I am sixteen years old and have been suffering from chronic abdominal discomfort and other symptoms for more than four months. I have constant nausea ( I always feel like I am on the verge of vomiting but never do), abdominal pain ranging from a
mild irritated feeling to sharp cramps (not menstrual), gas, headaches, and debilitating fatigue.. I had an ultrasound and a ct scan a week ago and they both showed that I don't have gallstones but I do have a large amount of (may be graphic-beware) compacted fecal matter (I warned you). However I have not been feeling constipated. In fact lately I have been having dihherea (occasionally bloody) 4-5 times a day.
I have Celiac disease and I was diagnosed about 4 months ago. And I know that it can take a while to heal but even the doctor doesnt know why its taking so long.
I just feel so sick all the time. Here's my question: could it be Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Chrones or Ulcerative Colitis) or something el I have a really healthy gluten free diet. I really think that there is something else besides the celiac disease because I am feeling progressively worse instead of better as the days go by.
Please tell me what you experienced with any of your conditions so I can have a better understanding of what I might be dealing with. A deficiency in vitamin B6 will produce symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, numbness and tingling and prickling sensations in the outer extremities, excessive urination and dry mouth that can't be resolved despite how much water you drink, muscle spasms,leg cramps. These symptoms can all be due to the use of tricyclic antidepressants.
Eat more foods rich in this vitamin ie: wheat bran, wheat germ, liver, fish, cantaloupe, cabbage, blackstrap molasses, unmilled rice, eggs, oats and peanuts.
Other symptoms of Bcomplex deficiency (as they are all interdependant) are constipation, bad digestion, headaches and migraines and fatigue and exhaustion, heart palpitations and chest pains,excessive sweating, dizzy spells, fainting and loss of balance, depression, tingling and prickling and numbing sensations in the outer extremities, insomnia, irritability and moodiness and an inability to think clearly ....Quite scary actually if you don't realise the vitamin factor.
Eat more foods rich in this vitamin ie: organ meats such as lambs fry and kidneys, skimmed milks and cheeses, fish and eggs.
If you are lactose intolerant or vegetarian then it is really important that you supplement your diet with a multi B complex tablet on a daily basis.
Things that could be robbing you of your precious B complex of vitamins are :- eating too much protein, alcohol, eating too much tinned food, antiobiotics, antidepressants, penicillin, prednisone and aspirin.
Also, try to cut back on drinks such as caffeine, tea, sodas and soft drinks as they are all B complex thieves........ as well as being great at dehydrating you.
Take a multi B complex tablet including all the B's ie: B1, B2 B3, B5, B6 and B12 as they work best synergistically (together).
The B complex of vitamins is essential for healthy neural, digestive and immune system functioning.
The B complex of vitamins is a water soluble complex and as such our bodies can neither store or produce them. Therefore we need to ingest them on a daily basis or suffer the consequences as you unfortunately are......... a good point to make here is that if you are deficient in vitamin B12 you would therefore also be deficient in iron as iron also needs vitamin B12 to be properly assimilated by the body and hence you would be displaying iron deficiency anemia symptoms ie; fatigue and exhaustion (as you are), dizzy spells and fainting.
When you take your daily supplement ensure that you take it with some type of calcium rich food ie: low fat cheese or milk or a calcium supplement as B12 needs calcium to be properly assimilated by the body........... ensure you also get enough sunshine (vitamin D) or eat cold water fishes such as tuna, salmon, sardines and whiting as calcium needs enough vitamin D to be effectively absorbed!! These cold water fishes are also a rich source of magnesium (known as the antistress mineral) which is probably another thing you need to focus on as well ~ your stress levels.
Foods rich in magnesium will also aide in eliminating your constipation ....... magnesium is needed in the body for healthy nerve and muscle functioning and for heart health. Quite a handfull of information here ........ sorry it's a bit long winded but you need to know all this.
When our bodies are placed under added stress such as sickness, relationship dramas, new job, school studies or just daily life really, the B complex of vitamins are usually the first group to get used up and we therefore need to adjust our intake accordingly.
When you are getting any stress related symptoms or any of the above mentioned symptoms simply take another B tablet. As they are water soluble our bodies will simply excrete any excess in our urine.
Drink loads of fresh filtered water too as the happiest and healthiest body will always be the most hydrated one.
I sincerely wish you the best of health & vitality buddy鈾?br>
***edit*** Oops, sorry, a deficiency in vitamin B3 ~ which is part of the B complex of vitamins ~ will cause diahhorea, headaches, fatigue, dermatitis, depression, bone pain and muscle weakness .......:0)
******
CHEERS
鈾?/div>
Source(s):
naturopath in training Don't hesitate, drink First Vita Plus. This can cure your illness, txt me for more info: 0905-4183390. I'm not trying to sell you, just want to help. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases...
This is a good site for more info. Have you asked your doctor about cleansing your colon yet - be it with an actual colon cleansing product from a health food store, or just a good thorough laxative, maybe even with an enema? The compacted fecal matter is going to cause a variety of symptoms, including fatigue and nausea, as the bacteria builds in your system, causing bloating and gas, and and it can cause the bloody diarrhea. When stuff starts to compact in there and build up, stool often cannot get around the build up except in a liquid form. If you don't get it cleared out soon, you will get a complete intestinal obstruction, which may require surgery if not treated quickly. If you start running a fever, or vomiting, get back in to the doctor. Keep drinking a lot of liquid, warm if possible (like herbal tea or decaff.) which will help it soften if possible. Good luck. Hello! I'm so sorry to hear that you're feeling so bad! You said that you have a healthy gluten free diet. Does that mean that you've been making sure everything you eat is gluten free or does that mean that you've spoken with a dietitian to come up with a healthy gluten free diet for you?
I am not a dietitian. You mentioned compacted fecal matter. Big question...is the blood in your diarrhea red or is it brown and tarry? If it is red, it isn't really something to worry about too much. If it is black and tarry, you need to let your doctor know at once. One of the difficult parts of leading a gluten free life is to ensure that you are ingesting enough "roughage." Roughage is stuff like broccoli, fresh fruits and veggies, seeds and nuts. Some gluten free flours have roughage in them. For instance rice bran. I recently checked and found that Metamucil is gluten free.
You mentioned that you are having diarrhea in addition to impacted fecal matter. You may try to remove other known allergens from your diet like milk/dairy. See if that helps. Some people have reactions to yeast.
It might just mean that you are going to have to eat the most basic and least challenging diet until you can get your body feeling well again.
Totally keep your doctor involved in your healthcare. Let him know what changes you've made. What worked, what didn't. How long it took to work and how long it lasted.
Another thought that popped into my mind. Have you checked with your pharmacist to make sure that none of your prescriptions have gluten? Have you checked that none of your over the counter medications contain gluten? Have you made sure that no cross-contamination of gluten can occur in your house?
I'm not blaming you. I'm just trying to think through whether every stone has been turned to try to figure out why you're still this sick.
When my husband was first diagnosed with Celiac disease, the most helpful site I found was Silly Yaks. It is a US based group with helpful members, fantastic reference data, files, and photos. They gave me permission to start a Silly Yaks Canada chapter to address some of the things that are more Canadian specific. You're welcome to drop by our sites and take a boo to see if we have any information that might be helpful for you.
Take care and feel better soon!
ADDENDUM: Once my husband was diagnosed (he had dangerously low anemia) I immediately started him on a gluten free diet. For the first month, I simply prepared all the good old meals I had always prepared that also just happened to already be gluten free. Once that first month was over, I started adding in the gluten free recipes. The first thing I tried was gluten free buckwheat pancakes. It had been so long since he'd had pancakes...or any bread at all...that he sincerely thought they tasted like manna from Heaven. It was a slow go. He was exhausted all the time. The doctor put him on slow release iron pills BID (twice a day) and they don't seem to bother his stomach. (I had to take iron pills after an abdominal surgery and they made me sicker and in more pain than being sliced from navel down to the bottom of the pelvis bone.) His diagnosis was in May and he now has a lot of energy...at least compared to what he could do a year ago. He experienced a decrease in diarrhea, bloating, intestinal discomfort. If you want to ask me any more questions, please feel free to e-mail me. My sleeping pill has just kicked in and I'm about to fall out of my computer chair. Night night :)
Addition #2: On Silly Yaks, a person had described a situation where her son was on a GF diet and doing well. Suddenly he started having the same old symptoms. She ran to her pantry and re-checked everything she had fed to her son and sure enough, one of the potato chip companies had changed the recipe and was including wheat when it had been GF before. I don't know if you ever started feeling well on the GF diet, but if you did feel better but are sick again, go back and re-check all your food. |