Any help with weird gastrointestinal issues lasting years?

Hi @unprocessed, and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect.

Do you mind sharing more detail about these weird gastrointestinal issues that have been going on for so long? They have to be frustrating, and learning more will help other members know how to comment.

What are your symptoms, and have you ruled anything out? Does anything help or make the weirdness worse? Have you received feedback from any medical professionals?

I had strange digestion for yrs. Thought it was job stress. (Mostly having to postpone bathroom visits during the workday). Sometimes diarrhea, constipation, incomplete BM.s, even headaches & visual auras. Found out after many yrs that I cannot digest DAIRY. All probs corrected by avoiding all dairy except butter! Wish I had known decades ago.

I too have had multiple problems. I went to a gastro for years and tried everything. Then I got a gastro who did biopsies on my gut and diagnosed Lymphocytic colitis, one of the Microscopic colitis diagnoses, which is an IBD. I was on budesonide for a while and finally got off of it when I went to pre and probiotics- I take 1 each of 2 brands at bkfst and supper. I'd tried a couple brands to find the right balance. I also take some metamucil at night after supper. I watch what I eat. I read labels. I also take my vitamin D and B12- I was way low on both-sublingual. I was a nurse and finally got to the point that I quit my job because I was always at the doctor, on my days off and was miserable and had brain fog. I tried cutting out gluten and that made me worse. I was amazed that I can drink 1% chocolate milk, so I think the problem with milk was not the sugar but the fat. If I have whole milk in cereal it's a problem. I can eat ice cream without a lot of preservatives and additives.
I think there are a lot of gut problems these days with the food we are eating. In my opinion, it's the additives and preservatives that get to us.
I got another gastro, because the doctor I went to could diagnose and was unhelpful about how to best treat it. I figured this out from reading, trial and error. She believes that I have this IBD, IBS, and probably small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, If I have any more problems she is going to put me on a course of anitbiotics to reset my gut.
You are not alone. I pray you are able to get an answer and a solution. I know how miserable it is. Good luck.