u/rowphelia

I’ve been dealing with SIBO since May, and have recently been freaking out over leg muscle weakness and spasms, shortness of breath, heart palps, fatigue, increased anxiety and all sorts of issues. I thought it was maybe MS or GBS. After a go-around with an unhelpful ER and other doctors who did not provide any help or guidance, I went to get tested at a lab on my own and results came back with a pretty severe iron deficiency (11ng ferratin) and a Vitamin D deficiency (28ng).

I’m sure this seems like a no brainer—duh, nutrient malabsorption—but it’s easy to fall behind on nutrients when SIBO bacteria are eating all of them, and when you’ve restricted half your diet like I have. Word to the wise to get your levels checked if you’re having other systemic issues! Unfortunately these deficiencies can make GI problems worse.

Diagnosed with SIBO this week (though my doctor cancelled my breath test and just prescribed Xifaxan, so not sure which type).

I was wondering if I should try to eat probiotic-rich foods while on Xifaxan, or avoid them entirely? During my first couple months of symptoms, my dysbiosis was extremely painful and sensitive to everything, and I have made gradual improvement on healing it, so I’m wary to throw everything out of whack again with an antibiotic. My concern is that if Xifaxan totally wipes out all the bacteria in my gut, that will also have adverse effects in the opposite direction. Is it beneficial to supplement with something like kefir? (As a note, I mistakenly tried a probiotic last month, and it made things much worse for a bit.)

A little at a loss for what to expect so appreciative of any insight. I have considered just trying Motility Pro first to see if that works for me without a kill phase, just because I’m so wary of disrupting my gut balance even further.

Hey all, just had an EGD that came back with a result of reactive gastropathy, which I know is a cousin of gastritis. I started having bad GI and stomach issues a few months ago after what I thought was food poisoning (after no prior GI issues), but I honestly thought the problem was in my intestines.

Does anyone have helpful tips for treating this? Is it something I should be concerned about? My lab report specifically said "antral-type mucosa with marked reactive gastropathy with vascular congestion and surface erosions in a background of increased chronic inflammation." sooo not sure how serious that is

Was wondering if anyone here had experience with the compounded ear gel for their aggressive cat.

For background, my younger cat (2F) — let's call her Cordelia — has been super aggressive toward my older cat Aspen (7F) lately. Cordelia was a very nervous kitten that was a street rescue, but I honestly thought she would kind of grow out of it, but she seems to only grow more aggressive and nervous with age. She was very friendly with Aspen in her kitten days outside of play-fighting.

Last month I took them both to the vet, and while vet visits have caused some drama in the past, this time has been the worst. Cordelia had a slightly traumatic ER vet experience earlier this year and so gets very aggro now about them. The cats fought the first week I brought them home, and Cordelia has been off to Aspen ever since. Recently, she's been going after Aspen very aggressively, ripping out her fur with her teeth, then when Aspen responds, Cordelia turns it into a real fight and starts hissing and chasing.

I have Aspen on Amitrip daily because of her anxiety. I'm wondering if I should do the same for Cordelia, because the situation is stressing out both of my cats a lot and I'm not sure it's ever going away at this point. (Yes, I've tried Feliway, for this and past cat conflicts — it's never really worked.) Almost every day now I have to break up a fight and keep them in separate rooms for a bit. Cordelia also hisses any time guests are over (she didn't used to), so I honestly think she's just EXTREMELY stressed out and lashing out from fear and being territorial for no reason. Any kind of conflict with Aspen causes her immense stress even if she's the initiator; one time she stopped eating for days because she and Aspen weren't getting along after a vet visit.

The thing is, Cordelia is so aggressive and feral rn that I could not pill her the way I do Aspen, no chance. I would need to do the ear gel, and even that might be a problem. Has anyone had experience with this, and has it helped with aggression in younger cats?? Is it a huge pain to administer? I fear the aggression has become a permanent part of Cordelia's very quirky personality.

32F. You might have seen me lurking here ahead of my procedures. Lol this will be a very thorough post but thought I’d do a full writeup for others in the thread seeking assurance before their procedures; this was all the info I would have liked to have had when I was anxiously scrolling before mine, as it was my first one!

Symptoms

Reacted violently to something in April, possibly food poisoning but I still don’t know. Otherwise: Bloating, belching, gas pains up and down, abdominal and gut cramps/spasms, inconsistent BMs but mostly leaning toward diarrhea, early fullness, sensation of incomplete evacuation after BM, burning/acid on an empty stomach. General GI discomfort for three months straight. I have lost 10 pounds since this started in April, which is about 5% of my body weight. Possibly blood in stool, but if there is, it’s hard for me to see/occult.

I have generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and OCD, a lot of which tends to center around my health. So this has been fun for me!

Before Prep

I ended up going the SuTab route, at the urging of friends who have had the procedure. It was $45 extra but I think worth it for what I heard about liquid prep. I didn’t even really have to push for it with my doctors/pharmacist, I just asked when they tried to give me the liquid and they accommodated.

I stocked up on two vats of pho broth from my favorite place, then strained it to make sure all of the herbs and veggies were out. Can’t recommend this highly enough; it tastes much better than store-bought broth! Also devoured a bunch of lemon-lime Jell-Os, and switched up a bunch of drinks to keep from getting too bored throughout the day — decaf black coffee, sparkling water, regular water, Diet Coke, lemon-lime Gatorade (if I never have another lemon-lime flavored thing again, I’ll be happy).

Also stocked up on: Prep H wipes, regular flushable wipes, obviously a lot of TP, and Vaseline and AD ointment. I bought a bidet but couldn’t get it installed in time, though I do think this would have been suuuuper helpful. I had Zofran from a past scrip, but could not find it, so ended up raw-dogging it, but I hear it is very helpful for nausea if you take it before your first round.

Learnings: I actually would not recommend the Prep H wipes during this (personally) because they stung like a mofo. 

Trying to cozify it in my mind as much as possible helped with the anxiety. Yayyy, this is a chance to read a book, play a game on my Switch, clear my schedule for the night, etc.

During Prep

Round 1: I had some pho broth like 45 minutes before and I think this helped with nausea because I wasn’t taking 12 pills on an empty stomach. I also found that walking around my place between doses helped settle my stomach. Meds kicked in after about 15 minutes from when I was done.

I had a little bit of pain/cramping toward the beginning of prep but tbh my GI has been all over the place with whatever I’ve got going on and I think I was having diarrhea even before it started. So take that with a grain of salt. I was straight liquid from the beginning, so I was pretty clear by the time I went to bed. Most of it stopped by 10:30-11, so I was out like a light until I was up at 5am again for round 2.

I thought prep would be much more painful. I know everyone here has described it as “peeing from your butt,” and I can’t really describe it better than that. The actual pooping is not painful at all. It’s just straight water out your booty. 

Round 2: I took some jello before this round to help settle my stomach, but I honestly wish I had gotten up a bit earlier to eat more pho broth beforehand because the second round was rougher on my very empty stomach. Again, walking around helped. Also started to kick in about 15 minutes after my last dose, and the worst of it stopped before the appointment.

Procedure

I had both a colonoscopy and an EGD. My anxiety beforehand was probably the worst part tbh, as I don't like needles or IVs and I was squirrelly about the anesthesia. They were running a bit behind so I was kinda stuck there with an IV for a half an hour. But once they pushed the anesthesia I was out, and they said I did really well when I was under, etc.

A lot of people here say they’re super alert and ready to go when they wake up, but I had honestly a tougher time coming out of the anesthesia. I was pretty woozy, my teeth were chattering and I had leg spasms (probably because the hospital was so cold?), and I also couldn’t really walk because my legs were so weak, so they had to wheelchair me out. However, I have a few anxiety disorders which contribute to symptoms like these, and I tend to be more sensitive to drugs. I am still pretty out of it tbh.

Results

NO CANCER! They diagnosed me with post-infectious IBS, mild diverticulosis, and they found some stuff in my stomach that might be H. pylori, so waiting on the biopsy results for that as well as for microscopic colitis. PI-IBS and HP were my suspicions going in.

They have recommended Xifaxan for treatment of the IBS, if the microscopic colitis comes back negative.

Just ate a shit-ton of sushi and about to pass out. Thank you again to this sub for all the kind assurances and advice :)

[UPDATE] My full experience + results are here! https://www.reddit.com/r/colonoscopy/comments/1v3qr0f/survived_my_first_procedures_some_learnings/

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Hello, 32F, back in this (very kind) reddit because my first procedure is tomorrow (both colonoscopy and EGD) and I'm feeling very anxious and am not sure what to do with myself. More scared for the results than the actual procedure, at this point, though I'm also nervous for prep in a few hours and for getting knocked out. (edit) For prep, I am doing the SuTab pills at several friends' urging.

(Background on symptoms: Reacted very violently to something in April, possibly food poisoning but I don't know? Bloating, belching, gas pains up and down, intense abdominal and gut cramps/spasms, inconsistent BMs but mostly leaning toward diarrhea, early fullness, sensation of incomplete evacuation after BM. General GI discomfort. I have lost 10 pounds since this started in April, which is about 5% of my body weight. CT scan with contrast in May showed nothing weird, but labs in May showed elevated WBC in blood; a urine sample yesterday showed high WBC in my urine, so trying not to completely spiral.)

I'm so scared they're going to tell me it's CRC. I keep looping on the thought of it over and over again of waking up to that news, and I spend hours a day researching symptoms. I know truly the only way to know is through the procedure, but I'm also scared of knowing, because I have extremely bad health anxiety, and if they tell me they've found something bad I think I might completely panic.

Does anyone have suggestions for how I can distract myself from the constant doomscrolling??

Also, started clear liquid diet this morning and MAN I'm hungry :(

Hi, 32F, trying to figure out what's been going on with me. Had a bout of what I think was bad food poisoning in April, and my GI has been completely out of whack ever since. Some of the main symptoms: bloating, early fullness, belching/trapped gas, abdominal cramps, gut spasms, altered bowels, stomach cramps/burning, especially when empty. What I can eat is all over the place on a given day, but I definitely cannot consume dairy or anything highly processed anymore. Some days I feel almost back to normal, and then I backslide for the next few days.

Most of the descriptions I see of HP only describe it as an upper GI problem, but at least half of my problems are localized to my intestines and colon. My question: Can HP cause side effects in your lower GI as well? Or does this likely mean it's something else?

I have been trying to rule out post-infectious IBS and SIBO, but I had a urine sample today that came back with a high white blood cell count; I have no symptoms of a UTI, so I'm wondering if an infection like HP can cause this kind of reaction/inflammation. My WBC count was also high in my blood back in May.

I have a colonoscopy and EGD scheduled for this week to get everything checked out; just wondering if anyone had experienced lower GI symptoms with this...thanks!

32F. I am 6 days out from my first procedure, and am at a loss on what I can eat and when. My instructions just say to eat a low residue diet in the three days leading up, but I’ve seen posts here talk about eating low residue and low fiber as much as a week out.

Does anyone know what is best in terms of timeline, and if so, what I can actually eat? I’m driving myself nuts trying to find an overlap between low fiber, low residue, and low FODMAP foods (to ease my painful symptoms). I am out of town this weekend, which makes eating restrictively difficult; should I just follow instructions and not worry about limiting my diet until Sunday?

Hi, I'm 32F, young for a colonoscopy, but I've been having bad GI symptoms since I had (what I think was) a bout of food poisoning in April. Because I'm already experiencing GI distress (which I suspect, but am not sure, is SIBO), I am scared for how painful the prep is going to be for me. Also a little scared to go under, though I've been under once before and everyone says it's painless and easy. Lastly, I'm scared for results — it's best if I know ASAP if it's something like cancer, but I'm still dreading it if they come back to me with bad news. They're also doing an EGD.

I opted to take the pills/tablets instead of the liquid, as many of my friends highly recommended. But the concept of taking SO many pills in such quick succession is freaking me out. Any advice for a first-timer? Are the pills gonna kill me?

32F. For context, I had what I think was food poisoning or an infection in late April, but I'm not sure. System has been totally messed up since. Had almost no GI issues prior to this. Almost daily, I experience bloating, abdominal cramps, nausea, BMs all over the place. Stool sample came back normal. I've lost probably 6-7 pounds since this whole thing started. Every so often, I'll have a single day where I feel back to normal, and then it's back to shit again. I have tried to track my diet around this (low-FODMAP, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc) but what triggers it seems to be totally random.

I have been spiraling nonstop about colon cancer. I'm planning to schedule a colonoscopy and an EGD at my GI doc's rec, but not sure how soon I can get in. I have no family history and as far as I can see, no blood in my stool (though I know sometimes it's not visible). But I'm spending literally hours a day now doomscrolling about colon cancer symptoms and am just wondering if anyone else here has dealt with this specific thing, and how you tell the difference between the two, because I know CC sometimes shows up without blood.

[Edit] As a note, I tried a probiotic pill at my doc's rec and was in terrible pain for DAYS. It definitely made everything worse. That's what's led me to think maybe it's SIBO.

32F, white, 5'4, 179 lbs, USA. No family history of colorectal disease. I know the only way to know for sure is to get a colonoscopy, but in the meantime, it's hard not to spiral.

I've always been pretty regular, no prior GI issues unless traveling. On April 29, I had a really violent reaction to something I ate; this, at least, is the first time I can remember having severe symptoms. (I think I might have been slightly irregular before that; this is just the first concrete date I remember.) That morning, I had diarrhea, shaking, chills, sweating, nausea, almost vomited, cramping pain, thought I was going into shock/was gonna die. It passed quickly so I thought that was that, but in the weeks after, my body has been destroying itself.

Symptoms:

I was abroad for a week in mid-May and my symptoms were extremely acute: bloating (so much so I looked and felt pregnant), feeling full super easily, abdominal and gut cramping, alternating between constipation and diarrhea, belching even on an empty stomach, nausea, but mostly just bowel discomfort all of the time. I have tried eating low FODMAP and also taking probiotics; I took a formal probiotic yesterday (Align) for the first time and I am still suffering the results. Extreme GI discomfort and cramping ever since. (I had ruled out SIBO because my symptoms felt more lower-intestinal, but with this reaction, idk???)

I've lost 5-6 pounds since this whole thing started, which has freaked me out more about cancer, though I know in part it might be that I can't really eat much beyond super bland and my appetite has suffered. (Was also walking 10-20k steps a day in Europe and not really eating.)

I was given Bentyl at the ER to help with the constant gut cramps but I tried it once and really didn't like the side effects. Otherwise have been treating with Pepto and Gas X.

Results:

Waiting on the results of a stool sample and trying not to spiral. I went to the ER the day before my trip, and they told me my blood, CT scan, and urine were normal, but when I looked at my results online later, my WBC was high, and ketones and hemoglobin were abnormal in my urine. Not sure why they didn't share this with me. Saw a GI doc on Monday who, based on the length of my symptoms, recommended a colonoscopy and an endoscopy, and I'm scared sh*tless, if you'll forgive the pun.

I realize this could be a number of things all with overlapping symptoms: SIBO, post-infectious IBS, dysbiosis. It's possible I had an infection and my body is still just trying to re-regulate, though I'm not sure this level of pain and consistency in symptoms is normal months later. But I can't stop freaking out that it's cancer. I know I shouldn't seek reassurance on here but I am truly just miserable, and I don't know what's making this better or worse. It's been almost two months now of constant discomfort and pain, and I have another small trip this week that I'm preemptively so upset that I'll be this sick for.

Might be worth mentioning that I have anxiety and OCD, which I know make the gut symptoms worse.

Has anyone experienced this?? (Thank you for reading to the end if you did.)

For context, I had food poisoning in late April. I was on a weeklong trip to Europe last week in which my body had an intense GI flare-up for days and days – it felt like post-infectious IBS or SIBO as my gut microbiome rebuilt from whatever I had. Granted, we were still walking 15k-20k steps a day because I am a very brave soldier, but I came back home and found out I'd lost about 5 pounds in a week. It is usually pretty difficult for me to drop weight. Is this normal for IBS complications or should I be really worried it's something more?

(Went to the ER right before I left for GI symptoms — bloodwork, urine sample, cat scan all normal.)

Currently on an overseas Delta flight and a massive rumbling rolls through the plane every two seconds; I can feel it through my entire body + the seat. Almost like a giant cat purring. It’s enough that I can’t sleep. I don’t remember this from other flights; is it normal?

Hi guys, I’m brand new to shooting on film. I’m shooting on an Olympus MJU Zoom. I was messing around with it (after film roll was already loaded) and opened the back film door a few times — I heard the film roll advance each time I did that (I think).

Couple questions: 1) Does this mean all my preexisting shots were ruined by light exposure? 2) I assume this means I have fewer remaining exposures I can take, if the film roll was in fact advancing? I didn’t realize opening the back door would automatically do that, so. :/

I have two rolls of new film unused so will know better for next time, but will be a huge bummer if all the film from the first part of my trip is wrecked!

I'm in a bit of a pickle, y'all. I've been to two doctors (one ER) and they haven't been helpful.

So I have no history of GI problems; always very regular, no IBS or food restrictions or allergies, etc. Over the last few weeks, something strange has been happening to my body. I've been bloating like CRAZY, like so crazy that my abdomen is distended and sometimes I will go hours and hours without feeling full because I already feel so full I'm sick. There have been times I've felt so full it's felt like my stomach has been about to explode. Stomach cramps and gut cramps, somehow both constipated and diarrheaic at the same time. I hate eating now because eating means pain, but I am also in pain when I'm hungry, and I'm never really hungry, I just feel it when my body needs food. I am going crazy trying to figure out what's wrong with me, and because I don't know what's wrong with me, I have no idea how to make it better.

The problem is that this came about right as I had a trip abroad. This happened before I left, but I'm currently trying to navigate these issues in a different country. I went to the ER the day before I left, but my bloodwork, cat scan and urine sample all came back normal, so the docs didn't really do anything to help. So I have no idea, really, what's making it better or making it worse; which meds to take; etc. (I considered cancelling my trip but we'd sunk so much money into it, I couldn't bail on my friend, I was told by the ER it wasn't serious, etc.)

For context: On April 29, I got violently sick in response to...something. It actually passed pretty fast but it was ghastly. I have to assume it was something I ate, but I was in so much pain I thought I was gonna die — full diarrhea with shakes, my body temperature plummeted, chills and sweats, full-body shock, I nearly threw up. The symptoms seemed to ease up after that (though the bloating and irregular BMs never went away), but they've been worse over the last week. So it could be my gut re-regulating after whatever the hell that was, but it's been two and a half weeks now, and it doesn't really seem to be improving. 

But is it possible it's SIBO? Is this a temporary thing, or is it possible that it becomes permanent? I've been trying to stick to blander food but I'm in a country with the most SIBO-unfriendly food ever, and I also have no experience in trying to eat selectively like this. I have Pepto, Zofran, Bentyl, Gas X all on me but don't even know what to take because I'm worried about doing anything to make it worse. To be honest, I am very frightened in general of what's going on!

Any advice or insight, based on others with similar experience, is super welcome!!

I'm in a bit of a pickle, y'all. I've been to two doctors (one ER) and they haven't been helpful.

So I have no history of GI problems; always very regular, no IBS or food restrictions or allergies, etc. Over the last few weeks, something really strange has been happening to my body. I've been bloating like CRAZY, like so crazy that my abdomen is distended and sometimes I will go hours and hours without feeling full because I already feel so full I'm sick. There have been times I've felt so full it's felt like my stomach has been about to explode. Stomach cramps and gut cramps, somehow both constipated and diarrheaic at the same time. I hate eating now because eating means pain, but I am also in pain when I'm hungry, and I'm never really hungry, I just feel it when my body needs food. I am going crazy trying to figure out what's wrong with me, and because I don't know what's wrong with me, I have no idea how to make it better.

The problem is that this came about right as I had a trip abroad. This happened before I left, but I'm currently trying to navigate these issues in a different country. I went to the ER the day before I left, but my bloodwork, cat scan and urine sample all came back normal, so the docs didn't really do anything to help. So I have no idea, really, what's making it better or making it worse; which meds to take; if I'm slowly dying of some infection, etc. I considered cancelling my trip but we'd sunk so much money into it, I couldn't bail on my friend, I was told by the ER it wasn't serious, etc.

For context: On April 29, I got violently sick in response to...something. It actually passed pretty fast but it was ghastly. I have to assume it was something I ate, but I was in so much pain I thought I was gonna die — full diarrhea with shakes, my body temperature plummeted, chills and sweats, full-body shock, I nearly threw up. The symptoms seemed to ease up after that (though the bloating and irregular BMs never went away), but they've been worse over the last week. So it could be my gut re-regulating after whatever the hell that was, but it's been two and a half weeks now, and it doesn't really seem to be improving. (For additional context, I also have two anxiety disorders and OCD, especially around health. I know there's a brain-gut connection to consider as well.)

Does anyone have a good idea of what this might be, and what might help? Again, I'm trying to figure this out from a different country, and fending off constant anxiety that I'm going to have some crazy medical emergency in public halfway across the planet from home. I just want to know this is going to get better because I'm in pain/discomfort 24/7 and it is so awful. I have Pepto, Zofran, Bentyl, Gas X all on me but don't even know what to take because I'm worried about doing anything to make it worse.

Any advice or insight, based on others with similar experience, is super welcome!!

i’m not supposed to post here because it’s bad for my OCD to seek assurance but i’m on a delta flight that’s been delayed four hours for maintenance. right now they’re running an engine check and it’s freaking me out because it makes me think the craft is defective or not safe to fly. it’s a 9 hour flight so i have plenty of time to spiral about this. does anyone have more clarity into the maintenance process so that i’m not needlessly freaking out about the engine combusting or something? thank you