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Can anyone help me with my symptoms? (GI)

9 replies

piscis · 25/01/2024 18:07

Hi mumsnetters,

I hope some of you can help me figure out what my problem is. I have gone to my GP and had some tests done but no disgnosis yet, I will be seeing me GP again in the next two weeks.

My stools have always been quite hard, but around a year and a half ago I started having some very soft and a bit pale stools. This didn't happen very often at all (maybe two or three times a month) so I thought it was strange bit didn't worry me as it was very infrquently.

Then little by little, the loose stools episodes started to increase in frequency and with time I identified some triggers (a medication I had, wine...) so I stopped these and I saw a bit of an improvement. However, I still have loose stools most of the time, they have never been as hard as before. Apart from loose, sometimes they look greasy. The color is fine and no blood or anything like that. I have a lot of bloating, but this is not new as I have always had gas. I don't have any constant unusual.pain in my tummy apart from the gas, but last week had mild pain that was coming and going for a few days.
In a few occasions Ive had poo that is very thin, but again this is not a daily thing, it has happenned infrequently. There has been an instance when I when to the toilet thinking that I was constipated as I had to push hard but then it came out soft and thin, which I was really confused about.

My FIT test and calpoproctin test have come back normal, but they were done in a week that I was feeling quite well and didnt have loose stools.

Bloods didn't show any abnormallity Either, but my ferritin is low. I have always been over 100 and ot was 29, so I am wondering if there is some kind of malabsorption.

Can you have cancer or chrons and the fecal tests/bloods come back normal? As I said, it was during one of my bests weeks, so if you have cronhs and have a good week, will the tests show something?

I dont think it can be cancer as the symtoms come and go, I assume with cancer the symptoms are always there and probably getting worse?

I am concerned this can be chrons as there are clearly some triggers. Also, I had an ANA blood test that came back positive many years ago (no GI symptoms then). Months ago I also had a really strange burning feeling in my mouth (as if I had burnt myslef eating somwthing very hot) that lasted several months, in fact it disappeared in December

Any thoughts??

OP posts:
DustyLee123 · 26/01/2024 06:38

The pale stools make me think of gallbladder.

piscis · 26/01/2024 06:42

The pale color (yellowish) was when this started over a year ago, however the color is normal now

OP posts:
Londonnight · 26/01/2024 06:57

Possible bile acid malabsorption. Unlikely to be crohns if your calprotectin test didn't show up any inflammation. I have BAM [ son has crohns ]. My first symptoms were low iron. It would be worth speaking to your GP about it and try binders.

piscis · 26/01/2024 08:16

Thank you. Thats something I hadn't even heard about or crossed my mind. What other symptoms did you had @Londonnight if you don't mind me asking?

The reason why I was thinking something autoimmune is because there are some clear triggers, such as wine. If I have a glass of red wine (I have now avoided it since May last year) I will have very loose stools with urgency to go the morning after, guaranteed, so in my mind this was the wine causing a flare up. Also my symptoms are very on and off

OP posts:
piscis · 26/01/2024 08:22

My symptoms also tend to improve when I am on holiday (very stressed at work)...

OP posts:
Butteryscones · 26/01/2024 08:37

I have BAM and get loose stools, sometimes they are rather explosive and yellow! It is much worse after wine or certain foods.

Are you on anything like omeprazole?

piscis · 26/01/2024 12:32

Mine are not yellow currently, they were yellow-ish for a while at the start but the color is normal now. They are a bit loose but not massively normally if I avoid alcohol and the medication that was triggering the symptoms. But a lot of times is greasy and the ferritin drop is bothering me because it is not like me...

Can you have BMA and normal color stools?

OP posts:
piscis · 26/01/2024 12:33

I am mot on any medication but I need to discuss with my GP in a couple of weeks

OP posts:
Londonnight · 27/01/2024 06:24

@piscis my symptoms were explosive stools, often 10 plus times a day. Stomach cramps, just generally felt unwell. I lived on Imodium!

Greasy stools are also an indicator of BAM, they don't have to be coloured.

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