Diagnose me and my weird tummy problems

[oysterpots]

Have had 3 or 4 tummy bugs already this year, norovirus once with full on puking and, ahem, the other end too

Last weekend I started feeling sick about 2 hours after breakfast (which was toast with peanut butter from the back of the cupboard, making me think maybe it was food poisoning). Feeling lasted all day, became more and more bloated with tummy expanding hugely (I looked about 5 months pregnant) until I took some laxatives and eventually went to the loo about 4.30pm. Afterwards I felt hot and clammy and then cold and shivery, so went to bed and slept for 2 hours. Felt much better when I woke up, although not really up to eating much.

The past couple of days I've felt a bit sicky, a bit headachey, not immensely hungry and feel nauseous after eating. Have my period though so perhaps it's hormones...?

I just don't really know whether there is something properly wrong or whether it's an unfortunate series of bugs which have made me run down.

My beloved godmother died from stomach cancer recently, which could perhaps have been avoided had she gone to the doctor when symptoms started - think this has made me worried and paranoid about my own health. Should I be?

Possibilities:

A bug/virus/food poisoning

giardia

gall bladder problem....

anxiety related to your worries about cancer..

But you know you need to go and see your doctor, don't you?

Make an appointment asap.

Could be a severe case of IBS?

Thanks all for your advice. I will make a GP appointment.

What are the symptoms of IBS, ladylush?

Bloating, stomach pain, runny stools. Think some people get nausea/vomiting as well.

Bloating, stomach pain, runny stools. Think some people get nausea/vomiting as well.

I understand the health anxieties, and it really doesn't sound like stomach cancer to me (no expert, had a distant relative who died of it so have read a little) but the only person who should and can reassure you properly on that is your GP

That said, there IS a possibility of reacting to 'off' peanuts - and what you describe sounds like some sort of mild food poisoning/reaction to me. You could ask the GP about that too, especially if you still feel icky when your period has finished.

Sorry! Also some sufferers get constipation as well as diarrhoea or just one or the other. It varies a lot.

If you have had a lot of bugs recently your intestinal bacteria will be pretty messed up - that can contribute to disturbed bowel function, IBS-like symptoms (although this frequently involves severe cramping pains and a sudden urge to "go").

TO give your bowels time to settle down after bugs or food-poisoning, it is a very good plan to avoid fatty foods for a day or so (not longer, usually), as this can continue to irritate an already-upset gut. So - you could try a day on dry toast/bread/crackers and water-based drinks (no milk), and then next day have some milk but no other fat-based foods and then go back to normal. At that point you might also consider taking some Actimel or some other bio-live yoghurt or probiotic drink thing to help rebalance your gut bacteria.

Failing that you might need to consider the possibility that your irritated gut became hyper-sensitive to the more allergenic foods in the diet for a while (peanuts being one of these, wheat, eggs, dairy, soy, etc.) - a short period of exclusion of these foods should allow the gut immune system to settle down again and go back to ignoring those foods.

If after you have tried these it still hasn't settled down then you might need to get checked for a gut parasite, such as Giardia (as mentioned above).

start drinking Aloe Vera juice ( from Holland and Barrett etc). It really calms my tummy when I feel queezy.

It could be IBS - a bout of gastric problems can result in IBS.

The problem with IBS is that there are so many different symptoms, and not everyone suffers from them all - and you can suffer from different symptoms each time you have an attack.

For me, my symptoms have included the following:

(most usually) painful stomach cramping, often the prelude to very loose diarrhoea

bloating - the phrase you used about looking pregnant is exactly the one I used to describe myself to the GP

nausea/queasiness - just the smell of food can make me feel ill

fainting

There are also theories that IBS is linked to an imbalance of candida albicans in the gut.

This can be the result of long term antibiotic usage. (In my case, I had been on antibiotics during my teens for months to treat acne).

Interestingly, although I suffer very rarely these days, (and an episode is usually triggered by immense emotional stress), a diet too heavy in carbohydrates can make it worse.

I think you really need to see your GP, though, to rule out other possibilities.