In the meantime... enjoy that pizza.
Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum
Gawz, what are your symptoms again? I must have missed them somewhere. How old are you? Any previous bowel problems? Any family history of bowel problems?
The fact that your EGD, colonoscopy, bloodwork, and stool tests were normal is encouraging! Was yeast the only allergy you appear to have with food? Going ahead with the small bowel series is something you should talk to your doc about. S/he may say it's not even indicated, as it's a relatively non-specific test (i.e., they can't actually "see" your intestines, only if there's narrowing in some area). As for the lactose test...you could also go the route where you go completely lactose-free for at least two weeks to see if that improves your symptoms. Or you could just get the lactose test. It's up to you. I would think the food allergy testing would have tested for lactose sensitivity, though!? Ask your doc about that!
Yeast was the only food allergy. And I was tested for "milk" not lactose. The allergy doc explained it and said I should still get the breath test b/c of malabsorbtion and allergy difference. He kind mumbled a lot and was talking to like 3 nurses while he was talking to me too so........
I am 24 years old.
I was on acid reducing meds as a child - thats the only history of digestive system problems (many tummy aches) so my mom says.
Family history - none - my mother HAD Colitis but it was the kind that goes away, not the chronic kind. Had to be rushed to the ER - after meds she was better.
Thanks in advance for your help Sarita.
I think I am really puzzling my GI Doc. He is a younger Doc and I think he is really trying to help me but just doesnt know what to do. He basically said: Everything is OK on the tests - all I can do is order tests I havent ordered yet.
Sarita - your the pre med person right? If so can you tell me...
If your TSH is WNL could your other t-3 t-4 ect hormones still be out of whack? Should I have a thyroid panel drawn at my next visit? I dont know what hormone can make you have a change in bowell habits. Also I have increased drowsiness and sleep ect.
Also forgot to mention that I took Bentyl from when I was 18 until 21 and it was a miracle med. However it stopped working one day. Then I was given Belladonna - which only helped some. I also havent been to my PCP in about 1 year - and that wasnt even for the IBS.
Ok Dr Sarita help me!
LOL
If you need to find out how to change your diet, I would suggest seeking out a rabbi. Jewish people refrain from all forms of yeast during Passover and make dishes and even pre-packaged foods specifically without yeast. A rabbi (or a Jewish friend who keeps kosher, if you know one) could tell you what kinds of things of things you could eat and where to find them. I have heard that it's very easy to get "kosher for passover" foods up North where there is a large Jewish population, but even in the South and other parts of the U.S. and world, if you find a Jewish community, you'll find ways of getting yeast-free food. There are even little symbols on packaged food (a "U" or "K" inside a small circle) which denotes a kosher food, but I don't know that's for foods which are kosher most of the year, or if they include "kosher for passover" foods as well.
If I remember correctly, matza is unleavened bread. I've had some and found it to be very good. It's basically like a cracker. Not as puffy as a Ritz, but still something that replicates a bread-like item. If you're not allergic to wild yeast, then you can probably find websites on making bread without baker's yeast. You have to make it up and let it set and the wild yeast will cause it to rise slightly. I'm not entirely sure about the process, but I think you'll end up with something about like a pancake in terms of rise. May taste odd, though. My fiance makes beer and you have to be careful with it to not let the wild yeast get in since they can spoil the taste. I don't know they would spoil the taste of bread or not.
Gawz, I'll try to address your questions as best I can. Not a doctor yet, but I am very experienced with gut issues, especially diarrhea, so I'll try to be as helpful as possible!
If you have a normal TSH, chances are your free T3 and T4 levels are normal too. Someone with an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) will tend to be more prone to diarrhea or more frequent bowel movements, weight loss, excitability, "hot flash"-type symptoms, rapid heart beat, and excessive fatigue. Usually the labs will indicate a low TSH and and elevated T4 in this case. Someone with an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) will exhibit constipation, weight gain, lethargy, and feeling cold; in this case the labs will show elevated TSH, but in some cases not.
The diagnosis of thyroid disorders is usually straightforward but can take time. If you think you have a thyroid issue, a full thyroid panel wouldn't be a crazy idea.
Nausea, abdominal pain, urgency, and frequent BMs or diarrhea can all be hallmark symptoms of IBS and this is the diagnosis usually given in the absence of physiological findings on tests such as the ones you've had. Obviously, it can be a very debilitating condition, and it can take a long time to optimize the treatment. The fact that Bentyl helped you for three years is a good sign; there are other antispasmodic drugs out there, like hyoscyamine, that can be tried if dicyclomine is no longer working. Or you might want to simply try the dicyclomine again. You shouldn't take those anti-spasmodics, though, unless you're really having pain. You don't want to take ANY prn (as needed) medication every day unless you are really having pain every day! Your body builds up a tolerance to drugs very easily and you have to be very careful with them.
This is what you really have to do: seriously eliminate all products containing yeast for at least two weeks. That includes beer, any other liquor with yeast in it (I have no idea which ones do), everything! It may be difficult, but it's really the only way to tell if that's truly your problem.
If that doesn't eliminate the problem, you can consider the following:
The tests you haven't had done yet are the small bowel series, lactose breath test, capsule endoscopy (anyone ever brought this up to you as a possibility?), CT scan, and abdominal ultrasound. Also, check over the stool tests you've had and see if they did these: ova and parasites (at least three separate O&P tests), fecal occult blood, and fecal leukocytes. These stool tests all should have been done way back in the beginning. The small bowel series, like I said before, can check for areas of narrowing (strictures) in the small intestine. The capsule endoscopy is a camera pill that you swallow and it takes 2 pictures per second as it travels through your small bowel; this is helpful for some people in determining whether they have small-bowel Crohn's disease. The CT scan is helpful in identifying abscesses or fistulas that often accompany inflammatory bowel disease. The abdominal ultrasound looks at the gallbladder, pancreas, kidneys, and liver to check for enlargement, stones, etc.
Sometimes the whole work-up will be completely negative. It's frustrating, but there are many, many people in the same boat. Medical science hasn't figured out every single little thing that can go wrong in the body and if they can't find the culprit, there is really nothing the doctors can do except treat the symptoms. They can't treat something they can't see, because the drugs they use can be very harmful if used incorrectly.
Your doctor, though young, sounds like he is working with you, and there is a lot to be said for that. Young docs are often much better to work with in these cases because they are willing to do a little more research and they have more energy; plus, he probably really is in medicine to help people and not get rich, since medicine is changing so drastically these days and docs really aren't getting paid as much as they used to be, or should be (you should see the amount of work, money, and soul they have to pour into the institution to get that degree!).
And yes I know all about Docs and the work and money involved. I work for one who does every test in the world to make $! And I am friends with a Doc who got in it for the idea of "helping" people. Not $.
After these test I will see what my DOc says. I take Levsin Sub/L for abd. pain. I haev only taken it once and it just delayed my D for an hour or so. I think I have some social situation issues - I have bad D when I go out to eat. Cant even make it out of the restaraunt sometimes. So I think it might be in my head cause I am so nervous about it.
Take care!
(i had a lactulous breath test a while back--still no results! that one is for bacteria overgrowth..)
thanks,
--bunny
what would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?