The Next "Ride"

In January 2010, I started having other complications. This time it was with my bowels. I remember the first time I noticed that something was wrong. We went to breakfast, and before I was even finished eating, I knew I was gonna have extreme diarrhea. I told my husband we had to leave NOW! It was about a 15 min drive home. The whole time I was screaming pass that person, drive faster, come on, Oh man, Oh man......

I thought maybe I just ate something bad, but I had pancakes....

It didn't end. For the next 3 months, I had extreme diarrhea which always seem to come on at the worst times. Driving to work, visiting my in laws, watching a movie with my husband, shopping at the grocery store. I told my husband I did not want to deal with another disease....

Finally, I went to my primary care physician (pcp). He ran all kinds of tests and everything kept coming back normal, so he eventually sent me to a gastroenterologist. The  GI doc listened to me, read what my PCP did, and told me I needed a colonscopy to check for cancers or other diseases such as Crhons or other possibilities. The surgery itself was not bad, but the prep for it was unbelievable. Here I was 26 years old and it was just horrible-Hope I never have to do that again. Well, when I came out of surgery I was told that everything looked normal, but he took some biopsies and I should know something in about a week. That came back normal as well. My husband was so frustrated when the doctor said he wanted to do an upper intestinal scope. He was so nervous, because this would make the 3rd surgery in 3 years we had been together that he seen me have. (First was bladder stretching, then colonscopy, and now upper GI). Well, when I woke up doc told me everything looked fine, except he noticed I had intolerance in my small intestine to "some kind of sugar or something." Those were his exact words. So, we waited on the biopsy results again, and everything was normal. He decided he should figure out why my intestines were showing that I was intolerant to something. The first test was Fructose intolerance. I had to drink a can of (caffeine free of course) coke an hour before the test, then go in and breath into this tube. Its a hydrogen breath test. If your intestines are not effectively breaking something down, then the bacteria turns it into hydrogen. Well it was not fructose, so then tried lactose (which I have to drink nasty milk- which I hate) Well, it was not that either. Eventually, I got to do the test for bacterial overgrowth syndrome. My hydrogen levels were over the top.

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth was my diagnosis. On February 9. 2011 I was diagnosed by a phone call from the GI doc. He put me on a very strong antibiotic (that my insurance would not approve and it was very expensive) so my doc's nurse found enough samples at the clinic and gave them to me for free, because I was in so much discomfort from dealing with this for a year. After 3 days, I really got some relief, but 3 days after the antibiotics were gone it all came back. The extreme diarrhea, gas, cramps, vomiting, and overall discomfort. Called the doc back and he recommended that I stay on a probiotic for the rest of my life once a day. It has really helped me out alot. I still get some cramping and gas, but for the most part the diarrhea does not happen unless I forget my  probiotic. It is crazy how bacteria can change your body. The doc says he does not know how I developed this, bc most ppl only get it along with IBS, Crhons, Diabetes, or few other diseases which I have not been diagnosed with. It is another mystery in my health that I am guessing I will never truly know why.


To read more information on SIBO, please go to this link: http://www.medicinenet.com/small_intestinal_bacterial_overgrowth/article.htm


There were days where I really thought I was gonna die from the pain of both IC and SIBO, bc it was extreme and it seemed when one was flaring, so was the other. It is nice that I now have the bacteria overgrowth problem controlled. It is not gone and never will be. But, as long as I stay on the probiotic it helps control the levels and makes me feel better!!!

Letting it All Out

Hi everyone. My name is Shawna Kraner. I am 27 and feel like I am hidden everyday. Or I try to be hidden so others will not know about the pain I live with everyday. I was diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis at 21 after a 3 year battle of many problems. First it started out with some uti's, kidney, and bladder infections. Then, woke up one day and could not urinate. I tried and tried. I was only 18. Really, after everything I been through I thought why me? I had to wear a catheter for 6 mths bc nothing they did could get my bladder to work again! I had to quit my job and was constantly going back and forth to doc appts. I was uninsured and my mother and boyfriend at the time was helping me pay for the various medications that the docs put me on. One urologist told me it was all in my head- he refused to keep seeing me. So, I had to find another and he told me too that it was all in my head, and he didn't want any patient that was just looking for attention. He told me that I was seeing the wrong kind of doc and need a psychologist bc I had a mental illness. I was devastated. By this point, my family started to really believe that i was making it all up as well. How could I make up my bladder not working, and why would I do this when it resulted in me having to move back home with my mother less than a month after I moved out at 18. I never liked living with my mother. We had a very strained relationship as it was bc of my childhood and I would never of quit my job, give up my dreams of going to college, and have to live back with my mother. Finally, I found a new uro and 2 wks before my appt, I happen to be reading an article about a disease called Interstitial Cystitis! It was me to the letter! By this point my bladder started working again, and I will never, ever forget that first time I urinated on my own without the catheter bc I passed out on the toilet and fell to the floor. I woke up to find my little sister there freaking out. She was screaming for my mom, bc she thought I was dead. So, I called the old uro up (bc I was still technically a patient there) and he said what I had was severe bladder spasms. Holy cow, how could I imagine a spasm in my bladder would hurt so darn bad. So they put the catheter back in (which I was not happy about at all) and I had to retrain my bladder. It didn't know how to hold urine at all. And every time I would make it or try to pass urine on my own I would get these horrible bladder spasms. Very painful to say the least! Well, I would close off the catheter and only let it release the urine at certain times throughout the day in order to get it used to holding urine again. After 2 mths, I was finally able to take it out again, but was still having the bad bladder spasms. I tried many different medications, but the only one that helped was Urispas. I still take it now, bc I still get the spasms at the most inconvenient times!!! I take it 4 times a  day. Oh, back to when I finally went to the 3rd uro. ( I ramble alot and this blogging is more like a thinking process for me, bc it comes out easier! Sometimes, it is hard to keep up with me- alot of back and forth) So, finally went to the new uro and since the catheter was out, I found a new job which was so hard to do bc I had been off work for so long due to health issues and every where I applied they would worry that I would quit bc of same thing. Which was a big problem. But finally found a new job and my appt for the new uro came up. I went to him, he walked in the room and said what brings you here today? I said I think I have Interstitial Cystitis and need to find out. He looked at me wide eyed and says you know its rare that I have a young urology patient and right now I have no patients that have Interstitial Cystitis, so why exactly do you think you have this? I told him my history, he agreed with me, and set the surgery date. It was Sept 7, 2005 when I was diagnosed with I.C. I thought it would bring some kind of relief to know what it was, but no it brought more questions and more not enough answers. This was just the beginning! And a very long journey of hiding from the ppl I love in order to not bring them the pain of my illness.

More to come soon on my journey with my health! I am tired now and going to rest for the night. Thanks for reading!