I haven't posted in a long time because I had been feeling pretty good and it seemed as though my diet had my ulcerative colitis symptoms under control. Unfortunately, that's no longer the case.
About two months ago, I started to experience some symptoms of the colitis--specifically a small amount of blood in my stool, sluggish digestion, and increased gas. I just assumed it was something I had accidentally eaten that I'm intolerant to and know to avoid (gluten, dairy, etc.). However, even while paying strict attention to my diet, the symptoms would not completely resolve. I spoke with a respected nutritionist through e-mail and she recommended that I try supplementing with digestive enzymes and probiotics to see if they helped. Initially, it seemed as though the supplements helped, but after a few weeks I saw no progress and stopped taking them.
As it stands now, I have no idea what's going on with my digestive tract. I get full very quickly after eating relatively small amounts of food, I have excessive gas that smells like pure sulfur, and my stools alternate between pencil thin and completely watery. It seems like I have to strain excessively to void my bowels and it never feels like a complete emptying. I almost always feel partially constipated and full--even though my appetite is still strong and I want to eat.
I have never experienced these types of symptoms before. When my UC is under control and I'm avoiding all of my food intolerances, I feel pretty good and have a clockwork bathroom schedule--once a day in the morning soon after eating w/out straining or pain.
I'm at a loss as to what to do. I don't have health insurance so I can't get checked out by a doc and my usual methods of dealing with my digestive problems haven't helped much. I've considered getting a laxative like Milk of Magnesia or Miralax to see if that will help me return to being 'regular,' but I'm not sure if laxatives are good in this case or for someone with Ulcerative Colitis.
If anyone has any advice, I'd very much appreciate it. Thanks.
Advice for Dealing with Constipation
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Advice for Dealing with Constipation
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Hi Nathan,
I'm sorry to hear that you're having those problems. Remember - I'm not a doctor, but here are my thoughts on the symptoms that you described:
Feeling full prematurely can be a sign of gastroparesis, (incomplete emptying of stomach contents), but this condition is commonly accompanied by nausea/vomiting. Do you by any chance have diabetes? Gastroparesis is often associated with diabetes. Since you didn't mention any nausea, though, (and assuming that you don't have diabetes), I'm inclined to discount the odds that gastroparesis is the problem. A premature feeling of fullness can also be a symptom of an intestinal obstruction, (or a partial obstruction, such as a stenosis) - a topic that I've had a lot of experience with, in the past. The sulfur smell is another clue that correlates with an intestinal obstruction/stenosis. Hydrogen-sulfide gas is typically caused by fermentation in the gut. This can be due to diet, (eggs, meat, cabbage, beer, etc.), food intolerances, gastroparesis, and/or an obstruction. Anything that causes slow transit of all or part of the fecal stream can result in fermentation.
When a total or partial obstruction is present, (as in the case of a stenosis), the contents of the bowel ferments, (putrefies, rots), until liquid diarrhea makes it's way around or through the mass, from time to time. BMs are often either in the form of diarrhea, or pencil-shaped, or ribbon-shaped. The predominant feeling is constipation, and feeling too full.
Crohn's disease is notorious for causing stenotic changes in the intestines, and while this issue is somewhat rare with UC, it does happen, occasionally. You definitely need to be checked out by a GI doc, because an obstruction can lead to a perforation, sepsis, or some other fatal result, and the situation can get serious, rather quickly, sometimes.
Many communities/counties/municipalities have free clinics where medical assistance is available for uninsured patients. One of the qualifying issues for seeking treatment at a free clinic is cancer, and since cancers often cause intestinal obstructions, you have a qualifying reason for seeking such help. I'm not saying that you have cancer - I'm just suggesting that your symptoms open the door to the possibility of cancer, so you should qualify for treatment at a free clinic. I have no idea what is available in your area - you would have to look around and try to figure out what programs might be available to you.
Please don't assume that you have cancer, just because I mentioned the issue. I've been diagnosed with colon cancer on two separate occasions, by at least 2 or 3 different doctors, on each occasion. Every one of them was wrong, even though they were convinced that it was a "clear" case of cancer. I did have emergency surgery, to remove a stenosis in my sigmoid colon, (almost 5 years ago), so I am speaking from experience.
I wish you the best of luck with this, and I certainly hope that a stenosis is not present, but IMO, your symptoms seem very similar to what I experienced.
Tex
I'm sorry to hear that you're having those problems. Remember - I'm not a doctor, but here are my thoughts on the symptoms that you described:
Nathan wrote:I get full very quickly after eating relatively small amounts of food, I have excessive gas that smells like pure sulfur, and my stools alternate between pencil thin and completely watery. It seems like I have to strain excessively to void my bowels and it never feels like a complete emptying. I almost always feel partially constipated and full--even though my appetite is still strong and I want to eat.
Feeling full prematurely can be a sign of gastroparesis, (incomplete emptying of stomach contents), but this condition is commonly accompanied by nausea/vomiting. Do you by any chance have diabetes? Gastroparesis is often associated with diabetes. Since you didn't mention any nausea, though, (and assuming that you don't have diabetes), I'm inclined to discount the odds that gastroparesis is the problem. A premature feeling of fullness can also be a symptom of an intestinal obstruction, (or a partial obstruction, such as a stenosis) - a topic that I've had a lot of experience with, in the past. The sulfur smell is another clue that correlates with an intestinal obstruction/stenosis. Hydrogen-sulfide gas is typically caused by fermentation in the gut. This can be due to diet, (eggs, meat, cabbage, beer, etc.), food intolerances, gastroparesis, and/or an obstruction. Anything that causes slow transit of all or part of the fecal stream can result in fermentation.
When a total or partial obstruction is present, (as in the case of a stenosis), the contents of the bowel ferments, (putrefies, rots), until liquid diarrhea makes it's way around or through the mass, from time to time. BMs are often either in the form of diarrhea, or pencil-shaped, or ribbon-shaped. The predominant feeling is constipation, and feeling too full.
Crohn's disease is notorious for causing stenotic changes in the intestines, and while this issue is somewhat rare with UC, it does happen, occasionally. You definitely need to be checked out by a GI doc, because an obstruction can lead to a perforation, sepsis, or some other fatal result, and the situation can get serious, rather quickly, sometimes.
Many communities/counties/municipalities have free clinics where medical assistance is available for uninsured patients. One of the qualifying issues for seeking treatment at a free clinic is cancer, and since cancers often cause intestinal obstructions, you have a qualifying reason for seeking such help. I'm not saying that you have cancer - I'm just suggesting that your symptoms open the door to the possibility of cancer, so you should qualify for treatment at a free clinic. I have no idea what is available in your area - you would have to look around and try to figure out what programs might be available to you.
Please don't assume that you have cancer, just because I mentioned the issue. I've been diagnosed with colon cancer on two separate occasions, by at least 2 or 3 different doctors, on each occasion. Every one of them was wrong, even though they were convinced that it was a "clear" case of cancer. I did have emergency surgery, to remove a stenosis in my sigmoid colon, (almost 5 years ago), so I am speaking from experience.
I wish you the best of luck with this, and I certainly hope that a stenosis is not present, but IMO, your symptoms seem very similar to what I experienced.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.