nick5741
Member
Hey everyone
I wanted to make a post here to reach out for some help with my chronic stomach issues. As many of you have experienced, doctors are little help. Ill start with some background. I am a 23 year old male, 170ish lbs, 6'1. I suffer from what doctors have decided to call IBS with specific symptoms being endless gas/bloating, and dysfunctional bowel movements. These issues all began some way or another after having taken antibiotics. First appeared when I took a short course for skin infection; at the time I was young and had terrible diet, started to have mild issues involving incomplete movements after the antibiotics. Things got worse over time until I got sick and had to take another course of antibiotics which really threw things into overdrive. At this point I became lactose intolerant nearly immediately after taking the meds, my stomach symptoms became much worse and I slowly became intolerant to gluten and corn as well. At this point I saw a holistic practitioner and went through months upon months of ambiguous tests and elimination diets. None of it made me feel any better. I went to a chiropractor who gave me diatomaceous earth, some chinese tea to increase digestion, and two probiotics. I took these for a while and symptoms improved, except for the incomplete movements. I saw a doctor again who performed a sigmoidoscopy and anorectoral manometry; he diagnoses me with dyssynergic defecation, that is muscle coordination leading to incomplete movements. He surmised this could be because of the constant cramping and disorder caused by the chronic issues. I received physical therapy and made some improvement. This is where I was at until the beginning of this year. In December of last year I got an infection that required two different courses of antibiotics, doxycycline by mouth and some synthetic one that starts with an 'r' they injected into my glute. Within a month my symptoms had worsened. At the time I was going into my final university semester and decided to quit smoking cannabis for the time being, as I would be applying for jobs. I had been using a moderate amount on a daily basis due to the stomach issues in the first place, and upon quitting my symptoms exploded in severity. This is pretty much how my final semester went in it's entirety. I have since moved back home and received more physical therapy which seems to unfortunately have done very little. I have tried lots of supplements and none of them have really helped. I am somewhat limited by money in terms of tests and treatments. Doctors appts are months out and generally unhelpful, I even tried seeing a doctor in Mexico who simply told me I had Crohn's even though I didn't really have any of the symptoms. This brings us to now.
What I have tried:
- Candida protocols: diet, supplements, antifungals nystatin and diflucan
- Allergy/Intolerance elimination diets: I have ruled out eggs, wheat, corn, multiple fruits and vegetables, and numerous other foods
- SIBO protocols: supplements, diet
- Ginger supplement
- Fiber supplement
- Breathing exercises, yoga stretches (sometimes this is the only way I can pass gas)
Current symptoms:
- Seemingly endless gas, when I wake up, when I go to the bathroom, in between restroom visits, after restroom visits, morning, noon, night, no matter what I eat
- Bloating and discomfort, mostly as a result of the gas
- Large amounts of mucus/slime in stool. Sometimes it's just clear mucus, sometimes it's stringy white strands. I have been told this can be candida or bacteria
- Seemingly slowed motility, despite feeling bloated and full stool and gas often times feels like it just "doesnt want to move", if that makes sense
- Hybrid diarrhea/constipation, I will feel the most urgent rush to use the restroom and have to run, only to pass very wet gas and a small amount of stool. I feel a very obstructive "locked up" feeling, pushing and straining, feeling movement in my stomach, but no release or progress. Its hard to tell if this is the muscular dysfunction or the nature of the issues themselves, or both
- No correlation to foods. The only food I have particularly noticed over multiple times that bothers me is hamburgers, but only when we make them at my house. It gives me a nasty sour feeling in my stomach seemingly no matter where we buy the beef or what seasonings we use. I can eat steak, lamb, pork, and beef hotdogs/sausages without this effect so I have no idea what's causing it. The gas seems to be the same whether I eat no fiber, high fiber, low sugar, high sugar, no starches, whole grains, or whatever else. I've even had a few days I felt so anxious and sick I ate nothing and the days following were some of the gassiest I've ever been after eating NOTHING.
- Mental health. You can imagine how this affects a person, especially if you've ever been through it. I worry constantly about it affecting the time I spend with my girlfriend, it makes me unwilling to plan with friends, and it makes me feel and act reclusive. I can't just "power through" it often because the gas is disruptive and often whether because of constipation or anxiety I feel nausea. Plainly, I am very unhappy with my life and how I feel. I have debt from university and feel like even a part time job would have me at the limits of my quality of life; I feel like a loser a lot of the time. The mental health struggles correlate directly with my stomach, if it feels worse my mood is worse, my anxiety has gotten worse in general with my stomach, weightlifting helps to mitigate but is often uncomfortable with digestive symptoms.
Current ideas:
- I take 1100 mg of ginger with breakfast, mostly just did this because I read it can help keep things moving and reduce stomach irritation, doesnt seem to have made a difference after a couple weeks
- I take PHGG every night before bed, I only started this a few days ago and have noticed no difference
- Magnesium Glycinate, just added this one too so working up to full dosage across a few days to avoid further laxative effect
- I have procured Cyproheptadine after reading some studies and other threads here; my hope is that even if it doesnt address the underlying cause it helps increase my quality of life to better address some of the other issues. The anti histamine and serotonin effects seem promising, especially with some of my specific issues. I have nearly constant nasal drip of clear mucus that behaves like seasonal allergies, and as noted constant mucus in stool. Could histamine response be behind this? Would hope serotonin properties could help my anxiety as well.
- Looking into getting a simple B-complex vitamin as I have read B1 and B3 can be highly important in treating IBS/SIBO type issues.
I have tried to give as much information as I can here and will happily answer any followup questions you have for me. I need help very badly, and to feel better very soon. I appreciate anyone and everyone who helps me to this end.
BONUS POINTS: personal experience using cyproheptadine, camphosal, or cascara for these types of issues
I wanted to make a post here to reach out for some help with my chronic stomach issues. As many of you have experienced, doctors are little help. Ill start with some background. I am a 23 year old male, 170ish lbs, 6'1. I suffer from what doctors have decided to call IBS with specific symptoms being endless gas/bloating, and dysfunctional bowel movements. These issues all began some way or another after having taken antibiotics. First appeared when I took a short course for skin infection; at the time I was young and had terrible diet, started to have mild issues involving incomplete movements after the antibiotics. Things got worse over time until I got sick and had to take another course of antibiotics which really threw things into overdrive. At this point I became lactose intolerant nearly immediately after taking the meds, my stomach symptoms became much worse and I slowly became intolerant to gluten and corn as well. At this point I saw a holistic practitioner and went through months upon months of ambiguous tests and elimination diets. None of it made me feel any better. I went to a chiropractor who gave me diatomaceous earth, some chinese tea to increase digestion, and two probiotics. I took these for a while and symptoms improved, except for the incomplete movements. I saw a doctor again who performed a sigmoidoscopy and anorectoral manometry; he diagnoses me with dyssynergic defecation, that is muscle coordination leading to incomplete movements. He surmised this could be because of the constant cramping and disorder caused by the chronic issues. I received physical therapy and made some improvement. This is where I was at until the beginning of this year. In December of last year I got an infection that required two different courses of antibiotics, doxycycline by mouth and some synthetic one that starts with an 'r' they injected into my glute. Within a month my symptoms had worsened. At the time I was going into my final university semester and decided to quit smoking cannabis for the time being, as I would be applying for jobs. I had been using a moderate amount on a daily basis due to the stomach issues in the first place, and upon quitting my symptoms exploded in severity. This is pretty much how my final semester went in it's entirety. I have since moved back home and received more physical therapy which seems to unfortunately have done very little. I have tried lots of supplements and none of them have really helped. I am somewhat limited by money in terms of tests and treatments. Doctors appts are months out and generally unhelpful, I even tried seeing a doctor in Mexico who simply told me I had Crohn's even though I didn't really have any of the symptoms. This brings us to now.
What I have tried:
- Candida protocols: diet, supplements, antifungals nystatin and diflucan
- Allergy/Intolerance elimination diets: I have ruled out eggs, wheat, corn, multiple fruits and vegetables, and numerous other foods
- SIBO protocols: supplements, diet
- Ginger supplement
- Fiber supplement
- Breathing exercises, yoga stretches (sometimes this is the only way I can pass gas)
Current symptoms:
- Seemingly endless gas, when I wake up, when I go to the bathroom, in between restroom visits, after restroom visits, morning, noon, night, no matter what I eat
- Bloating and discomfort, mostly as a result of the gas
- Large amounts of mucus/slime in stool. Sometimes it's just clear mucus, sometimes it's stringy white strands. I have been told this can be candida or bacteria
- Seemingly slowed motility, despite feeling bloated and full stool and gas often times feels like it just "doesnt want to move", if that makes sense
- Hybrid diarrhea/constipation, I will feel the most urgent rush to use the restroom and have to run, only to pass very wet gas and a small amount of stool. I feel a very obstructive "locked up" feeling, pushing and straining, feeling movement in my stomach, but no release or progress. Its hard to tell if this is the muscular dysfunction or the nature of the issues themselves, or both
- No correlation to foods. The only food I have particularly noticed over multiple times that bothers me is hamburgers, but only when we make them at my house. It gives me a nasty sour feeling in my stomach seemingly no matter where we buy the beef or what seasonings we use. I can eat steak, lamb, pork, and beef hotdogs/sausages without this effect so I have no idea what's causing it. The gas seems to be the same whether I eat no fiber, high fiber, low sugar, high sugar, no starches, whole grains, or whatever else. I've even had a few days I felt so anxious and sick I ate nothing and the days following were some of the gassiest I've ever been after eating NOTHING.
- Mental health. You can imagine how this affects a person, especially if you've ever been through it. I worry constantly about it affecting the time I spend with my girlfriend, it makes me unwilling to plan with friends, and it makes me feel and act reclusive. I can't just "power through" it often because the gas is disruptive and often whether because of constipation or anxiety I feel nausea. Plainly, I am very unhappy with my life and how I feel. I have debt from university and feel like even a part time job would have me at the limits of my quality of life; I feel like a loser a lot of the time. The mental health struggles correlate directly with my stomach, if it feels worse my mood is worse, my anxiety has gotten worse in general with my stomach, weightlifting helps to mitigate but is often uncomfortable with digestive symptoms.
Current ideas:
- I take 1100 mg of ginger with breakfast, mostly just did this because I read it can help keep things moving and reduce stomach irritation, doesnt seem to have made a difference after a couple weeks
- I take PHGG every night before bed, I only started this a few days ago and have noticed no difference
- Magnesium Glycinate, just added this one too so working up to full dosage across a few days to avoid further laxative effect
- I have procured Cyproheptadine after reading some studies and other threads here; my hope is that even if it doesnt address the underlying cause it helps increase my quality of life to better address some of the other issues. The anti histamine and serotonin effects seem promising, especially with some of my specific issues. I have nearly constant nasal drip of clear mucus that behaves like seasonal allergies, and as noted constant mucus in stool. Could histamine response be behind this? Would hope serotonin properties could help my anxiety as well.
- Looking into getting a simple B-complex vitamin as I have read B1 and B3 can be highly important in treating IBS/SIBO type issues.
I have tried to give as much information as I can here and will happily answer any followup questions you have for me. I need help very badly, and to feel better very soon. I appreciate anyone and everyone who helps me to this end.
BONUS POINTS: personal experience using cyproheptadine, camphosal, or cascara for these types of issues
