Constant diarrhea and digestive issues.

[TheBigPurpleOne25]

I'm writing this on behalf of a friend , well not exactly in their behalf but I'm very close to them and I love them dearly and in just looking for some advice/reassurance/ experiences.
He's been experiencing constant diarrhea and pain for around five weeks, at first it was intermittent but then turned into constantly, multiple times a day, in the middle of the night, unable to eat much, weakness and fatigue, only a small amount of vomiting. Also losing weight. He's very much a take the blows kind of person and didn't bother to see a doctor until recent. He's had a stool sample and FIT test and waiting for the results and is booked in for bloods. He's fairly young (early 30s) I am terrified it's cancer as I'm sure he is but he's playing it down. Has anyone had any experiences with this kind of thing and had a positive outcome? And if you did what was it and how was it treated. I'm worried sick for him and terrified I'm going to lose him as dramatic as this sounds.

I had similar symptoms and was terrified it was bowel cancer. Turned out to be coeliac disease.
No meds needed, purely controlled by being strictly gluten free. Hoping for a good outcome for your friend.

Thank you. Could he go his whole life with no symptoms of this disease though and then it suddenly clearing up? At first we queried IBS but I have IBS and never ever have severe symptoms this long lasting as my friend x

I was diagnosed at 54. Looking back, I did have some bowel issues (in that I didn’t ‘go’ very often) but these were nothing compared to the two extremely acute episodes I had in the spring and summer of 2022. Loss of appetite, constant diarrhoea and abdominal pain for several weeks at a time. This was coupled with an eczema type rash all over my body which is another symptom of coeliac (although I didn’t know this at the time). I had a blood test then an endoscopy which confirmed it.

Yes he could and it often happens that it gets worse after something. He needs to ask for a genetic coeliac blood test NOT the basic one the nhs usually do as that’s known to be 95% faulty but the nhs still insists on doing it. The other thing I’ve discovered recently is that Covid goes and lives in the guts after you’ve had it and causes upsets and only 6 months of prescribed stuff kills it off properly

This could well be Crohn's, Collitis or Coeliac or any other digestive issue. I was just like this before my own (liver) autoimmune condition was diagnosed. If the doctors thought it was most likely cancer, he'd be put on the urgent 2 week cancer list for a scan. But they are doing tests for the most likely causes and hopefully a diagnosis will come soon.

Gluten intolerance here too. I call it that as my GP wouldn’t test for coeliac but I cut out gluten and feel SOOOO much better for it that I decided I don’t care about a diagnosis. For now

I’ve also heard that coeliac can be triggered by trauma, in that it’s kind of dormant but can suddenly manifest itself after a stressful life experience. I think this may have been the case with me. I had a very sudden and tragic bereavement not long before my first big episode.
I’d also had 2 nasty bouts of covid.

DH had similar symptoms for years- it got to the stage where he couldn't go to work before anyone took it seriously- he has ulcerative colitis. it is controlled by diet and drugs these days. he lost 3 stones in weight as well and ended up totally vitamin deficient as his body couldn't absorb properly. Has supplements and B12 injections now and lives a 'normal' life.

Strange, he hasn't really had any traumatic recent experiences that could have triggered it. I think it was more of a gradual change in his bowel habits and then just gradually got worse and worse. He's so sick and Ill with it. He was full of life and energy six weeks ago and now he's super tired and spending most of his time on the toilet. It's scary

Sending lots of positive vibes to your friend and hope it’s something that can be diagnosed quickly and treated. Please do let us know how he gets on.

Tell him not to cut out gluten though as any CD test could give a false negative.

I'm not sure he even eats that much gluten, he's normally very health orientated and eats a healthy protein rich diet, weight trains etc which he has been unable to do due the problems hes been having. I know he's not been eating a great deal of any food at all really as he can't stomach it and it goes straight through

Gluten is in a surprisingly high number of foods-anything with barley, rye, oats, wheat or soy.
Poor guy, sounds horrible for him.

This happened to my friend with a history of digestive issues. I'm afraid it was pancreatic cancer - I only say that to be aware as the earlier it's caught the better the outcome.

Has he been checked for gallstones? I know someone whose only symptom was diarrhea and vomiting, not the classic colic pain.

No he hasn't. I have gallstones myself and have done for nearly three years, I must say I've not had these as my symptoms, only nausea and biliary colic pain, but agreed it's worth a check.

How is he now?