It took forever, but I finally got the final results from the colonoscopy I had earlier in the month. That day, they were able to tell me that everything looked good, no ulcers or anything, which ruled out things like Crohn's Disease and colitis. Today, though, I got a phone call from my doctor and she said that the samples that were taken also came back normal. So that's a good thing, right?
Well...I'm still having diarrhea, bloating, and gas. I'm still taking Imodium, along with Cipro and Dicyclomine for fluffy stools and attacks (as needed). I'm still afraid of an attack when I go out in public. I have a very fast transit time, which I'm sure doesn't help. I'm still trying to follow the Eating For IBS plan, and I do feel somewhat better when I follow it, but not as good as I'd like to feel.
The doctor who did the scope told my husband that the next step would be swallowing a little camera and having it take pictures of my insides. But if it doesn't find anything either, I'm afraid they'll just think it's all in my head. It's not, trust me.
Maybe food allergy testing is next. Maybe I have some sort of intolerance for certain foods.
I don't know, but if I'm going to continue with the diarrhea and gas and bloating, I may as well do it on a steak and loaded baked potato or a cheeseburger and fries instead of a plain chicken breast and white rice, right? (No worries, I'm not going to, but it sure sounds good.)
I'll talk more about the prep and actual procedure later. It was both good AND bad.
It sounds like you are at the same point that I was 15 years ago. Until the colon becomes diseased or injured, it will look fine in a colonoscopy. Don't think that the problem is "all in your head" (though stress and poor sleep certainly can trigger problems). The main culprit is microscopic and cannot be seen in a colonoscopy.
ReplyDeleteStool sample analysis discovered that my problem is with spores of candida (yeast) that lay dormant until I consume something that causes it to flower and overpopulate. The bloating (gas), pain and high-speed transit occurs when fermentation proliferates and overcomes whatever digestion is being accomplished by the good bacteria.
Over the years I've learned that I pay the consequences when I don't avoid soluble simple sugars or sweets. This includes lactose (anything containing liquid milk), sucrose and fructose (especially high fructose corn syrup). It is difficult to find processed foods which do not have one of these ingredients. I find that I can only handle fruit juice in very small quantities (I do tolerate communion on a weekly basis). I must "starve the yeast" to allow my good bacteria to have its chance to digest the food I eat.
Recently, I learned that artificial sweeteners also inhibit the good bacteria. The diet soda and other beverages I was consuming to avoid lactose, sucrose and fructose somehow prevented my good bacteria from thriving.
Now I limit my beverages to water, unsweetened peppermint tea (a centuries old digestive aid) or non-alcohol beer. The only proteins I consume are easily digestible eggs, cheese, poultry or fish. The bulk of my diet is starch and complex carbohydrates.
With BBQ season upon us, I can only enjoy the smell of pork or beef. My digestive tract can no longer handle a regular American diet.