to wonder what the hell is wrong with me? (warning, contains references to poo)

[TattyDevine]

I've had a tummy bug for about 6 weeks now. Not constantly. It started with nausea and feeling shit, then progressed on to diarrhea and wind - lots and lots and lots of wind. The silent but deadly kind.

It comes and goes - every 3-4 days it will be back with a vengance.

DH has it too, which implies it is something contagious, and he got it at the same time (actually a few days before me, so I can BLAME him, whooo)

He has lost 3kg, I have lost 2kg.

I have been to the GP and done a poo sample, and the results have come back as "no further action" which implies there is nothing wrong!

I have had diarrhea all morning, and am at this stage wondering where we go from here! I am going to make an appointment with the GP again tomorrow, but any tips for not getting fobbed off? I know he can't perform miracles or get blood out of a stone but I want some action. Blood tests, or something, i dont know what. AIBU to want some action or should I just ride it out? Any tips? Anyone had this? What would you ask of your GP if you were me and had been shitting through the eye of a needle suffering from diarrhea and tummy pain for 6 weeks?

If it weren't for your DH having it too, I would be saying it sounds very like some kind of bowel disease - ulcerative colitis or Chrohn's. This needs investigating at hospital. Go back to your GP and ask for a referral - and don't leave until he agrees to one.
I am honestly a bit puzzled by your DH having it too, and for so long. But it certainly needs specialist investigation.

I had something very similar and it turned out to be colitis for me. I 'rode it out' for weeks and became very ill in the process, and didn't get better till I actually got treatment. Don't delay.

That's not normal. That's all I can offer you.

Sorry!

Is the GP aware that your DP is ill too? Knowing that might change his view on things.

Not wanting to ask too many questions, but are you getting enough dietary fibre? Have you noticed any particular triggers - certain groups of food, maybe?

That sounds like what my MIL has been suffering with since Jan. She has just been to hospital and told that her gall bladder needs to be removed. She did have sharp pains in her side though and you didn't mention that so maybe not the same thing, but like the others have said this needs to be investigated further.

Or perhaps IBS? I have had the same problems- wind, diarroeah, bloating for 2 years (!) and have only been to the doctors once- he fobbed me off .I don't think mine is as bad as yours seems to be though, I certainly haven't lost any weight!
I would try keeping a food diary for a bit.
I keep meaning to but forget all the time.

Have you or your DH been away on holiday somewhere in the past 2/3 months? Did your GP ask you that question so they could rule out an "infectious disease". Don't mean an awful disease, it is just that some countries are more prone to upset tummy problems than others and often it needs a special test to determine it and, sometimes the parasite can be inside you for a few months before it becomes active.

Scary huh! God.

I'm pretty sure its a bug - DH has it too, the baby has had it off and on, and my son (3) had diarrhea again this morning, he has had it a couple of times since he first came down with it 2 weeks ago, and he was home from preschool with it when it first came on.

I just dont know of a bug that should go on for this long, and wonder why its not showing up in a sample.

Agree it sounds like something other than a bug, but the fact that everyone else has it seems to imply it must be a bug.

If so, I guess there's nothing they can do. But how long do I have to ride it out for I wonder? I guess the GP can answer these questions tomorrow morning. I'm sick of it - particularly the wind. Its antisocial, they are not the kind that you can hold in for long (make you feel very sick and uncomfortable) but not the kind you can just let rip - they clear a room. When the inlaws were staying recently I had to go upstairs in the evenings pretending to be tired as I just couldn't be in the room with them. Hubby and I have learned to just tolerate the smell from each other when someone is having an attack, as they just can't be helped or be held in. Who said romance was dead eh?!

Doc asked all the right questions about being on holiday, etc. I think IBS can be ruled out on the basis that we are all suffering at once.

It might not be a bug that is lingering, it may be a bug that you keep on getting.

If it's a bug, you can try to starve it out.

eat only veg, no sugar, fruit, fat, dairy or starch. Tis brutal, but 3 days and you ought to deprive the bacteria of what it needs to live.

I may have just got it actually.... have been most odd today!

If its a bug I keep on getting, how do you stamp it out? Oh just seen miss hissy, to starve it out, yes, I could try that.

Surely that would have shown up in my poo sample though? They are basically telling me there is nothing wrong with me so I'm off to the GP tomorrrow to try and convince him there is!

Its most frustrating that my sample showed nothing - I really thought it would contain the answer, whatever that is.

Eating only veg isn't going to help with the runs though! Plus if it is an intestinal thing it won't help either, just put more strain on the system. Try it if you like [grimace emoticon] but definitely, definitely go back to the doctor. If it is a bug, you need to discover what bug and how you all keep getting reinfected. If it's not, then it's some condition you have all somehow got and again it needs further investigation. You are all going to be getting weaker all this time; that's what concerns me and I'm not sure a purely veg iet (with respect, LMHF) will help that.

I think you need to ask for blood and urine tests. Also possibly for the poo test to be redone.

Really horrible noxious wind and off and on symptoms sounds to me like Giardia which wouldn't show up as it lives too high up in the gut. Have you been on holiday?

Not a doctor though. :)

We are going through a similar thing, only ours is a vomiting virus. Ds2 brought it home the first week of term and we have now had not had a single week out of seven long weeks without someone getting it again. Ds2 has had it twice and ds1 three times. This bug also comes with that horrible nausea and lots of wind and dh has had diahorrea but no vomitting. It also makes your temperature shoot up, then you faint, then you throw up - tis not nice at all.

I spoke to the practice nurse about it and she said its probably viral, so not much they can do really. They were probably only looking for certain bacterial infections in the stool sample eg campylobacter, salmonella etc and wouldn't have checked for viruses.

I was tempted to phone the gp again this morning, but I'm sure they'll just reiterate what they've already said.

The other thing she said, is that a lot of these winter gastro bugs tend to hang around in the guts. You think you're better, but its just gathering strength for a re-emergence.

In our case it seems to be exactly one week after one of us vomits that another of us goes down with it. Ds1 has it at the moment.

We have tried starving it out - no dice. I was so poorly I actually didn't eat a scrap for five days and it still came back.

A friend of dh's sil had a similar thing passing back and forth around her family for seventeen weeks! I'm seriously praying it won't be that long for us.

I was really hoping half-term would be the break we needed to clear it once and for all, but its not looking likely as ds1 starting throwing up last night and I feel like its about to get me again as well today.

I don't remember bugs like this being around when I was at school, but this is the third year in a row that my dses have caught a gastro-bug as soon as they went back to school in September. The school is riddled with it, children throwing up left-right and centre in classrooms and assembly etc and the local high school sent 20 children home with it in one afternoon last week!

Hope you are all better soon.

To be fair I've been considering fasting for a couple of days - I'm not absorbing anything during a diarrhea attack anyway, if I just had water at least it might die down a bit.

Arghrrr well. I'm definitely going to the doctor tomorrow, its a priority.

I really hate the wind!

Tatty, I had a horrid bout, had the sample and it came back clean, Dr advised starving it out and after 24 hours it'd gone...

Thank GOD, no WAY I'd have been able to keep that level of fasting up....

The last time I had a bug my dr told me to drink only clear, non fizzy liquids (basically water and flat 7up) for 24 hours. This worked for me. HTH and you're feeling better soon.

I don't want to scare you, but this should be fairly easy to check. Have you considered Carbon Monoxide poisioning?

Table 1: Likely symptoms of CO poisoning
Symptoms Adult Child Infant
General Dizziness, fatigue, weakness Not feeling well
Neurological Headache, drowsiness, disorientation, fits Headache, drowsiness, fits, uncoordinated movement

Stomach/intestine Nausea, vomiting, stomach pains Vomiting, stomach pains, anorexia, diarrhoea Loss of appetite
Heart Chest pain, wheeziness, palpitations, hyperventilation Hyperventilation

This is (badly) cut and pasted from the net doctor site.

www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/carbonmonoxide.htm
Sorry to scare anyone, but a friend in Australia knew a family who were posioned by C02, and reading your post rang alarm bells. Please buy a C02 detector and check nothing is leaking xx

Agree that you should definitely go back to your GP, and check out about the CO2 poisoning. Just wanted to say that if you aren't eating very much it's a good idea to have some rehydration powders (like dioralyte) as they replace minerals as well as rehyrate you and would be better than just drinking water alone. The packets usually say to take them after every loose bowel movement I think. Hope you get some answers and feel better soon.

It worried me when she said the little one had symptoms when she was HOME from preschool, the aussie family I knew of didn't all suffer the same symptoms at the same time.Hope it's a tummy bug obviously, but C02 detectors are sold at B&Q etc for about £5 at cheapest. Please get one, Mums and Dads.
I have pm'd the OP, hope she reads it

if it is not the CO2 but a bug then grapefuit seed extract works wonders killing tummy bugs. Tastes like the bitterest thing ever, even disguised in juice but worked for me when travelling.

Sounds similar to giardia to me too, my whole family had it this time last year

TMI question but do you get really horrible burps?

We got giardia without travelling abroad and dont know how we contracted it, when it was finally diagnosed (tricky to pick up on tests) was easily treated with antibiotics

I was going to say giardia. Sounds like it is essential to rule out the carbon monoxide thing. Have you been away anywhere?