the weekend. That weekend my stool was solid, and it surprised me because I noticed I had only gone to the bathroom maybe once or twice a day. I don't know if maybe the aspirin in it had helped?

And I didn't mean Diverticulitis, she just told me she thinks I have ulcedative colitis? (sp?)

[CalGal]

Erik, are you having any other symptoms besides the frequent diarrhea? Has the doc run any other tests? Are you on any meds at all? Is there any history of GI issues that run in your family? I know it's difficult to pinpoint when the loose stools or diarrhea occurs very often, but do any foods seem to make things better or worse? And to start with, have you considered trying some probiotics? I know it may sound strange, but if the critters in your GI tract are 'off' in number etc., it can cause problems - as many individuals have found out. They're not going to hurt - unless you are experiencing something like pancreatitis or have a depressed immune system - so it might be something to try while you try to get to the bottom of the problem. There are a number of good brands on the market, but you might want to consider Culturelle since it seems to work for a wide variety of people (not all probiotics seem to work for everyone).

[erik86]

Sorry, one more thing. I looked up Diverticulitis because I seen it on a post below mine. My fiancee has told me she thinks this is what it might be? I do see blood on my toilet paper frequently but I figured it might be from wiping so many times through the day. Today I am having a bad episode and have probably went to the bathroom 7 times in the last 3 hours. They're usually short but sometime later I will have to rush back. Sometimes i think I might just need to pass gas and it will literally almost make me go to the bathroom. -.- help please!