Can any one help with these symptoms please

[Aldiricecrispies]

I know, I know, only the GP can help diagnose things- I have contacted the surgery and am waiting for them to get back to me with an appointment. We are only allowed to submit an online form for a request for an appointment.

i am hoping there is someone out there who has had the same/similar symptoms, and could help shed some light on them whilst I wait for the GP to get back to me. I have done the usual Dr google, and it’s such a varied range of things!!

i will list my symptoms, which have been going on for about 8 weeks (sorry for TMI)

1. bright yellow mucus diarrhoea, no substance to them at all at least 4/5 times a day.
2. sudden abdominal cramps with an urgency to go to toilet. These ease after I have been.
3. sudden onset fatigue - not just a bit tired at the end of the day- proper knackered, nap after work type thing and then sleeping around 9-10 hours.
4. walking during the night with cramps and the need to pass wind, and sudden panic that I might ‘follow through’ (then going to toilet with explosive diarrhoea)

A little bit about me- 3 kids, single parent (7-15), work full time, job is stressful but manageable. On the go at work but periods of sitting at a desk. Not a gym bunny, but not a couch potato either. Drink around 2-3 litres of water a day. Diet is ok, plenty of fruit and veg, red meat- no restrictions. No lifestyle changes in the last 18months. No medications. Returned from a weeks holiday 3 weeks ago, but symptoms started way before I went abroad.

any ideas at all?

Ask for a fit test and colonoscopy. It could be any number of things, so good to rule things in or out.

Do I need to request these or will/should the gp automatically do them? Sorry never had anything g like this?

Also just to add if relevant, age is 39

Hi OP, I think you definitely need to go to the GP. They will likely test a sample of your poo to check for infections and parasites and for your calprotectin level (a type of protein present in your poo if there is inflammation in your bowel) and they may well do blood tests. Depending on all of that they may then do a colonoscopy.

I have crohns disease and have similar symptoms to what you describe especially when the disease is affecting my rectum and lower bowel, but there are lots of things that can cause those symptoms. I also have lots of bleeding during a flare up (lots of blood when I poo). Happy to answer any questions about Crohn’s.

definitely get yourself to the doctors and I hope you start to feel better soon.

Thank you for this - I am waiting for the useless surgery to get back to me, if I haven’t heard back by lunch time tomorrow I intend to call and request an urgent call back based on the fact I filled the online forms in Wednesday last week, and they state they aim to get back to you within 24 hours.

The symptoms I’ve (and you!) got are so tricky aren’t they- they can be so vague and simple such as a parasite etc, or something more serious such as crohns.

i suspect maybe a sudden onset of some intolerance, but have struggled to completely rule in/out any foods. My body just seems to not like any food, I am still eating normally and have lost zero weight despite the amount of time I’m spending on the loo!

I really hope you manage to get seen - and make sure they take you seriously and don’t try and fob you off. It took me many years to get diagnosed!

It sounds like the symptoms you’re experiencing are having a very big impact on your day to day life, and I hope you get sorted very soon.

Food intolerances but could be more than one issue.

Thank you- I will insist on being seen.
it must of been so hard for you waiting to be diagnosed, but I’m glad you finally got answers.

It is exhausting- worrying what to eat, making sure you’re close to a toilet, with a change of clothes just in case! Not to mention the constant broken sleep.

im sure there are people out there who have dealt with this a lot longer than me- and they are bloody heroes! I’m broken 8 weeks in, let alone months/years of it!

What would you suggest to be the first thing to cut out to find out what it is that might be causing this? I’ve looked at various different things - and it’s a HUGE task to try and cut something out completely isn’t it?

I hear you! The toilet emergencies are really hard - doesn’t matter what it is that’s causing them for you, it’s still really difficult.

I think I'd try gluten to start with. Bread, cakes, biscuits, anything with gluten in. See how you get on with that. You could be gluten intolerant or coeliac, maybe not, but it's worth a try. Look up symptoms of coeliac, they include diarrhoea and extreme fatigue amongst other things. Ask GP for gluten test I think it's a blood test, but might also include biopsy somewhere in the stomach. Someone else might know.

As previous poster said, their first thing should be a poo test. From there next steps will be decided. Don't let them fob you off if all the poo tests are negative, as somethingis clearly causing this. If you suspect gluten intolerance, don't cut it out yet as the blood test to confirm needs you to have gluten to react to.

Could be a whole load of stuff about only thing you can be sure of is that it’s impacting your bowel.

i’d suggest (while you wait for surgery) keeping fluids very high as diarrhoea really means you lose a lot.

do you have any appetite or is that gone? I found complan useful in similar circs as I struggled to eat.

I’d go back to very very basic diet - plain rice, very bland carbs.

Good point @ThaneOfGlamis about the gluten blood test. I didn't know that. Every day's a schoolday.

Interesting - thanks! I would have just gone ahead and cut things out without realising the implications. I find it so crazy that a normal functioning human being with no intolerances can just develop one all of a sudden! Obviously not saying it doesn’t happen as I know it does, it just baffles me!

For a gluten test to be accurate you need to be having gluten at almost every meal for 6 weeks before testing.

Totally agree with not being fobbed off even if poo tests are normal. I’ve been in full flare ups, confirmed by colonoscopies, and still had a “normal” calprotectin test. My consultant no longer bothers doing them for me and we just go on what my symptoms are doing. It’s not a totally reliable test.

Appetite is very much still there (apart from the fear of eating something and needing to find a toilet!), so I’m still eating normally.
i think I’ll switch to a bland diet like you suggest, hoping it does something.

Youre all so full of knowledge and tips - I appreciate you all!

I had very similar symptoms and it was giardia. I don’t think they routinely test for it in a stool sample unless you have been somewhere high risk (I hadn’t), so might be worth checking whether they can include it assuming you manage to get some tests

It is. I went private for tests and was intolerant to 26 items of food.

Interesting- how long did your symptoms go on for?

i actually work in a high risk area (but don’t go near animals), so this is a possibility- never even thought about that! How thick am I!!!

Wow- 26??? What do you eat?!

Could be giardia (have you been wild swimming or drank from a dodge water source), IBD m, coeliac or a whole host of other things. You really need to be seen soon.

Not much for quite some time! Lost a tonne of weight unsurprisingly. Now I'm able to eat everything except for eight things.