Chronic (5 Years) Diarrhea, Celiac and Crohn's Ruled Out--any Insight?

There is a type of anemia that is the result of a lack of vitamin B12. One of the early symptoms in chronic diarrhea. The type of anemia is caused by the stomach not allowing the body to absorb the vitamin or by simple a lack of eating foods with this vitamin. I only know this because I recently saw an episode of Mystery Diagnosis on TLC where the lady had chronic diarrhea for 12 years before anyone knew what was wrong. Other symptoms started after a few years like tingling in hands and feet, loss of balance, and blurred vision. I did some quick research to find the specific name of the anemia but couldn't find it. Not sure if this will help but it's worth telling you about just in case. Good luck ...

I have IBS. I don't know if what you have is IBS, but IBS doesn't always have to include constipation. It can include a variety of symptoms ranging from diarrhea to constipation, but doesn't have to include both. Gas and abdominal pain are also common complaints. Have you been checked for a parasite? Have you tried the BRAT (ripe Bananas, Rice, Applesause and Toast--dry) diet? Even though you can't link your symptoms to a specific food it might help calm the irritation to eat a bland diet for awhile. It wasn't fun, but I lived on applesauce and white rice for a week or two after my IBS flare-up and diagnosis. I still return to that diet when I have a flare-up and it helps calm things down. Whether or not you have IBS things that are also irritable to your colon are alcohol and caffeine. It might help to cut back on or eliminate those if you consume them. Good luck. Send me a message if you have any other questions about IBS.

M. - I'm glad to see that you are starting a probiotic. I assume you are getting these from a doctor/chiropractor so that you're getting a good quality, high spectrum bacteria.

The majority of your immune system rests in your gut and having a healthy gut is really important to a healthy life.

I would only take one product at a time so you know what's working and what isn't. Onced you get your intenstinal issues to settle, you probably really need to get some good nutritional products in you. You may or may not be absorbing any nutrition with all the diarrhea.

Enzymes are also very important. Again, I would be sure to get them from a chiropractor/doctor so you're getting a high quality product. But I would start with the probiotic and then add from there.

Best of luck,

D.

Definitely sounds like a food intolerance, even though you can eat something and be fine, but then eat it later and have problems. Test for wheat, dairy or gluten issues even with no celiac showing up. Try cutting out certain foods for at least a week before deciding if they affect you. Good luck, I hope you find what's causing it - sounds awful!

It sounds like Irritable Bowel Syndrome to me. I didn't think constipation was a part of that; rather the opposite. My mother has it, and doesn't get diarrhea as long as she avoids certain foods. I think your doctor should take another look at IBS as a possibility.

As I was reading over this it reminded me of my brother who was in a similar situation. He had same symptoms and had some of the same testing done, finally my mom suggested that he take in a stool sample and have it tested for a parasite. That is exactly what it was...you can get it from drinking contaminated water. You have to specifically ask to have the sample tested for it, though...it is not a routine test that is done. But they gave him some pills and within a week he was feeling like his old self again. It can't hurt to try...hope you feel better soon! Good Luck!

Have you considered the possibility of Candida (intestinal yeast) infection? It's very common and worth looking into. I've found Barbara Bradley to be helpful in dealing with it.

Good luck!

Hi M.
I have a friend who went through so much also and was diagnosed with microscopic cholitis-colagenous which is an auto immune disease of the colon (not sure I spelled that correctly). Even with the diagnosis never got relief. Started using Reliv and is symptom free. Amazing stuff.
Good luck and hope you find an answer :)
Blessings,
L.

Have you ever been tested for c-diff (Clostridium difficile)? It's a bacteria that infects your intestine and causes bad diarrhea. It is spread sometimes in nursing homes and hospitals. I got it after I had my first child. She was in the hospital for 10 days on i.v. antibiotics and I stayed there with her during that time. On the 11th day, I had my gall bladder out due to gall stones during pregnancy. Afterward, I had really bad diarrhea (up to 12 times per day). The surgeon told me he thought it was just my system getting used to not having a gall bladder. But it turned out to be c. diff. I had to take expensive antibiotics for a period of time, and that solved the problem. After that, I did have looser stools than normal (but not diarrhea) and ended up taking Cholysteramine for a year or so. It helped somewhat.

I wish you the best of luck. I only had the bad diarrhea for a period of several months. I can't imagine having it for years!

M.,

It sounds like it could be food poisoning. My friend got that about 3 years ago when she went to Mexico on vacation. She was put through the ringer as far as testing went. They found an intestinal "worm" in her intestines.
She had the same symptons as you!

It might also be that your body is more sensitive than the others at the wedding and your symptoms lingered.

Probiotics are excellent if you have the "right one"! I have crohns disease and the probiotic I take every day has kept me in remission for over 6 years. Didn't happen over night, of course...but with time...I can now eat normal again! Feel awesome and like I say...am feelin' great.

Check out different doctors until you get answers. That's what I did. I have had the pain for over 25 years and my "family doctor" back then used to tell my mom that I was over-reacting! That I was a hypo-chondriac. It wasn't until in my 30's that the pain got so bad and my doctor had retired that I found a new doctor and they actually did the "right tests" and found the culprit.

Just keep seeing doctor's until someone finds the answer.
My heart goes out to you! It royally sucks have to watch what you eat, where you eat (being close to a bathroom)...

Oh!! Do not eat anything sugar free! It's a diaretic! It'll make you go twice as bad! Learned that by accident! LOL! ;-) I can laugh now...wasn't so funny at the time!

Lots of love to you and your family,

I'll keep you in my prayers!

J.

M., I am so very sorry for all that you are dealing with. I know you said that Crohn's disease was ruled out, but in my case it was very difficult to diagnose. If you haven't had a colonoscopy, I don't know how it could be ruled out. In my opinion you should suggest or request a colonoscopy. They are not as bad as people make them out to be. The prep is a pain but the actual procedure is very simple and you get a great nap out of the deal! Best of luck to you.

The name of the anemia that first person mentioned its: Pernicious anemia. My grandma (age 93) has it and has to go in for B-12 shots monthly.

I am a registered nurse-I believe I can help you with your health problems-e-mail me at ____@____.com

That sounds horrible. I've had a similar situation for about a year, but nothing like what you've gone through. Have you had your doctor do a full metabolic panel blood test to rule out adrenal disease, Addison's disease, etc? Also, have you had your thyroid tested? My situation was that although I didn't have either Crohn's disease or celiac disease, I did discover that I have a carbohydrate intolerance, in addition to hypothyroidism. I've found relief on carb restricted diets (the South Beach diet has really worked for me). I'd do an internet search on adrenal disease, Addison's disease, hyper/hypothyroidism, and see if anything connects. Good luck, and I hope you feel better!

Hi M.
I see you have a good amount of responses I did not read any of them but would like to tell you you sound just like i did until I had a gastrict emptying study done and they found out I have gastroperiess' so if you have not had this test done please talk to your doctor it is a pretty easy non invasive test as far as test go you just eat some radioactive eggs and then lay on cat scan table every half hour for two hours. Good Luck if you have any questions please feel free to ask. I truly feel for you and hope you can get some answers soon. T.

M.,
I have a friend who went to the GI after diarrhea that was becoming chronic - it had been months (not years!). The GI was unable to figure it out. Sometime later, she made the connection between Accutain (sp?)and her stomach problems. That drug is actually a form of an antibiotic and it was killing all the "good bacteria" in her gut. She stopped the Accutain and started taking high doeses of probiotics (you can't OD on it.). Her problem went away with in just a couple of days.
I've heard of some people who had been on antibiotics for some reason but were not anymore that have lingering diarrhea because they never had replenished the "good bacteria". If you were on an antibiotics back around the time of your gall bladder attacks (or even some other reason) that really COULD BE IT. Don't wait to start the probiotics. Do it now. It CANNOT hurt you and would NOT make diarrhea worse. Take high doses at first. The yogurts are good for lesser issues - I'd skip that and go straight to the capsules. They are found in the pharmacy at Byerly's in a refrigerated case and by the Soymilk and other refrigerated organic type stuff at Cub. I think at Target they only have non-refrigerated and I don't think the results are as good with that variety. Good luck - let us know if it helps!

Side note, I know a lot of people have also been having GI issues (either diarrhea or constipation) from Splenda. That is kind of tricky, since it is in a lot of foods now - check your labels see if you are consistently eating anything that has Splenda in it. It is in quite a few "sugar free" things.

You might want to try eliminating gluten from your diet for a month. People with celiac or gluten sensitivity frequently test negative on the blood tests. This happened to my husband and children. Gluten sensitivity can cause many problems throughout the body (excellent book to read is Dangerous Grains). It is hereditary and about 1 in 100 Americans have it but it is under diagnosed so most people don't know. It takes an average of 10 years for people to be diagnosed properly! It is associated with autoimmune diseases so if you have diabetes, thyroid disease, ms, lupus, or colon cancer in your family it is especially important to follow up on this. Google "gluten and " whatever problem you want and you will see how pervasive it is! I know many success stories but you need to know all of the hidden sources of gluten.

I think your doing the right things. I have my daughter on probiotic and I have seen big changes. I helps the lg intestine heal. I will be a process but you have elininated the really serious thing. Have you thought about chiropractic care for her.

Hi! So sorry to hear all that you have gone through. I have had quite a history myself and it all started out after my second pregnancy almost 11 years ago! I have lactose intolerance now (I am very sensitive so I can't tolerate milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, but can eat Lactaid milk, soy yogurt, and Breyer's lactose free ice cream). Getting off the milk really help things. I also have IBS and have found that stress really aggrevates it. Last year I had my gallbladder out due to stones and then this spring, I kept having similar attacks. I was put on a medication to help relax my biliary tube since they thought I was having spasms. A specialist thinks I have a Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. Also this spring, I was diagnosed with celiac by my history. My blood test was negative (but I had come off of the wheat prior to it). Many people test negative but once off of the wheat improve dramatically! I was having severe pain attacks on my right side, abdominal bloating, diarrhea, horrible smelling stools, headaches, "foggy brain", and so on. I had special MRIs and CT scans and more that didn't show anything. Coming off of the wheat was the best thing! In a few weeks I felt the best I had in years!! I have a lot of information on celiac and recipes that a friend sent me. Her husband is the leading celiac doctor in Va and he recommends a special stool test to be done to test for celiac. Many people that test negative with the blood test, test positive with this. Anyway, I still feel a few spasms over on my right side, but haven't had the pain episodes or diarrhea since. Hope some of this helps you. Feel free to contact me to ask questions or for more information. I have had 11 years of medical problems and the list seems to get longer, but at least some of my medical puzzles have been solved and I have been able to help others because of it. K.

We went though that same thing with my daughter for several months. We thought it was celiacs, then thought it was a milk inotlerance, then thought she had some weird bug or colon problems....in the end, it turned out she had a blockage in her little colon and simply needed to have it cleaned out with an enema or a suppository. It was such a simple fix I was beating myself up for a long time after that for not having demanded an xray sooner. I don't know if that helps you or not!

Hi M.,
I read through your post and automatically thought, parasites! It totally sounds like it. I went through HELL from getting a parasite. And no doctor would even test me for it until I demanded it. The Dr. put me on terrible meds that literally made me want to die and THEN I went to a naturopathic doctor. I finally started getting well with natural meds!
I acquired parasites while in Asia but MANY Americans have parasites and are misdiagnosed with IBS.
I hope you find answers soon!

I am so glad you are about to try a probiotic. That is what I would have recommended. Make sure it is a good one. It should be refrigerated unless the capsules are cellulose (I think that's what it is--it's white and not see-through). Though I am frugal as can be, I actually feel most confident if the probiotics cost at least $15-$20 for a month's supply. Any others just may not be effective. I seem to have a diarrhea problem related to hormones. I have it often at the beginning of a period, during pregnancy, at a certain times post-partum. But the probiotics put me right back on track.

I just read Sharon's response and want to comment on what might otherwise really wig us all out. My brother went through hell for several YEARS with problems that were similar but much worse. He couldn't work a great deal of the time (and nothing used to stop him from his work). He was on serious pain meds for a while. He was BAD. And he had been through every option available in this country, it seemed. He was at Mayo clinic after he had been everywhere else he could imagine. No answers. He found a doctor in Australia on-line who does the procedure she mentioned. He actually went to Australia--I cannot even express his desperation, but that pretty well illustrates it. The procedure WORKED. Weird? Yes. But, like they say... Don't knock it until...(Yuch!) Just had to comment, because I know that so few people have heard of it that it wouldn't even sound sane. And I am big on letting the word get out when something works. Unfortunately, it will probably never be very available in this country because there is no way for the pharmaceutical companies to profit from it.

Hello-
I have the same issues!! If I have a cup of coffee and something with alot of butter or fat in it( like a muffin etc.) for breakfast I could barely make it home from walking my kids to school and then I have to run to the bathroom and I have terrible cramps , gas and diarrhea....its horrible! Whenever I go somewhere, i need to know where the bathroom is just in case.I saw my doctoe a week ago and this is the plan she put me on and so far its working...
Limit caffeine, it speeds the bowel up
Have something with fiber for breakfast, wheat toast, bran cereal etc.
Metamucil fiber tablets, 1 in the AM and 1 Before bed
Floragen Probiotic, 1 in the AM
Dicyclomine 20 mg tablets 1 in the AM and 1 Before bed(these are prescription)
Try to minimize stress(hahaha) easier said than done:)

This regimen has been helping lessen the severity of my symptoms of my sensitive bowel, hope it helps!!

Make an appointment with the Nutritional Weight and Wellness Center (http://www.weightandwellness.com/) and have a sit-down with a licensed nutritionist. I suspect gluten intolerance, which, believe it or not, most people have to some degree already! Doctors don't think about nutrition, and nutrition issues cause 90% of health problems.

Think about it. As animals we evolved on meat and vegetables and fruit. It's relatively recent (last few centuries) that grains have become a big part of our diet. Our biology hasn't quite caught up with that.

The Center has clinics all over the metro area. You really have nothing to lose, sounds like you're miserable already. The appointment is cheap. Really!

Lots of options for what this could be. My co-worker had something similar and she was told to take metamucil. I know it's usually for the opposite problem, but it helps with bowel regularity in general. Start with a small dose so you don't get gas.