Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Symptoms Of Colitis

Question:
Every so often, I get something that I can describe as nervous stomach. If I have an event upcoming that I may be nervous about, I may not mentally feel nervous, but I get diarrhea, painful bloating and gas. This happens about 7 days a year. Once in a while, about 3 times a year I get about a week of similar symptoms, which seems caused by some type of bug I may have caught. And when I visited the middle east 5 years ago, I had these symptoms for the whole 2 weeks I was there. I am assuming that there was some bacteria in the food over there that my upset my stomach. In fact almost every time my digestive system gets upset it’s usually these symptoms. Rarely do I get acid indigestion, constipation or nausea. It’s almost always painful gas and bloating along with Diarrhea. I am currently on a limited healthcare plan due to unemployment, so I need to delay a visit to a doctor for a while. OK, so perhaps I am paranoid if I ask, Could I have colitis or similar chronic condition? Perhaps all of what I am describing is normal, although none of my friends seem to have this problem as regularly as I described. The thing is, Colitis is in my family, on my mother's side. I am 31 year old male, I am not sure when symptoms for colitis start to show up in life. What really frustrates me is that while Imodium stops the diarrhea, Simethicone (anti-gas) really doesn't stop the painful gas. Is their something that works better? Is there also some way to prevent this type of painful gas and other systems from eating food when visiting another country?

Answer:
This could be IBD and (Can't believe I am saying this) or IBS. Without the tests to determine there is no way of knowing. To help with the bloating and cramps until you can get to a gi try Midol. It has the ingredients of rx Bentyl or dicyclomine (sp?) in it just a real lowered dose compared to the rx. It along with the highest dose, believe 166mg) of otc phayzeme might give you some relief. That's the only thing I think of. Of course monitor your eating to see what you are consuming could be causing the problems also. Sounds like IBS to me although many ppl with IBD have these symptoms as well.  If you have inflammation then you may have IBD. You could try some activated charcoal to help with the gas. It's supposed to be pretty effective but can constipate you. If you do try, start low then build up. Maybe you also want try some probiotics, that might do some good. But some also have a negative reaction to them. Your symptoms sound a lot like mine when I was a child in Holland and was not diagnosed or even checked out.  If I knew some fun thing was happening in 7 days you could guarantee that I would be sick with abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting. My parents stopped telling me when we were going somewhere until the day we went.  This helped some, because I could get through about half of the fun before getting ill. Unfortunately testing is the only way to be sure and the sooner the better so you can start taking charge. Definitely sound like IBS or IBD of some sort.  I was not diagnosed till I was 21 years of age after the birth of my daughter when symptoms went nutso. In Holland they new of none of these things and thought I was just a nervous child, and had diphtheria at 1 year of age.  Felt I had been weakened by that. Well...it could be ibd...or it could be irritable bowel syndrome which is a pain in the ass' but not anything like this no you are not paranoid...ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s are genetic to a point...you are at a very typical age for it to really appear...and it sounds as if these may be early symptoms...or not...u could have a simple funny tummy that will do well with simple stuff...bleeding, fever, arthritis like pains in joints are some major signs of uc and Crohn’s...but they have to be dx'd with tests in a hospital...a colonoscopy will tell the truth...sometimes other tests show it...but for me at least...nothing ever showed on a gi series, xrays or even sigmoid...it was just high enough up the gas u can treat with over the counter gas stuff...u can figure out what food bother u and avoid them...and use what u have been using...for now…until u get better health coverage...but IF u start to bleed...GO GO GO and get help from a gi…thru work...thru county or state health care...something...cos ibd(inflammatory bowel disease which is the collective name for uc and Crohn’s) can actually be fatal if its just left unchecked..(well so can most things) u may have it ..u may not...no one here can tell u ..but I think u are smart to question it...an idea for you...start a little journal of your daily symptoms and activities and what u ate etc...see patterns...it helps u ..but its really helpful for the doctor...my first gi...had me do that for him for a month...it helped him to help me a lot…and good luck...I hope u don’t have ibd...but if u do...well u are in some great company. On gas....when I am having a flare, my doc told me I could take just about as much simethicone (Gas-X) as I needed if it would help. I find that if I take 2 180mg caps (ultra strength) at least 4 times a day, it helps. Sometimes I take even more. The worst part for me at the moment is how expensive it is. I spent about $60 on it last month. Luckily, when I am not having a flare, I only need so much if I get rebellious and eat something that I know doesn't work for me. I hope you find employment with benefits soon, so you can have some tests done. Tests are really the only way to diagnose your symptoms. It's good that you can identify that this happens when you are stressed. That might indicate that you have IBS, which is still a big drag, but less dangerous in the long run. Meanwhile, keep on this ng. It is very informative and people are very helpful. Dotsie find the manufacturers website and email them to see if you can buy directly from them a lot more of the gas-x and lay the money out that way. It might save you a bunch in the long run.