Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Bowel Movement Frequency

Question:
I'm a 38 year-old man who up until about two years ago had excellent health.  I had great energy, was physically active and could eat basically anything without problems. About two years ago I started experiencing occasional uncomfortable abdominal bloating/gas and more unpredictable bowel movement (usually the bloating discomfort is located in my lower abdomen only-usually the left side (just below my lower-left rib cage).  This discomfort is absent at night, never wakes me from sleep, and is absent in the morning.  Although some relate that their IBS symptoms are improved following a bowel movement, mine usually aren't, and in fact the bowel movement seems to result in more abdominal activity (gurgling, etc.). After meals). For awhile I though the whole candida business might be an answer (that maybe my earlier antibiotic self-medicating had disrupted my GI organisms in a negative way), and I did experience some improvement of my symptoms following my taking of some herbal antifungal (e.g. garlic, caprylic acid, etc.) and probiotics, but my symptoms then returned.  'Any information/insights any of you could share would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
I can only second that posted by mg bio - you need to get a diagnosis and I would pack all copies of the medical reports that you have and find a good gastroenterologist that will do the outstanding tests. The loss is energy indicates that something is very wrong. Start writing a health diary, which includes with details on food, self-medication, energy levels, general well-being including all niggles. The documentation of niggles could lead to a faster diagnosis.  Your post is a start - you have indicated that you are having to live with a lot. With respect to the effects of sport I was also doing about 4-6 hours a week probably more and generally felt better after the endorphins and enkephalins had kicked in. However, my body packed in a couple of years thereafter. It took the docs. several years to diagnose me and it was with firstly a barium meal and secondly a colonoscopy that the definitive diagnosis was obtained. In my case it was Crohn's and I had no [visible] blood in my stool, just over the years looser and looser bowel movements and a decrease in energy levels to the point that I thought that if I stopped I would never be able to start going again. I also had no pain - just little niggles that I could live with, until right before my diagnosis where the pain became chronic and then the docs started taking me seriously. On diagnosis it was clear that the damage had been done and I lost a lot of intestine. However, I did have for several years prior to that point, including chronic tiredness, severe joint problems, skin problems (erythema nodosum) and eye problems - all indicative of Crohn's and some other [autoimmune] diseases. Self-medication with antibiotics is, as you have found out, not a good idea - try chlorine tablets - discuss with a pharmacist. When I was touring India I used chlorine tablets and it was a drag having to wait for 20 minutes prior to drinking the water, but I was not ill for 5 weeks. In the sixth week I ate out in a good restaurant and was as sick as a dog thereafter, but that is another story. I also put chlorine tablets in the bottled water because the bottles were always broken when they came to the table and there were stories circulating about restaurants filling up used bottles from the tap. In the interim things that you could discuss with your doctor would be to: 1) Reduce the acid in your diet. This should be soothing on your gut. Do a search on low acid diet.  High acid are: coffee, black and green tea, cola, citrus fruits, etc. 2) Treat the diarrhea (defined in the literature as over 200 g bowel movement per day) see this reference: http://www2.ncid.cdc.gov/travel/yb/utils/ybGet.asp?section=dis&obj=tr... Probiotic plain yoghurt would be worth a try. Discuss trying a bulking agent, such as Metamucil or The BRAT (banana, rice, apple mousse and toast) diet is generally used a foundation diet for those with diarrhea. I base my diet thereon and I have between 2 and 3 kg diarrhea per day with short bowel syndrome. 3) Try a low oxalic acid diet: http://www.nevdgp.org.au/geninf/gastro/Crohns_Diet.htm The following foods are particularly high in oxalate content and should be avoided: spinach, cocoa, beans, rhubarb, beetroots, instant coffee, diet soda and tea. Medication prescribed by a physician is also available to prevent the formation of oxalate stones and can be given to susceptible patients. http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/what_role_of_diet_crohns_diseas... Oxalate-rich Foods. Oxalate-rich foods may increase the risk for kidney stones, which is a common complication in IBD. Examples are beets, beet tops, black tea, chenopodium, chocolate, cocoa, dried figs, ground pepper, lamb quarters, lime peel, nuts, parsley, poppy seeds, purslane, rhubarb, sorrel, spinach, and Swiss chard. 4) Stop drinking fizzy drinks. 5) Additional tests could be done. a) Blood: immunoglobulin levels, ANA test http://www.medicinenet.com/antinuclear_antibody/page2.htm http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ana/test.html Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody tests: P-ANCA (perinuclear) and C-ANCA (cytoplasmic) http://www.fpnotebook.com/RHE61.htm, CRP (C-reactive protein - inflammation), vitamin B12 and vitamin A (beta-carotine) levels (as indicators of malabsorbtion/maldigestion). Mineral levels: ferritin (might not have been measured - better indicator of iron stores), zinc, magnesium, selenium, manganese, etc. www.bloodbook.com b) Allergy tests: You could have yourself tested against common food allergies, gluten (blood test - antibody), lactose intolerance, etc. c) Stool test against common pathogens including Yersinia and Camphylobacter. I also recommend that you do more reading on the low carbohydrate diet and its effects on the body - the increase in ketone bodies and resulting heart disease is one notable side-effect of a really strict diet - fortunately most people fail to adhere to the diet. It might be a good idea to stop this diet for a while and see if you feel better. You don't say whether or not you have lost weight. Keep on weighing yourself to check that you are not losing weight. You can calculate your BMI http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm and see where you lie on the scale of things http://adam.about.com/reports/000049_9.htm I suspect that as you are so sporty you don't smoke. However, if you do - give up! Get a second opinion. Always obtain copies of your medical reports for your personal files - you have to keep an eye on the docs. They are forever overlooking things.