IBS

Hi,

For the past couple of months I have been experiencing upper right quadrant discomfort with lots of diarrea. I have been to every doctor & have every test done: mri, ct scan of kidneys & bladdder, ultrasound of galbladder, hida scan, liver biopsy. Everything was normal. I finally ended up at the gastro, who said he thought I was having an impaction. He gave me that "go lightly" & it made my pain worse, cause I really have not been eating much, so there was nothing much in me to go to the bathroom. He also took an xray & that was normal. He also said he did not think I need to have a colonsocopy. I also take a lactulose for constipation. I was doing great for years. Could it be there is too much water & gas in my colon & thats causing my pain. It seems to be a little better after I have eaten a well balanced meal, but then it comes back. Also, a friend reccommend me to take acidolpholis. Has anyone had good results with that? I just feel like my colon is out of balance & it sure is taking a long time for it to get back in. Does anyone have an idea what this could be. Oh, I am not nauseated, or no fever & my appetite is good. I'd love to hear back!

Kim L.

Hi, Thank you so much for thr quick response. Just wondering if thre is any particular brand of acidolpholis you can reccommend.

Kim.

Kim, I forgot to mention... It is not uncommon to have a little gas and feel bloated when you first start taking probiotics. It is just like fiber, it takes a little time to get used to. It will pass.

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Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum

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It took five or more doctors five years to diagnose my gall bladder problem, despite multiple tests. I've learned not to trust doctors when they say that "the tests" don't show a problem. My gall bladder had to get really, really bad before it finally showed up on a hydascan.

Is your diarrhea yellow and does it burn? Does your pain wake you up in the middle of the night? Do you sometimes hurt into your right arm or shoulder? Do you sometimes feel excessively full all of a sudden, despite not having finished a regular-sized meal? Does heat make you feel better? Do you hurt and hurt and hurt and then when you have a bowel movement, you start feeling better? When you are having problems, do you find it impossible to lay flat on your back?

All of those are classic symptoms of gall bladder problems, in addition to the pain in the upper right quadrant--which you mentioned having. Not everyone has all of those symptoms, though. Nausea/vomiting is also a classic symptom, but I only did it once in five years. I noted that you said you don't get sick to your stomach either.

If you just have watery diarrhea (no bile), then you might benefit from the Calrate 600 w/ vitamin D pills. Several of us here have found success with taking them. The calcium will absorb water and soothe inflamed intestinal walls (but doesn't help bile). But you have to be careful with them if you alternate between constipation and diarrhea; they can make you worse constipated.

No, Gawz, I totally agree with you!  A liver biopsy is almost never indicated unless LFTs indicate major abnormalities with no apparent cause or abnormalities found on imaging studies.  Just because I am going to be a doctor does not mean I think they are all infallible!  I think many of them are grasping at straws much of the time and doing invasive procedures that aren't indicated.  And that's wrong!