# I'm 23 and overwhelmed with health issues!



## aes3582 (Jun 9, 2014)

I know so little about IBS, other than the basics I read off the internet, but I'm hoping to find people with similar issues that may be able to help me with even the littlest suggestions. Please excuse my grammar; I am not good at writing about me. So here is my story&#8230;.. I have not been diagnosed with anything yet&#8230; the doctors are leaning towards IBS&#8230; but not everything makes sense&#8230;. I have been battling with issues since November 2013, I am unable to eat pretty much anything, and I am always in pain or feeling under the weather. I have been through 2 CT scans, 3 ultrasounds, MRI/MRA, upper GI, colonoscopy, endoscopy, laparoscopy, and endless doctor visits both PCP and specialists, and endless blood tests and urine test&#8230; EVERYTHING has come back normal. I have lost close to 100 lbs, I am well under a healthy weight now, and it's all starting to get to my head and make me depressed. It's not just the weight that I have lost that's bothering me, the muscle I have lost, I have gone down at least 6 pants sizes, and I'm getting nowhere with doctors. it's starting to effect my job, my relationship, and putting my life in danger ( I have a suicidal past and I feel as though I am almost slipping back into it).

Now that I'm past my sob story I can get onto my symptoms. Things started slow, I started just having bad gas, and stomach aches after I ate so I started eating smaller portions and taking simple Tums. And from there it progressed. I started getting severe pain after eating, stabbing feeling in my abdomen around my belt line. This is when I finally went to the doctors&#8230;. I was given basic test and when nothing came back my doctor immediately sent me to a specialist. Back and forth battling with the pain getting worse and other symptoms, alternating loose stool and constipation, bloating, burps&#8230; (Seems like there was more but this is 3 am that I am writing this so at this time I can't remember6 months ago!) I couldn't find one food that worked for me, I tried to push through the pain and just eat little bits but it's hard when I am always the one cooking for my fiancé and a roommate and packing his lunch in the morning, I couldn't even lick my fingers when cooking it got so bad, I tried so many different foods, and nothing seemed to not cause pain. Finally I came across saltine crackers, and for whatever reason, they worked, they didn't cause me pain, they were perfect. That is the only thing I ate for several months, and eventually I just stopped eating them and I was basically starving myself (which goes back to my suicidal days, that's part of what I did to self harm) when my body really started eating away at itself it made everything harder to deal with. All the while still dealing with the doctors finding nothing; and trying several new medications, some making it worse, most not changing anything. I tried getting a new doctor hoping fresh set of eyes might see something new that could help. But that proved to be the worst thing I ever tried, my new doctor has yet to help me let alone call me back except once in three months, when she did call my back last week (after a week of three calls a day to her office threatening to turn her in for malpractice) she pretty much told me that she didn't know what to do that I just needed to talk to my GI and she wouldn't help me. Needless to say, she is getting turned in to the board of doctors&#8230; or whatever it is. But I'm still in the same boat I was in, lost with no answers, and no one willing to help. All the research I've done doesn't mean much because I have not been diagnosed and a lot of it just doesn't seem to match up with anything.


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## chris72 (Jun 11, 2014)

I've had a lot of those issues over the years.

I'd be looking at a Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis (CDSA) test if I were you. At least then you can see what is happening inside the gut. You might have some severe gut dysbiosis.

Hope that helps.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Straight up ask your GI for a diagnosis. Period. They have done enough testing now to be able to reach a conclusion... If that GI won't give you a diagnosis... take your records and test results and go to a different GI.

FWIW...IF what you have is IBS:

IBS isn't always about food hon. It isn't always what we eat but rather THAT we eat. So eat! Skipping meals can make IBS worse as IBS guts tend to like to be busy. So if one skips meals and then eats ... the GI tract has a tendency to hyper respond to the food. Have you tried a good probiotic?? Sometimes the bacterial balance in the GI tract gets out of whack. A probiotic can restore a healthful balance. One may need to try it for several weeks to see a difference. Have you tried using digestive enzymes? Using an anti-gas product either before (beano) or after (simethicone) meals? If you are feeling suicidal or tending toward those kinds of thoughts..and you are aware of having those.. get help.. pronto. If it is IBS.. anti-depressants and cognitive behavioral therapy have been known to help.


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## Freud (Mar 22, 2012)

chris72 said:


> I've had a lot of those issues over the years.
> 
> I'd be looking at a Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis (CDSA) test if I were you. At least then you can see what is happening inside the gut. You might have some severe gut dysbiosis.
> 
> Hope that helps.


This would be my suggestion for you too. But make sure the test covers d.fragilis and blastocystis which is commonly found in IBSers. D.fragilis needs certain testing with a fixative.


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## chris72 (Jun 11, 2014)

Freud said:


> This would be my suggestion for you too. But make sure the test covers d.fragilis and blastocystis which is commonly found in IBSers. D.fragilis needs certain testing with a fixative.


Agreed.

The one we tested my family with showed positive d.fragilis for both my kids and wife. Here's the pathology company and an overview of the test:

http://www.healthscopepathology.com.au/index.php/functional-pathology/tests/complete-digestive-stool-analysis-cdsa/

You should be able to find an equivalent in the US.

If you've had antibiotics in the past the above test should be your first port of call. If you can't get a doctor to request it, chase up a reputable naturopath.


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