please please help me

[mag4810]

I am a 21 year old female and I have been sick for a few weeks now.  It started out as a mild case of gastroenteritis (diarhhea and bad cramping in my general abdominal region and down my legs to my toes - similar to the feelings of menstrual cramps).  I wasn't getting better so my college health services nurse suggested a lot of stool samples to do tests.  C-Diff came back negative, as did many other things, but I am still sick.  About 5 days ago, I started passing only mucus during some of my bowel movements.  Other times, I would pass normal, soft stool.  yesterday is when I really got scared - It was primarily mucous as the BM and there were small flecks of bright blood in this mucous.  When I pass  normal stool, there is no blood with that.  Also, I seem to rotate between passing mucous, stool, and gas.  I frequently feel an incredible need to run to the bathroom which is very uncomfortable.  When I am actually going the bathroom, the cramping gets stronger.  The pains in my stomach have not really been in just one area, but rather spread throughout my whole abdominal region.

Any ideas?  Crohns, cancer, IBD, Ulcerative Colitis?  I'm very scared and I'm at college very far from home...please help!!

[mag4810]

Thank you everyone for your insights....I saw my nurse at student health services today and she drew blood, did some more stool tests, and a rectal exam....she refered me to a real gastoenteroligist and thinks that I most likely have Ulcerative Colitis or Crohns...I'm really scared because these things don't get cured, they only get treated to help stop flareups.  I'm so nervous!!  I can't even get an appointement with a doctor anytime soon because they are so booked, but I am in so much pain and don't know how I'm going to keep up with my school work.  Thanks for listening.

[ggreg]

Dear Mag,
Well, you definitely have a goofed-up digestive system!  I know how that irregularity cramping deal goes.  But I don't think it's any major disease.  The blood you mention is from straining, which irritates hemorhoid vessels there, which come and go.  If it were more serious, it would be in your stool and there would be tons of it.  

It sounds exactly like your bowels aren't moving along smoothly.  Stuff is getting stuck in there, and after a couple days, it comes out.  In the meantime, you get all gassed up, then your body tries to rid itself of the waste build-up, but it's not ready to come out, and so mucous is there.

Could be lots of reasons it's doing that.  I sort of think you got some sort of tummy flu or virus, which you can get all sorts of stuff like that at college type places.  The college clinic can certainly see you again and this time do some bloodwork for food poisoning, H. pylori, and bacteria, which might require an antibiotic.  But in the meantime, there are natural ways to even out your digestion again.  

Here are some natural remedies:   Eat at least three times a day, include a glass of water with each meal, don't rush.  Include fruit or vege with each meal (juice, or blueberries on cheerios in morning, lettuce and tomato in wheat sandwich at lunch, etc.).  Don't eat big meals after 6 or 7 p.m.  Quit eating out in restaurants or fast food for a while; sometimes they use too much oil.  Cafeteria is fine, though.  One other trick is to eat pineapple once a week, first thing in the morning.  It acts as a disinfectant.  Another trick is to eat Activia yogurt or Acidophilus milk, half a cup for a week, which restores normal bacteria to the guts.

As for panicking because you're far from home, this indicates stress is in your life, which is normal for people your age.  To counteract that, you've got to incorporate relaxation activities in your life on a regular basis, anything steady and easy, like swimming, biking, long walks, dancing lessons.  

Hope a few of these things help you.  I can't stand being sick to my stomach like that, really wrecks my day.  One time some medication I was taking, a tranquilizer, created diahrrea in me all day, every day, for six months, and nobody knew what to do with me.  As soon as I stopped that medicine, the indigestion went away.
GG

[jollyjolly]

Hi...

I don't have the problems you're experiencing.  I'm a 37 year old Mom...

I was about to go to sleep and your message caught my eye.  Please, please don't do like I do and self-diagnose yourself via the web!  (I am honestly NOT one to talk, as I do the same thing...I've thought I have every disease known to mankind, and I'm still alive at almost 40)
Even if your symptoms are a result of something serious, which would be extremely RARE at your age...you are catching it very early!!!  Can you see a doctor?  Have you told your family?  You mentioned you are far away from home...but you need some support.  Do you have family/friends back home who would listen and understand?  How long have you been away from home?  Sorry to get so personal, but I would bet you a million dollars that you are merely suffering from something stress-related...although I know it feels horrible.  

Sorry to ramble...hope you get better soon!  Holly


        

[Donnie86]

I am a male and also 21, and I can tell you that I had a SEVERE (not mild) case of gastroenteritis a couple years ago and haven't been the same since. Appearantly it triggered IBS in me, which the doc said sometimes stomach viruses do, but they don't know why. I've just had a few tests (HIDA for gallbladder, occult stool test, bloodwork), which all were fine, so I was diagnosed with IBS. Blood could be caused by hemmroid/anal fissure caused by cramping from your virus.
Those viruses can really tick off some people's stomachs. If you didn't have anything before the virus, how likely would it be that you had cancer? It took me 2 years to realize that and a occult test and a couple of "it's HIGHLY unlikely at your age" before I convinced myself I didn't have it.