3 Weeks? I have been going though this for over 3 years. I wake up in the morning, feel as if I have food poisoning. Diarrhea and loose stools all morning and after noon with horrible cramping and severe pain in my intestines. By afternoon on a "good day" the diarrhea stops but my stomach feels as if it has been kicked repeatedly by a mule because the intestines are so stripped. My stomach hurts so bad even to move or walk. I usually just want to sleep. On worse days, this goes on all day, with the cramping and stomach pain and running to the bathroom usually nothing coming out by afternoon. I lay in my recliner and try to rest. That is the only thing that seems to help any. It was worse 3 years ago then it is now. My bms are very narrow and soft if it isn't all watery and loose. I have bms starting in the early morning, (waking me up at 5am or earlier) I can not go back to bed because once it starts it doesn't stop. If I am lucky by 2pm, the pain is still very bad but the diarrhea has stopped. I usually don't have another bm till the next morning when all hell breaks out again. The really bad days I wear pull ups and wish for death because the pain is so bad and I can't make it to the bathroom on time. As for it effecting my "social life"....what is that? I could care less about a social life. I just wish the pain would stop. Here is my theory of what I think has happened. I kept having bladder infections. The VA (Veteran's Hospital) Doctors kept giving me antibiotics. Dr. Bender at the VA hospital in Gainesville did me the worse damage, he left me on antibiotics for 2 solid years. I think that has permanently damaged my intestines and even my bladder now. I also have horrible bladder spasms. Bladder Spasms don't stop for hours and it is worse then any tooth ache you can imagine. It feels as if your bladder if OVER FULL and you really need to urinate. One of the things "Dr." Bender told me to do for the bladder spasms was to drink a cup of water with a couple of tablespoons of baking soda put in it. When you drink this, it makes you throw up. It doesn't help at all. I believe this damage is permanent. I have been able to go 3 years without taking any oral or intravenous antibiotics. I go to extraordinary lengths to avoid colds and infections. That is another entire story. I believe the antibiotics has caused this damage. The pharmaceutical companies have not done any studies on what long term use and over use of antibiotics does to people. IF they did they would be sued. I may be wrong but that is all I can come up with. Now what has helped me is this: I take Calcium Polycarbophil 625 mg tablets. I take 9 a day. 3 of them with each meal. It is very important to eat something, it only gets worse if you don't eat I find. On my really bad days I eat only saltine crackers and sometimes a can of Campbells Chicken Noodle soup. It seems to help. Another thing that I think has made a big difference is "Beano", Walmart makes there own brand and you take less of them. I take one of the Walmart Brand 3X a day. Lastly I take 9 to 12 pills a day of Probiotic 10. I can't always afford it. The VA won't pay for most of my meds. I buy the Probiotic from Costco. They have the best prices. I have had people tell me to eat Kimchee (it is fermented cabbage) and drink Apple Cider Vinegar. DON'T DO IT. I tried it and thought I was going to die. The Calcium Polycarbophil and Beano helps the most. I don't really know or can tell if the Probiotic 10 is helping at all. One thing that did seem to make it worse were my vitamins. I have stopped taking all my vitamins. Another thing that will really make it worse is greasy, friend foods, cabbage, cauliflower and ice cream and milk. I hope this helps and thank you for listening to me whine.