# had a colonoscopy, barium swallow, what now?



## beth07 (Jun 16, 2007)

I am trying to determine what is causing my persistant symptoms of gas, intestinal pain, etc. (gas is the worst symptom, it never goes away no matter what I eat) which I have had for 2 1/2 yrs. I have had a colonoscopy & a barium swallow & nothing showed up except that I have acid reflux, but nothing major. The colonoscopy ruled out things like colitis & crohn's, so I know it can't be either of those two things. I have also tried medicine for candida, but it didn't help. At 1st I was almost convinced I had candida (from my symptoms, etc.) but when I went on the supplements & also medication for it, they didn't help. I wasn't on them very long however before I had to go off for my colonoscopy prep., so I may try this again. The only other thing I can think of it being is celiac disease...my tests for that will come back on thursday of next week. If it's not candida or celiac, what else could it be?? Can someone help me out here?? I am not sure what I am going to do if those two things turn out not to be it. Do you know of anything else or have any experience with treating these syptoms, things that help?? I have tried all over the counter meds like symethecone/beano & also some meds like levsin that calm the stomach & several other meds as well. Not sure where to go from here. Need someone to help lead me in the right direction. These symptoms are starting to limit my life so that I can't go out/meet people or get a job, etc. Thanks.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

If you have changes in stool frequency or consistency that is associated with abdominal discomfort or pain and the tests are all clean then you have IBS which is a functional disorder (if you have a subset of the IBS symptoms it is still functional but could be functional constipation or functional abdominal pain, etc.).Basically all the parts can do the right things and aren't damaged but the control system is haywire. Like if the remote control to your TV just randomly changed the channel whenever it felt like it instead of you being able to chose the channel and when it is time to change.For gas do you mean you fart a lot more than you used to, or that you have bloating and discomfort with no change in fart frequency?To reduce gas volume the main things to do are either stop feeding the bacteria so much, or change the bacteria you have with probiotics.If you have pain that doesn't go away when you fart out the gas you might need to treat the pain which usually is antispasmodics to relax the muscles in the colon or antidepressants that stop the nerves from transmitting inappropriate pain signals.K.


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## beth07 (Jun 16, 2007)

beth07 said:


> I am trying to determine what is causing my persistant symptoms of gas, intestinal pain, etc. (gas is the worst symptom, it never goes away no matter what I eat) which I have had for 2 1/2 yrs. I have had a colonoscopy & a barium swallow & nothing showed up except that I have acid reflux, but nothing major. The colonoscopy ruled out things like colitis & crohn's, so I know it can't be either of those two things. I have also tried medicine for candida, but it didn't help. At 1st I was almost convinced I had candida (from my symptoms, etc.) but when I went on the supplements & also medication for it, they didn't help. I wasn't on them very long however before I had to go off for my colonoscopy prep., so I may try this again. The only other thing I can think of it being is celiac disease...my tests for that will come back on thursday of next week. If it's not candida or celiac, what else could it be?? Can someone help me out here?? I am not sure what I am going to do if those two things turn out not to be it. Do you know of anything else or have any experience with treating these syptoms, things that help?? I have tried all over the counter meds like symethecone/beano & also some meds like levsin that calm the stomach & several other meds as well. Not sure where to go from here. Need someone to help lead me in the right direction. These symptoms are starting to limit my life so that I can't go out/meet people or get a job, etc. Thanks.


tests came back negative. think it's still possible I may have it but it's not showing up on the tests? I want to go on a gluten free diet just to make sure. anyone have any info on this & know about what foods might have hidden sources of gluten/wheat in them & what foods are safe for this diet? need resources/help. thanks. I'm pretty sure I have this now as I realized another symptom is numbness of hands, fingers, toes which I have plus most of the other symptoms. no idea why it didn't show on the test. your help is appreciated.


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