new here with questions

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-06-2004
new here with questions
4
Tue, 02-14-2006 - 2:42am
Hey, I was lurking around and thought a lot of what was written sounded pretty good so I though you could help me out. For the last maybe 6 months my bowels have been quite irregular. It started as just gas and constant constipation, then I went back to normal BMs (Normal BMs for me are about every two days, always has been till lately) for awhile. Then it switched to where I'd go a week or more without anything and then it would be a sudden urgency where one min I'm fine and the next I'm rushing for a bathroom and it's diarrhea and just a small amount like maybe a tbsp. Lately it's been like everyday, extremly bad gas pains and diarrhea or very loose BMs never very much either. I've also been waking up with severe stomach pains like when you throw up over and over and you have nothing left in your stomach but you get those spasms except I'm not throwing up. That's happened about three times in the last two weeks. I thought at first that maybe I had eaten something not right but after the third I though back to what I had eaten that day. The first time it happened I'd had yogurt w/granola and a packet of instant oatmeal for breakfast and homemade mac and cheese for lunch. I didn't eat dinner that night, I went to bed early, I just had an apple for a snack after school and went to bed a couple hours later. The second time I'd had something similar for breakfast, don't remember what for lunch but nothing I hadn't had before and for dinner a had bought a roast chicken from the deli (I usually get one once a week, I know it was fresh cause I had to wait for them to take it out of the rotisserie and I know when the get their chickens in for the week and I go on that day) with mashed potatoes. I usually have some kind of herbal tea most nights. The third time it happened I had fettacine alfredo with shrimp for dinner. So it's been a variety of foods and all of them have been pretty bland. I've cut back on the spice I use in case that was it and I've increased my fibre and water intake thinking maybe I just wasn't getting enough but it hasn't seemed to help. This week I'm cutting out my dairy to see if maybe its a lactose intolerance (my sister has an intolrance so it could be as simple as that). I have a doctors app on the 22 for anual pap and thought I'd ask him about it then but in the mean time any ideas on what I might have or questions I could ask the doctor when I go see him?
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-30-2005
Wed, 02-15-2006 - 8:19am
I would keep track of everything that you're eating and when you're having pains. That could really help a dr know what's going in and coming out. My husbands in medical school and he says that the more you know about your symptoms they better they can help you. So, I would keep track of food, pain, bowel movements, what kind of pain you're having and where, and anything else you can add, even the time of day things are happening!
Hope this helps!
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-06-2004
Wed, 02-15-2006 - 11:07am
thanks for the reply, I've started recording what I've been eating and my bm so i'll continue to do that. I thought that maybe I might have a lactose intolrance because I do drink a lot of milk and dairy products, especially in the morning and mornings are the worst for my pain and cramps. It sucks cause I've got class in the morning and I'm constantly running to the bathroom. So yesterday instead of my usual breakfast, I had toast and peppermint tea and for the first time in a long time I had some relief, I still got some cramps in the afternoon, but they weren't as severe as they normally are. And I wasn't constantly running to the BR.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-30-2005
Wed, 02-15-2006 - 11:29am
Good Luck at the Dr's and I hope they can tell what's wrong so you don't have to go through that anymore! I also have stomach cramping and I'm going to the dr tomorrow. I too have eliminated dairy from my diet and started drinking soy milk instead. I actually like the soy milk better than regular! I'm hoping I'm just lactose intolerant. It's not serious and can easily be avioded. I hope you find relief soon!
Hope you feel better!
:)
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Wed, 02-15-2006 - 10:02pm

Hi Angelfish84!


Welcome to the board!