Morning diarrhoea and daily nausea

[HealthConcerns24]

39 year old female. No allergies. Only medication I’m on is a daily 180mg fexofenadine tablet for hayfever and the mini pill contraceptive.

For about 3, maybe 4 weeks I’ve been having diarrhoea up to 3 of 4 times each morning and general nausea lasting all day, a general bubbling feeling in my belly. I’ve tried keeping a food diary to see if it’s linked to anything but I can’t seem to find any common thing and it’s getting to the point I’m not hungry and the only thing I can have without feeling queasy is water.

I’ve done a few pregnancy test to check despite being on the pill, they have all been negative.

I’m about 7lbs down in weight as a result.

Ive done an e-consult which came back and said to try some antacids which I have but no improvement so will be going back to GP.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what the outcome was?

I had something similar as a side effect of some hefty meds I was on for an infection. It stopped when the meds were done.

Without wishing to alarm you, I think a change like that in bowel habits should be checked f 2 f with your GP if there's no improvement. It could be a bug that's lingering, which is the most likely thing. Has anyone else in your household got similar at all? There's also IBS, IBD, etc. You won't know until you get it checked out.

I'd make an appointment to see the GP and let them take it from there. Don't be fobbed off, get bloods and possibly a colonoscopy if doc agrees. Wishing you well, it's miserable having both D and Nausea at the same time.

I would get a f2f GP appointment, especially since you can't link it with anything you've been eating or taking and are actually losing weight. I think these could be symptoms of something serious, although I'm not a health professional.

@maftazits just me that’s like this. My husband and our 2 children have been fine.

I had bloods back in early January for being fatigued all the time. All came back normal but the fatigue is still persisting now despite 8 hours sleep a night so I’m wondering if these bowel changes are linked

@SylvanMoonI plan to get an appointment. The thought of tests and possible hospital visits is a bit frightening because I do know it could (very unlikely) be something serious

BTW if you haven't had one already, make sure to ask doc for a FIT test (stool test). That's part of the workup for bowel issues anyway. Not invasive and very simple to do. Doc will probably decide next steps based on that. Good luck, I know it's worrying, so I'm not going to say don't worry. We all would be the same, but the sooner it's checked the quicker you'll know it's nothing, or further tests are necessary.

I also will not tell you not to worry (as I know that's exactly what I would be doing), but I do hope you get whatever it is sorted out. Wishing you all the best.

First step is to request bloods including celiac testing, stool test (infection), FIT test (bowel cancer) and faecal calprotectin (for IBD) from GP.

Make sure you emphasise the combination of diarrhoea, unexplained weight loss and fatigue to GP.

The next step could well be endoscopy and/or colonoscopy depending on the first round of results.

You do have some flags for IBD or bowel cancer but it is still much more likely you have something more minor - those just need excluding first. Don't let the GP fob you off as it being IBS or unexplained woman problems.

@ConstantsultanaI had coeliacs bloods done in December which were normal but I’ll definitely ask about the rest.

We can only contact the surgery via e-consult at my surgery, and only between 8.30 and 12.30 Monday to Friday so will pop one through tomorrow

You need to see your GP and get the tests suggested above. If it’s not stopping on its own after a few weeks then it needs proper checking. It might well be IBD, IBS, Bile Acid Malabsorption issues rather than something more scary. In the worst case scenario, the earlier something is found the better.

I have Microscopic Colitis which is a form of IBD. It was almost always worst in the mornings and I ended up dehydrated and anaemic whilst I kept waiting for it to improve on its own. Once I started treatment things improved relatively quickly. I regret struggling on as long as I did.

Don’t be surprised or scared if the GP puts you on the 2 week pathway for a colonoscopy that doesn’t mean they automatically think it’s cancer, it’s simply that if it’s one of the possible explanations they may want to rule it out quickly.