Trying to work out what’s bothering my bowels. Any ideas please?

[buxom]

I’ve had ropey bowels now for quite some time, never really been able to pin down exactly what is causing my almost constant loose bowels. Most morning I’m running to the loo for a few very loose 💩. I get cramps, loads of wind, everything seems to fly through me and is loose and not formed.

The last few weeks have been particularly bad and today absolutely ridiculous. At 1pm yesterday I ate a tub of pineapple, mango and passion fruit and at 11am today the uncontrollable shites started. Like weeing out of my bum. This painful episode lasted 2 hours, I was passing everything I’d eaten since yesterday lunchtime.

So, fructose? I always thought that allergies or intolerances would happen straight away, is it usual for something to bother you 24 hours later?

If it’s sugars in general then aren’t they in breads, pasta, LOADS of things. Could it just be fruit? It’s getting I’m afraid to eat anything. Anyone else react like this to fruit?

Have you checked out FODMAP? A list of foods that you could have an intolerance to.

Watermelon is a real problem for me. The safest fruit for me are pears and berries, except for blueberries.

edit, spelling.

Are you eating enough fibre? Particularly soluble?

Fibre wrecks me. I’ve tried seeded breads, oats, brown rice and pasta, anything like that and it just goes through me with extra wind which is so painful

Go to your GP and tell them about your symptoms. It’s probably nothing but worth investigating. I’ve just been diagnosed with IBS after years of what you describe. They have put me on medication which, so far, has been life changing - no more explosive, watery poo with only 10 seconds notice!!

pineapple, mango and passionfruit would have exactly the same effect on me! It's an IBS thing.

Could be histamine intolerance.

Allergies also can take several days for symptoms appear if they are non-ige rather than ige mediated.

I have ulcerative colitis. Your symptoms sound similar to mine before I had treatment. Seek medical advice. It's nothing to mess about with.

I'd definitely avoid fruit. I think blueberries are meant to be less bad for the stomach generally than citrus or tropical fruit.

Maybe see what happens if you stop bread?

You should see your gp for any change in bowel habits. Speaking as someone whose mum sadly died from bowel cancer.

I can’t have oats either. I loved the Oatly milk and ordered it in bulk only for me to get terrible stomach ache and wind from it.

Mine is caused by problems with my pancreas. Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. I don't drink, so I'm really fed up about it.

Could be IBS or an allergy but to add to the convo thought I’d ask if you take magnesium? This has the same effect on me. You could also try a pre/pro biotic to reset your gut.

Just go to the GP and get checked out. It's a change to your usual bowel habits and needs investigating
Says someone undergoing treatment for bowel cancer right now.

Intolerances can take several hours or longer, to show major symptoms.
But a friend has been diagnosed with H. Pylori after going to GP with similar symptoms to yours. She was prescribed a course of antibiotics. You certainly need to speak to your GP.

I think you have to keep a really detailed food diary, and also know that the triggers can change over time which is not helpful.

It used to be red meat for me. I can eat that fine now, but can’t touch lentils, chickpeas or broccoli. When I’m in a flare up I’ll have D&V at least one day a week, usually more, for months at a time - then it seems to settle down and be ok for a while. It’s so extreme but I don’t get anywhere with the GP they just shrug and say IBS, drink peppermint tea.

I’d really reccomend looking at the FODMAP diet. I had a terrible bout of IBS last year to the point where the GP packed me off to a&e because they thought I had an appendicitis! That was a fun 7 hours!!

I ended up following the FODMAP diet for a month or so and it really helped to reset my system. I’ve come to recognise that onion and garlic massively don’t agree with me. You don’t need to do FODMAP in the long term, it’s more about helping to identify what your triggers are so that you can manage them and still eat normally.

I do need to go to GP. What medication is this? I will ask about it.

Sounds like ibs. I have very similar issues. It's an absolute pain.

I think you should see the doc before you start tweaking your diet.

https://www.whatsupwithmygut.org.uk/

This is a great website with info to help you prepare for a GP appointment. It was designed by all the big gut chraties together.

I have IBS and lymphocytic colitis, @buxom, and your symptoms sound like mine, when the colitis flares up. It was diagnosed some years ago, when I had a colonoscopy for blood in my poo. I had to take steroids to settle it down, the first time, but after that, my GI consultant put me on Cholestyramine.

Apparently a significant number of people with IBS have a condition where they don’t reabsorb the bile acid secreted by their liver, to aid with digestion in the small intestine. It is supposed to be reabsorbed before it gets to the large intestine, and if it doesn’t, it irritates and inflames the large intestine, causing the diarrhoea and wind/bloating. Cholestyramine binds to the bile acid so it can’t harm the large bowel.

Since going on the cholestyramine, my bowel symptoms have been a lot better, though I have had a flare up of the colitis in the last months of last year and the first month of this one, but I decided not to take the steroids, and to just cope. I think this flare was precipitated by a combination of stress (FIL having to go into care, then his sudden death, and having to travel from Scotland to Cornwall for the funeral just before Christmas, then a busy Christmas with family visiting), and the magnesium supplements I was taking at night to help with my sleep. It might be TMI, but I was OK, bowel wise in the afternoons, then took the supplements at night and by morning, everything was flaring up as badly as it ever has. Frankly, it took me too long to make the connection between the magnesium and the symptoms, and once I did, it has taken a long time for things to settle down again (I have long covid, so don’t bounce back from anything).

If you do have IBS, I would recommend Cholestyramine.

Honestly OP don't try and self diagnose from here, googling etc - everyone is different, even people with the same condition. Please just ask the GP as you can't go on like this. Hope things improve soon.

I’ve been out on Mebeverine and it’s made a massive difference. I forgot what it was like to feel normal!

Have you been tested for H pylori?

It could be gall bladder problems