Hi all, I’ve spent the last hour reading through these comments and feel both relieved and overwhelmed. I ended up finding this page by accident through an extensive google search of all the typical symptoms you could guess. My apologies for the lengthy post as I usually stay bottled up about this issue. I am a 29 yo female who’s dealt with “stomach issues” for as long as as I can remember. In all other aspects I am healthy and monitor my food intake/water intake. I’m naturally thin at under 110lbs but have been unable to really gain healthy weight due to life-long stomach aches and pains such as bloating/constipation/diarrhea that can take days/weeks to recover from. I’m personally and professionally active, despise soda, and drink one modest cup of coffee a day and the occasional glass of wine at dinner. For years I worked through abdominal pain and convinced myself I would grow out of my symptoms. It was last year that it became clear this would not be an option so I went to my PCP. She ordered a blood panel, CT scan, and referred me for a colonoscopy. I have no food allergies or intolerances and had no blockage at the time of the scan. Naturally the colonoscopy was next. Immediately after I woke up from the colonoscopy I was in severe pain and was told they had administered more anesthesia than planned due to the extremely complicated and unexpectedly long procedure. Due to this excruciating pain I was also given fentanyl intravenously, all while the DR told me I had the “most tortured colon” he had ever seen. That along with hemorrhoids. I don’t recall him using the word redundant. They wanted to take me for imaging after the procedure for what I assume was out of both precaution and fear that something may have gotten nicked during the scope. I declined imaging (afraid of the potential cost after already spending so much money for previous appts) and opted to stay awhile for monitoring before eventually being sent home. The days after that procedure were full of discomfort to say the least..

It has been several months since then and I have little relief and worsening symptoms that I almost hate to talk about because of the graphicness. At times I have dark black dots everywhere in my stool, bright red blood in the toilet bowl from the hemorrhoids and excruciating sharp pain all over my abdomen. In the past it was not uncommon for me to have severe pain and end up in the bathroom for extended periods of time and also resorting to sleeping in bathroom. Lately though I’m getting these episodes at the worst times and feel helpless in preventing them. Very recently at work, seemingly out of no where, I started feeling a very bad stomach ache coming on. Almost immediately I had to run to the bathroom and while making my way down the hall I became extremely lightheaded with blurry vision and collapsed in the stall before hoisting myself up to the toilet. It certainly felt like a massive drop in BP. I then sweat through all my clothes in a matter of seconds followed by the usual crazy cramping/pain, diarrhea, etc. That happened again days later while in the grocery store. It is very embarrassing and physically and emotionally draining. I had always assumed I possibly had IBS/IBD or Crohns and never heard of a torturous colon before my colonoscopy. I was unaware that could be the culprit of my symptoms since childhood. The most recent symptom that just started a year ago has been an absurd amount of reflux/indigestion. The first time it happened I thought I was having a panic attack because I had been lucky enough to never have any sort of reflux or indigestion issues and could not recognize what was going on. Now a year later it seems that no matter what I eat, or how little I eat, my esophagus reacts within minutes of “finishing a meal”.

I have been trying the FODMAP diet, benefiber powder, lots of H2O, and managing stress. Through this post I’ve heard about an antidepressant drug that seemingly helps with gut issues and would find more resources about that helpful. I have tried to solve pain without medication and my system does not handle laxatives well at all, but I feel I am running out of patience, options, and hope. My condition is not as severe as some that I have read about here (my heart goes out to those recovering from life-altering surgeries) but similar to most others this has now become difficult to manage and affects my daily life.

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