My stomach!

[DesperateTimesHelp]

I’ll try and keep this brief.

4 weeks ago I finished a course of uti antibiotics and came down with diarrhoea, stomach pain (upper), nausea, left sided abdominal pain.

doctor ran bloods and stool tests to rule out c diff and bacterial cause, all fine.

9 days later still there. Massively increased my fibre, reduced dairy to butter only, came down with another uti so back on antibiotics.

ended up firmer stool but still yellow / orange and suffering awful trapped wind every. Single. Day.

left sided pain wouldn’t go away. Always under my left ribs. Felt like swelling on the left side of my abdomen.

could only pass gas with yoga moves and belly massage.

had a latte on Tuesday last week and diarrhoea hit 30 minutes later. Assumed I had developed a lactose intolerance and despite massively reducing dairy I was still having butter once or twice a day, there was lactose in my antibiotics etc. so I cut dairy completely.

took a few days but drool was finally normal yesterday (size, shape, colour) but STILL the gas problem.

today I had diarrhoea randomly again and back to frequent soft yellow stool and I cannot work out why. The only thing I’ve had different is some pate on toast which carried a may contain milk warning but I read this is fine for lactose intolerance AND the reaction (if from this) was 18 hours later.

movements have finally settled down but once again I can hear and feel the gas all trapped in my belly.

I’ve done a FIT test (negative) and stool calprotectin came back normal.

please, does anyone have any suggestions? Can this all be lactose? I was feeling better every day following the latte incident (and hopeful the gas would eventually sort itself out) but feel back to square one with no understand as to why.

There is a stomach bug going around at the moment with these exact symptoms ,I've had it for 8 days now. Obviously if it carries on then maybe ask Dr about lactose intolerance etc.

@GG1986 its been 4 weeks?

Have you tried probiotics? (From the chemist not yogurts or yakult or whatever.) It could be that your good bacteria hasn’t got over the antibiotics yet.

@Wonderballs currently on probiotics yes.

DH suffers terribly from those symptoms, though he can never quite seem to put his finger on the cause.

It seems obvious to me that it lags a few days behind any stress. Are you dealing with any unusual stress at the moment which might be linked ?

Which antibiotics?

Could it be gallstones??? I ended up in hospital with mine, the pain was horrendous. Also had sporadic diarrhea, with acid in it. Sorry if Tmi 😐

You need to go back to the Dr's & get checked properly & ideally a gastroscopy to check your stomach for gastritis & US for your gallbladder. I'd not focus on the lactose thing - the latte could have been to do with how empty your stomach was at the time.

@FinallyHereonly stress is these poxy symptoms that won’t shove off :(

@QuestionableMouse nitrofurantoin

@shellyleppard i has my gallbladder removed 10 years ago

@Caerulea I went back today. They’re trialling me on Omeprazole in case it’s gastritis but they’re saying likely IBS and possibly IBS and gastritis (gallbladder has been removed already).

thank you all, I really appreciate your input.

Nitrofurantoin can cause diarrhea and it can happen a bit after you stop talking it. https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/nitrofurantoin-oral-route/side-effects/drg-20065102?p=1#:~:text=Nitrofurantoin%20may%20cause%20diarrhea%2C%20and,or%20make%20it%20last%20longer.

@QuestionableMouse thats true, although I’ve had it a number of times with no side effects and if it starts after you’ve taken it it’s usually due to an infection called c diff which I was tested for and it was negative x

Glad to hear they are starting a process :) if it's gastritis then the omeprazole might take a while to make any difference. Try & eat little & often, an empty stomach makes it feel much worse, and look up what things are particularly triggering for gastritis. I found fat free Greek yoghurt (fage brand being the only one that isn't just sadness-in-a-pot) with raspberries or bon maman apricot compote was a really good safe food, & has benefits for your stomach too.

Doesn't sound like gallstones. That's right sided pain

@Caerulea I’m struggling to know what to eat tbh and because I’ve been unwell for so long I’m not really getting hungry and don’t have much of an appetite.

a typical day is something like poached eggs on toast, tuna pasta with cucumber and pepper and then something like chicken fajita salad. Today I had even less than that.

I’ve had 9 bowel movements (the most I’ve had since this all started) and just feel so drained from it all. Mentally I’m a mess.

Have you tried kombucha? My husband has IBS and swears by it, just a small glass every day has worked wonders for his gut health. Also peppermint tea to help with the trapped wind

I've been through/am going through similar (in flares cos of my gallbladder) & it's horrible. You just feel so drained.

Might be worth what @Hrcg87 suggests - definitely on the peppermint tea. Personally I cannot stand kombucha so no clue on that & fermented stuff you'll know right away if it helps or hurts.

One thing I've found that does seem to really help me is the Moju gut health drink, the raspberry one. Some Asdas carry it & Waitrose do too. They do a subscription, though it is expensive ngl. I notice a difference after about a week of use (much quicker than omeprazole). I'm not otherwise into 'health' drinks etc, I think they probably don't do much but this one contains inulin & there is good science behind that. The ingredients do seem to have had some real work put into them.

On what you're eating -

Cucumber & pepper both have skins that aren't that easy to digest - I can't eat cucumber at all, never have been able to. Gives me phenomenal bloating & pain. Maybe try sweet potato & deskinning the cucumber. Avoid onions & garlic too. Also dark green veg/leaves is more difficult. You want to avoid anything high in oligofructose - which is often 'healthy', so much of this is counterintuitive. I darent eat a fresh apricot but the stewed compote is fine cos it's already been broken down.

Eggs, chicken & tuna are all high protein which, again, I really struggle with. Maybe the 3 in one day is too much for you? Have you tried porridge instead of the eggs?

I assume by 'fajita' you mean a spice mix rather than just strips of chicken? It could be too exciting :(.

White bread & white pasta are (ironically) better than brown & seedy for me mid-flare. Again due to digestion being harder. Rice crispies are good on this front too as is 'easy cook' rice vs other varieties. Marmite on toast?

Sounds stupid but matured cheeses & blue cheeses might be fine for you, the aging helps lower the lactose unlike in soft, young cheeses. Another reason why authentic Greek yoghurt is better than ordinary (again zero fat cos you've no gallbladder - egg yolks are high fat too, worth bearing in mind.)

I stopped worrying about 'mealtimes' as such, I might have yoghurt or cereal for dinner for example. Little & often was key.

It's a minefield honestly, I drove myself mad cos it all makes very little sense on the face of it & we're left to work these things out ourselves when it's highly complex & different for everyone!

To add - are they considering your ex-gallbladder as an issue? Obviously you've no bile regulation now & for some people that can cause issues exactly like this. It's not something I know much about (I need my gb removing so don't want to worry about what might go awry after lol)

Could be SIBO. If suspected, you need to stop probiotics as this will make it worse. Take S Boullardii instead. It cured me.