How to control chronic diarrhoea?

[ArnieandBob]

You would like to think that after suffering from IBS for over two decades I would know the answer to this but I don't and it drives me insane.

Despite avoiding my trigger foods (dairy, certain fruits and veg and artificial sweeteners) and following a very boring low fodmap diet I still have almost daily issues with my bowels. Fibre is my nemesis, just a tiny bit too much and it really upsets my digestive system, I tend to keep low on the fibre.

I go to the loo anything between 1-3 times a day. No two days are the same for me. I can have a day or two of passing 'normal' looking stool and then it will change to much looser (and sorry if tmi!) but sludgy/mud-like stool (often starts as normal and gets looser each time I go). I have lots of gut symptoms throughout the day including excessive gurgling, bloating, gas and gas like pain. I hardly ever have a calm gut and the mornings are awful. I also suffer from a lot of acid and nausea.

I have resorted to taking Imodium a few times a week to try to control the sludgy stool but tbh it doesn't do much, all it does is slow my gut down, the stool will stay the same. I have tried all the standard IBS meds such as Mebeverine but they have very little effect. I listen to gut directed hypnotherapy every day too but that has little effect either.

I have had colonoscopies, endoscopies, a bile acid malabsorption test and lots of scans and all ok and so they can offer no more help.

I am at such a loss though, I don't want to keep waking up every day, needing the loo as soon as I wake up and spending the rest of the day feeling dreadful within my digestive system. I can't function well for the first half of the day worrying I need the loo to clear it all and then spend the rest of the day frightened to eat in case I trigger it off again.

Surely there must be something that can help and give me back the normal functioning gut I had before all of this started?

Btw, I promise I am not a poo troll just a normal 51 year old menopausal woman trying to get through the day living in fear she may crap herself if she leaves the house 😩

😂

Can I ask where you get the tums? I've been looking everywhere. I have seen them on Amazon but always worry about purchasing medication online in case they aren't the original product.

I do think the chronic stress you are experiencing will be a major contributing factor. Good that you are doing all the right things to try to counter it, and I'm sorry they aren't fully working.

This is only my layperson point of view, but do you do anything to increase dopamine?

I buy them on Amazon. It sounds silly but calcium supplements have made it possible for me to feel comfortable returning to work - after working from home.

The stress I am currently under and have been in the past (ds had years of school anxiety prior to mum's dementia diagnosis) has definitely played a huge part in all of this.
I try to raise my dopamine levels, I walk the dog over the fields and woods twice daily (I adore being out in nature), I practice yoga every evening, listen to the calm app every night, I go to bed early etc. Not sure if there's anything else which could help?

I know you say you can't do artificial sweeteners but have you looked at what you're drinking. I've found that alcohol is a trigger, beer is worst. I can have a couple but any more is run to the loo time.

My main trigger other than booze is saturated fat.

I only drink water and an occasional mint or ginger tea.

I had already followed fodmap myself & cut our dairy, egg, soya, cherry tomatoes & avoid sweetener & low gluten. For years this helped but a couple of years ago it came back with a vengeance. I also limit fruit to 2 pieces per day.

I was then referred to an IBS dietician. She told me I was making my issue worse but cutting out food groups but I ignored this because I can't deal with the reactions. 🤣

The best advice was no processed foods & no reheating of foods. It's a lot of hassle & effort & I don't always have the energy for it (I have ME/CFS)

(posted too early) But it makes a massive difference

I am so grateful for this thread op! For so long I've been feeling like I'm the only one I know with this struggle, then yesterday by chance I came across Bile Acid Malabsorption and today I found your thread.

I've done everything you've done, except becoming gluten free or trying FODMAP and IBS-D is ruining my life. I can't work, some days I can't leave the house, looking after my children has been so difficult. Amitriptyline was helpful but after a while the dose had to be increased and I was too foggy to function so they switched me to nortriptyline which definitely made me less foggy but eventually became ineffective. I'm allowed to take up to 8 immodium a day but it's pretty much ineffectual now.

I have to live off processed foods because the tiniest amount of fibre is enough to trigger it, which means that I'm piling on weight which seems to then make things even worse. In the evening I can tolerate some fibre, but not always. All the usual food and stress and alcohol and caffeine and sweetener triggers it but somedays there's no apparent reason.

I had my gallbladder removed in 2010 so now I'm wondering if it's BAM, I'm excited to see the GP and discuss it!

Like a previous poster said, I've found psyllium to be helpful but only in that it firms things up slightly, it doesn't stop the frequency or the urgency. Also antibiotics for other conditions seem to have a helpful side effect for a while, but my GP thinks that could suggest that I also have diverticulitis so I'm waiting to have a scope for that.

I really hope you find answers....if you do please share them here!

Chocolateporridge · Today 08:38

I am so grateful for this thread op! For so long I've been feeling like I'm the only one I know with this struggle, then yesterday by chance I came across Bile Acid Malabsorption and today I found your thread.

I’m not sure if bile malabsorption can be found in a scope - mine was discovered via a scan - but if it is discovered to be the cause in your forthcoming scope then your life will improve so much.
Since I’ve been taking Cholestagel for the first time in 12 years I’ve been able to enjoy travelling without constantly dreading the worst.

The scan you need is a Sechat scan, I had mine last year and out of all the tests I have had it was by far the easiest. I had to swallow a tracer pill, then come back 3 hours later for the scan and a week later did the same thing again, really simple and the results came back quite quickly. A lot of people on the IBS support groups that I follow have awful issues after gallbladder removal and many have BAM so it's a strong possibility that you may have gone on to develop it.

Good luck, I hope you get some answers soon. Living like this sucks the joys out of life doesn't it?

Chocolateporridge If you say you felt better after antibiotics it may also be worth asking if you can get a test for SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), getting the test on the NHS is a bit hit and miss as it's a bit of a controversial thing, I tested positive last year but my gastroenterologist says to ignore it and focus on getting my stress under control so not quite sure what to do there as the antibiotic which is specific for SIBO is £200 for a 2 week supply privately, I can not afford that.

Hi all,
I suspect my husband may have bile acid malabsorption but need to persuade the gp to test for it!
Can I ask, does it cause yellow watery stools?

I honestly think this is medical gaslighting. They've found an issue that needs treatment but they've told you that you need to destress rather than get treatment. Have they considered that the symptoms cause the stress? I think go back and ask them if they would say the same to a man? I doubt it!

Have they considered that the symptoms cause the stress?

Very good point. There are so many situations where there isn’t a loo handy and it’s extremely stressful.
@Choccymumma it would really be worth your dh having a test as if it is bile malabsorption then it can be treated.

I read that you mainly drink water. Just to check do you drink bottled water, as I have discovered that Evian water gives me diarrhoea the day and day after drinking. To start with I thought it was food related but then realised it was the water.

Yes, it's one of the main symptoms.

Tbh I've spent half my life being medically gaslit.

I've also suffered decades with gynae issues and the same gynae constantly telling me it's not unusual to suffer pain and very heavy periods. After a failed uterine ablation I pleaded to have a MRI as my sister has endometriosis. Found out in December (at the age of 50) that I have deep endometriosis and diffuser adenomyosis.
Gynae says this can cause gut issues, the new endo gynae says it doesn't and my gastro says I probably have endometriosis alongside IBS. I honestly don't know who to believe anymore.
One thing I do know is yes, indeed the symptoms definitely cause more anxiety, nothing more stress inducing than thinking you may soil yourself any given moment ☹️

I went to the GP today and he's referred me to the gastroenterology department at the hospital to discuss a SeHCat scan with them, although he's doubtful that I have BAM (I actually don't think he'd heard about it because he had to Google). However the wait to see anyone is at least a year and that's before the wait for a scan.
I'm considering paying to do it privately, can anyone recommend somewhere in Glasgow?

although he's doubtful that I have BAM (I actually don't think he'd heard about it because he had to Google.

That doesn’t surprise me that he hadn’t heard of it. As I said upthread, none of the numerous doctors I saw ever mentioned it as a possibility even though I had all the symptoms.

Just on a practical note, I got a few pairs of period pants, good ones where the padding goes all the way up the back. Not for periods, but to wear when I have to go out for the day or travel. They offer some protection in the worst case scenario and I do feel less worried when I'm wearing them which probably helps on the psychological side.

I did try the proper incontinence pants but couldn't get over them feeling like a nappy! So the period pants were a good in between option.

The waiting times on the NHS are getting ridiculous. I've had to go privately a few times, I actually ended up getting a colonoscopy and the sechat scan on the NHS because of my private consultations.
GPs are typically clueless over many gut issues. I wanted to discuss SIBO with her but she'd never heard of it.

I wear those too, the M&S ones. My mum has them too as she has dementia.

For those of you that use period pants please can you suggest which brands have the best coverage: ie go up the back area. Thanks