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!!!
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