# My very long story (I hope this can help some other people!)



## MelissaQ (Jul 16, 2011)

Hello, So this is my very first post here. I stumbled upon this forum in search of a place that I could share my story, help other women my age, and hopefully get some support!A little about me, I am currently 22, from Philadelphia, PA, attending college for psychology (graduate this Dec, yay!), live with my dad (mom passed when I was 7), have a loving boyfriend (Andrew). Ok thats enough of that!On July 2nd 2010, I became very ill with what seemed like period cramps. I was with Andrew and was very panicked, I could barely get off the couch and definitely could not stand up. He said "Ok lets get you home and in bed" so off we went, and stopped by the store for some Midol, (I later realized it was NO where near my time of the month!) After battling these strange pains for 3 or 4 hours, I finally cried myself to sleep.On July 3rd 2010, I went with Andrew and his family to see fireworks. As I sat there, I began to feel a more mild form of what I experienced the previous night. But despite the lack of pain, I was really worried. After fireworks I confided in Andrews mother that I had very bad side pains (just right of my bellybutton). She was concerned and insisted on taking me to the ER. The whole car ride was awful, every bump in the road was a nightmare. Andrews mother was sure it was an ovarian cyst gone bad. as soon as we got to the ER and I mentioned abdominal pain they rushed me in to do tests...after the whole night, nothing showed up and I had NO answers.For the next 4 weeks or so I was in bed every day, I could barely sleep and barely eat. To top if off I made an appt with my not-so-favorite obgyn. This doctor was horrible! I was in pain crying and she dismissed me. I screamed when she examined me. She did not ask anything about my trip to the ER or what I was experiencing, she just took out her notepad and wrote a script for some antibiotic because she said I must have had sex with my boyfriend of THREE years and contracted some infection. Although this was a possibility, I just did not feel like this was the answer.Finally, IT WENT AWAY. no more pain, no more sleepless nights. I felt great for my fall semester at school!THEN in November, the day after my birthday, it struck again. This time a little different, but still enough pain to take my breath away. This time the same ER was very concerned...but nope it was not my gallbladder, not the kidney stones, not the appendix, not an ectopic pregnancy. After a night of testing, the doctor came in and said "well you can go home", I started crying and screaming that I was not leaving until they could help me! (a little dramatic, but I was very stressed and to back me up, my Dad was very pissed!)I was admitted to an excellent hospital in Philly area. I was examined by 2 obgyn's (one of which is amazing and is my current doc) as well as about 12 GI docs...they still could not figure it out!!!After 4 days, I was released. The next few weeks were awful, so much pain! I went to my family doc and begged for help! He was incredible and said that he would admit me to his hospital and keep an eye on me! It was just what I needed, I was being reassured by someone I have known my whole life, as well as the doctor who detected my mothers cancer!He sent in top obgyns, top GI docs...I had a colonoscopy, but they could not find anything. Another 4 days in the hospital and no answers. By this point I had missed about 3 weeks of classes!!!!!I went to see my new found obgyn in his private practice. He said it could be endometriosis, and he would be willing to preform laproscopic surgery to rule it out. This was something new and I was excited to hear about endometriosis and how it was a good possibility! finally I could get on with my life...but he wanted me to wait a few months for this surgery.I waited about 4 days, after missing more school, I went to his office, said, "Sorry, but I cannot afford to miss school next semester because of this, I want surgery ASAP!", He totally understood my worries and did not want to see my life turn to hell even more so. I scheduled the surgery for a few days before Christmas. I went in with my boyfriend and my dad. I was happy! I knew that endometriosis was the answer! what else could it be! I woke up from the surgery with my doctor rubbing my arm saying "I am so sorry Melissa, but we did not see anything, you have a very healthy pelvis" This is when I became depressed. I was so miserable. I did not want to talk to anyone. I thought I would have to live with this pain for ever with no answer!After the holidays, I followed up with my doctor just to check stitches and see what else I could do. He could tell I was upset and reassured me that I could not let this get me down at such a young age. He told me that he believed something was wrong and it was probably GI related. He told me to go to a GI (one that I had seen while in the hospital, excellent doctor), because he did not feel comfortable continuing to treat me on this matter. He wished me best of luck and told me if I needed help to not hesitate to ask. (sorry, but this is the most amazing doctor I have ever been to, so please ignore my detailed accounts with him, he just took so much time and actually sat me down to listen to my whole story, although he is not the GI that diagnosed me, I owe him a lot for giving me courage to continue and stay persistent with my quest!)I followed up with the GI. In a 10 minute meeting with him he said "It has to be IBS". He had already read all my hospital reports as well as reports from my obgyn. He immediately put my on a high fiber diet, as well as fiber supplements (Konsyl). After about two weeks of my new diet, I was cured! (well not cured, but I sure felt like it!) I have been following up with him and he has officially diagnosed me with IBS-C.Although, I was pretty mad that it took nearly 8 months to figure out, I was happy to not have to worry about this pain and wondering what it was!I also got straight As in all of my classes and made the deans list, despite missing so many classes!Please note that this story is literally a quarter of what I went through, and I battled depression and hoplessness throughout this ordeal, which I had to seek extra care for. I hope people who are struggling with a similar story of seeing so many doctors and not being able to find the answer are somewhat comforted by the fact that it has happened to many people before. Never give up on your search, and stay persistent! And also, IT IS OK TO ASK DOCTORS WHAT THE HELL THEY ARE DOING...you have every right to know what they are doing to your body, and what tests they are preforming. So do not be alarmed when they give you a blank stare, this just throws them off because they are so used to being the authority figure when it comes to dealing with their patients!!!!EDIT: I forgot to add that I am also on an antispasmodic which has worked wonders...I forget the trade name for it, and the generic name is very long and begins with an A.


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## AnxietyPrincess (Jul 20, 2011)

MelissaQ,Thank you sooo much for posting this. My story is in teens blog forum or whatever, but the name is "Anxiety, IBS, and High school." I feel hopeless, but everything is starting to work out.


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