To cry myself to sleep about this

[Embarrassingiknow]

I get frequent diarrhoea and discomfort in my abdomen. I’ve had blood tests, stool tests and a sigmoidoscopy. All clear thankfully. I was diagnosed with IBS or a food intolerance.

I mentioned to the consultant who did my colonoscopy that my poo sometimes stings but he sort of dismissed me and didn’t help at all. He just said it’s IBS or a food causing my symptoms (eg possibly lactose) and was quite sharp about it and didn’t really offer any help about why the symptoms are happening

The diarrhoea and discomfort is unpleasant but I’m used to it now. But I can’t stand this burning anal pain anymore. im going through a tube of anusol a week and it’s not really helping anymore. When it’s at its worst, it’s excruciating to sit down and walk about. It sometimes bleeds. Right now im sitting on a cushion and I’m in so much pain with it.

I don’t have piles or fissures and have been checked for it already. I’ve tried different toilet papers, wipes, different underwear fabrics.

it usually starts after I’ve been to the toilet- it honestly feels like my stool is made of acid, it stings SO Much and it leaves me in pain for hours afterwards. I don’t know if it’s possible to have acidic faeces but if it is then I’m convinced it’s acidic.

I have NO idea what’s causing this but I could cry. Nothing is helping and I don’t know what to do. When I ask for help they just say anusol or antidiarrhoeas. But it’s not helping. I can’t get a GP appointment right now because of work and Uni. I don’t remember the last time I didn’t cry myself to sleep about it. I’ve got university lectures tomorrow and I’ll have to walk about and sit down and it’s absolutely excruciating so i could cry some more thinking about how awful it will be

I don’t even know why I’m ranting on here about it, I’m just sick of being in so much pain. I hate my life right now

Sounds very similar to what I have - feels like sharp gravel in my stool as it passes through the sphincter. Had best results when I went vegan for a while - burning and discomfort stopped - although the consistency of the stool never got to normal (always a bit soft and formless).

I haven't managed to get to the bottom of what causes my symptoms but my hunch was dairy and/or alcohol. It seems to take a long time for it to clear up when you cut food out so you need to do any cleansing diet for longer than you might think - someone mentioned an anti candida diet which lasted 8 weeks which worked for them, this is the sort of timescale you need to try any elimination diet for before reintroducing foods, I would say. Someone said it would be quite quick to see results when reintroducing foods but I would say you need to reintroduce things slowly and each one in enough quantity to make a difference. Give it a good few weeks or each new introduction. For me it seems to take a while when I lapse back into eating whatever I like before the symptoms get bad again.

You asked about the difference between a Sigmoidoscopy and a Colonoscopy, not sure if someone already answered but the difference is how deep they go. For a Sigmoidoscopy you would probably just have an enema prior to the procedure, for a colonoscopy you would have Moviprep and 24hrs fasting.

I hope you manage to find some relief if not a complete solution. There are certainly some things in this thread which I will be trying. Thank you for posting, and to all who have replied.

Popping back to say I had nearly 40 years of this after getting gall bladder out - was told it was nervous stomach, was given fibre sachets ( made it worse), tested negative for gluten intolerance and lived on Immodium. Ask for another referral. You can also buy a perineal bottle from Boots to squirt water onto the area and also a form of lidocaine spray.As someone else mentioned Vagisil is a good alternative. This can really make life a misery. Do you get urgency with it as well? Is the diarrhoea uncontrollable? Have you had an accident when out of the home? Tell them everything.

Was also going to suggest Bile Acid Malabsorption

I would look to see a functional medicine doctor if conventional medicine has failed you .

Can you wash yourself with a hand held douche / squeeze bottle after you go ?

Have they ruled out colitis, Crohn's etc?

And Coeliac?

I had IBS symptoms and thought it was stress, but it was only after I got severe pain on my lower left side of the pelvic area that I was diagnosed with endometriosis which was really widespread and all over my bowel. I had a lot of the tissue removed with a cyst and hormones have kept it in check since, but I'm just mentioning other things which can cause these horrible symptoms.

Doc's nd peope always run to lactose intolerant.its rarely the case and people have a have no effect to try nd now it for.a very small percent of people are lactose intolerant to the point of being unable to have it.conformation bias is huge.the stress and linkage wheb they eat dairy is more the cause.and with IBS alot of the time the base line is stress,anxiety and said foods they wire their brains to.
And dairy can actually be really helpful in your situation as it creates a coating and barrier and helps other food be absorbed.

@Embarrassingiknow did you ever get an answer?

Bilesalt malabsorption - this is one of the symptoms.

I think you need to be tested for it.

I have ulcerative colitis and have similar pain during flare ups.

Could you get referred to a different hospital? As far as I know food intolerance/ allergies don't cause bleeding. Crohns and colitis do.