# Dr. says it is just IBS but I'm not convinced.



## elle85 (Dec 16, 2014)

Hi, I am new here

I am a 29 yo female. I have had a bad stomach for about 12 years now. It started with nausea. Nausea so bad I was taking gravol every day, multiple times a day, but I never threw up. I was terrified to though so I avoided leaving home and I still do. Doctors told me it was anxiety.

About 5 months ago I was on some antibiotics and I started having stomach pain. I went to the doctor they said I had bacterial gastroenteritis and put me on more antibiotics. I got worse. Stomach pain, constipation alternating with diarrhea, mucusy stool, burping a lot, and bloating so bad I could barely eat anything. Then I had a UTI and was on more antibiotics (IV) and they also made me feel tired and sluggish but didn't seem to effect my GI symptoms at all. I lost 30 lbs in the first 3 months of being sick. Over the last couple months I have managed to slow the weight loss down because I have found some foods and supplements that help me eat. Also Yoga has helped, twisting and stretching and moving seems to ease the pain and full/tender/icky feeling. But I am underweight and having a lot of problems because of it. I seem to be at some kind of standoff with my stomach now. Just barely managing to get by, but far from "better" even though everyone is saying I must be because I am eating more. Working around my symptoms but they are not going away.

Just wanted to edit in my full symptoms: Upper stomach pain, mostly left side, super tender like its bruised or something. A very hard bloating around my belly button. Like hard stool that just sits in the middle and doesn't go to the large intestine wheres its supposed to go? That's what it feels like anyway. Nausea. Weakness, coldness, and dizziness, probably from not eating enough. Insta-full feeling as soon as I start eating anything, it takes me an hour to finish a normal meal. Bloating afterwards. Burping a lot, but no flatulence unless Im about to have a bout of diarrhea which usually lasts a day and then its back to sluggishness. Loose stools even when constipated, like mashed up fish food that falls apart when its in the water with mucus (ew gross I know I am sorry). It feels like my digestive systems is like rush hour. Most of the time its slowed to a crawl with honking (pain) and congestion. Then suddenly a rush. And back to being sluggish. I feel better only when I have an empty stomach and haven't eaten in a while. But then the rest of me feels horrid and tired and weak and all that.

Anyway I see my doctor a lot and they weigh me and do blood tests and of course everything is normal that could cause stomach upset. They did find diverticula in my bladder, PCOS, anemia, and my hypothyroidism is no longer stable (it had been normal for the past 10 years on medication and I have had it for about 20 years).

I saw a GI specialist and he said it was probably "just IBS" and I probably always had it, and I need to control my stress. They are doing an endoscopy but he doesn't think it will show anything and that tests are not necessary. I started balling of course because this is so frustrating I don't want to live like this forever.

My psychiatrist is convinced I have an eating disorder and my symptoms are psychosomatic and I am hallucinating them so I don't have to gain weight. Which is not the case. If I could eat normally again, I would eat. And I have had depression and anxiety since college, and it has gotten so much worse because of this last horrible bout of sickness. But she wont treat me for it because all she can talk about is food. What I eat and what I don't eat and how I'm not gaining back the weight and I WANT TO but I feel sick and bloated and in pain and I just cant eat when I feel like that.

So those are my symptoms and that is my story and I feel like I will never get better and it is ruining my life. I cant accept that it is IBS because there is not treatment for it. The most frustrating thing is no one seems to take me seriously. Negative test results, I must be exaggerating, or faking, or a hypochondriac. But I swear it is real. Why would I purposely make myself suffer so much? I just want to be well again. Even if I go back to just having chronic nausea at least I can take gravol. But I have spent literally thousands of dollars on supplements, digestive enzymes, probiotics, naturopaths, and nothing has made me better. (The probiotics - biogaia drops for colic - seem to help get things moving though, which relieves some bloating and pain). I don't know what to do.


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## maitland (Dec 23, 2011)

hi elle85 sorry to hear about your health issues......am curious to know what kind of foods you eat.....maybe we can chat online sometime and compare notes....maitland


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## elle85 (Dec 16, 2014)

Thank you for the replies.

As for the food I eat, its pretty limited. Cooked vegetables or vegetable soup, salad, hemp hearts, avocados, almonds, fish, eggs, sometimes chicken, potatoes, rice occasionally, rye bread occasionally. I avoid dairy, wheat, fruit (I eat maybe a pear or 2 in a week), soy (except soy sauce if I have rice), my salad dressing is oil and vinegar and garlic. And sometimes I eat these vegan protein bars that are GMO, dairy, and gluten free. I drink water, tea (ginger and/or lemon), coffee, and an amino acid supplement powder to avoid muscle wasting. I take sublingual B vitamins, vitamin D drops, omega 3 oil, and biogaia drops probiotic (I hate pills). I was taking digestive enzymes too but I hate pills and I don't think they were doing that much good since I don't usually eat any of the stuff they are supposed to digest anyways. But if I do have dairy or fruit I will take them just incase they do help.

As for the Grave's disease. I looked it up and I have a lot of the symptoms but I have had hypothyroidism for over 20 years and I have been on the same dose of synthroid for over 5 years. But in the last 2 months but TSH has come back high, which means my thyroid is working less and I should be gaining weight. Could be Hashimotos, but that doesn't fit with the weight loss. Nothing does, really.

I have a lot of other health problems too though (which makes it hard for my doctors to sort my symptoms). Anemia, last year they gave me IV iron which I had an allergic reaction to and before that I had injections but it just keeps dropping anyway. Joint problems, worse in the last year. My knees are huge, swollen and bruised with bursitis, and I have nerve impingement in my left leg so it is partially numb (MRI negative for MS). PCOS and uterine fibroids (my chart lists both but I don't know the difference). And diverticula in my bladder. Honestly I think doctors are sick of me. But its not like its all psychosomatic, these things show up on tests, but don't explain why my digestive system is causing me so many issues.


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## maitland (Dec 23, 2011)

hi elle85.....when things are going bad for me i am pretty much homemade soup, some rye bread, tea and water and that's about it.....salads are harder to digest, as are almonds, not sure about hemp hearts but raw foods are harder to digest and sit in the stomach longer....fruit is like a laxative for me so your inclusion of avocado surprised me....fructose seems to be an issue.....also avocado is very high in fibre and would go right through me as does milk (even lactose free) and cereal, which i still miss...........i was taking a few ounces of kefir a few times a day for the probiotic effect and it works well.... little hard to find but it's out there....i switched to the probiotic yogurt named activia by danone and have a few spoonfuls a few times each day.....also i take a lactaid each day to help with the lactose digestion...... i do rely on imodium a fair amount but that's another story.....i will say that a lot of food is considered to be healthy and the like but that does not necessarily translate to being good for people with ibs.....hope some of this info is of benefit for you.....maitland


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## elle85 (Dec 16, 2014)

Hi Maitland
I add those fibre things in because my problem is mostly that I have a really slow moving digestive system. I guess my ibs would be considered alternating but predominantly constipation. With loose and incomplete stools. I do a lot of stuff to help me go. And even so I have a lot of trouble. I have considered taking laxatives or fibre supplements but I an worried about dependence and electrolyte imbalances.


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