u/akirenji

Hello everyone,

Almost exactly one year ago, I had my gallbladder removed, and that’s when my problems either started or became significantly worse.

For context, I’m a 27-year-old woman. I used to weigh 90kg after taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications for about 3 and a half years. I ended up losing 40kg on my own by doing OMAD (One Meal a Day), which honestly was probably one of the worst things I could have done.

After that diet, I started having severe stomach pain, diarrhea, and vomiting after certain meals. The pain was so intense that I had to go to the ER multiple times. My gallbladder had become twice its normal size and was full of gallstones because of the extreme dieting, so I had surgery pretty quickly.

After the surgery, I was told I could go back to living normally again. I felt relieved and hopeful, but little by little, new problems started appearing.

I began having abdominal pain and sharp stabbing pains in my stomach. I had ultrasounds, MRIs, CT scans, MRCPs… and nothing showed up.

Then I started becoming constipated, which was strange because after gallbladder removal I was told I’d most likely experience diarrhea after meals instead.

It’s also important to mention that for about 3 months after surgery, I lived almost exclusively on pasta, rice, applesauce, and rice cakes because I was terrified of eating and vomiting. In my head, “fat = danger” (which was true before surgery when I still had my gallbladder). It eventually led to post-operative anorexia.

During the summer, things were manageable despite the pain. I went out, enjoyed life again, and slowly started eating more normally, but my digestion and bowel movements never improved.

Eventually I got tired of it and saw a gastroenterologist. I was told I was full of gas and backed up with stool. I was prescribed high doses of Macrogol (polyethylene glycol / Miralax in the US) along with Spagulax (psyllium husk fiber supplement / similar to Metamucil in the US).

That’s when the bloating became constant and much worse, even after stopping the Macrogol (Miralax).

Since then, I’ve tried 8 different laxatives, both oral and rectal. I also went through 2 full bowel prep cleanses like the ones used before a colonoscopy (without actually having the colonoscopy, it was just to empty my intestines). After that, I had an abdominal X-ray hoping things would finally be cleared out, but the result still showed diffuse fecal stasis throughout the colon.

I went back to the gastroenterologist, and she told me it was “a disaster” and prescribed even more bowel preps. But they cause terrible stomach pain, they’re awful to drink, and to me this doesn’t feel like a real solution because nobody is trying to understand why I’m constipated in the first place. According to her, constipation is my only issue.

I decided to get a second opinion. They mentioned IBS, which I expected, but honestly it feels more complicated than that.

It makes no sense to me that I went my entire life without intestinal issues and suddenly developed all of this, especially since it keeps getting worse over time.

I was also put on a low FODMAP diet, but I honestly didn’t notice a huge difference. I took probiotics for a month as well to try to restore my gut flora.

Another thing I noticed is that my symptoms become much worse during my periods. Before surgery, I never had painful periods at all.

I’ve personally been wondering about SIBO or some kind of bacterial imbalance, but gastroenterologists don’t seem to consider it seriously.

I currently have a flexible sigmoidoscopy scheduled, as well as a dynamic pelvic MRI.

I was also prescribed PPIs (proton pump inhibitors / medications like Prilosec, Nexium, Protonix in the US) because I supposedly had acid reflux, but I tolerated them very badly, so now I only take Gaviscon (same brand name in the US).

What do you think? Could this sound like SIBO or something else entirely?