This is gonna get graphic. Poop talk is graphic.
As far back as I can remember I've always had stomach issues. Always had a lot of gas, a lot of pain, a lot of constipation, and a lot of diarrhea. However, when I was younger I always assumed anything I experienced bodily was just part of me, part of life. It has taken til recently as I'm older, to reevaluate my health so now I know what I experience is not normal in general [although seemingly completely normal to me]. I know now that there is a medical term for what I'm experiencing and a way to treat it.
My digestive system has always been an enemy of mine and something I've very much kept in the dark. I think I've farted in front of a very very small select number of individuals. I've blamed my gas on pets, other people, etc. I hate pooping in public restrooms to the point that I've gone extraordinary lengths to avoid it or alter the situation greatly. I burp like it's my second language. I also hurt, a lot.
A week before my trip to Las Vegas in July this year, I ate out at Olive Garden. I simply had a glass of wine, some water, calamari, tons of salad and breadsticks with marinara, and spaghetti with a five cheese sauce. That day, already, my stomach didn't feel its best [but that's hardly unusual]. Later that night I felt worse and then great pain came the next day. I had this horrible pain in my stomach, that I realize now is cramping, but at the time the best way to describe it was like I was in labor with a child. Granted, I've never given birth nor gone through labor, but these feelings were like contractions of my intestines rather than my uterus. This pain was at its peak during the first day or two and was constant. After that, the pain came and went everyday but less often and usually would temporarily go away once I pooped. I lost some of my appetite and had diarrhea for about 10 or so days straight. I continued my life somewhat as usual, working two jobs and eating what I usually eat but in much smaller portions due to my lack of appetite. I felt functional but in a great deal of pain. I knew it wasn't food poisoning because I've experienced that many times before and that generally only lasts a day for me. I avoided drinking alcohol for fear of making it worse. Need I also mention that my friend that I ate that dinner with did not experience any of this.
It came to the point that the Vegas trip was nearing and I was really worried about not feeling better by then. I finally discussed my issues with my best friend and her husband [the friends I was going to Vegas with] who told me more about Activia and Imodium. The plan was to take Activia the day before in hopes to clear me out because we felt that there was something inside me causing all this crap [literally] that needed to be cleared out. Then before the road trip I would take Imodium to plug me up. I took the Activia although it did nothing, but I had my first day of not pooping constantly so I didn't feel the need to take Imodium and I was scared that would only build up the pain I was feeling. I finally felt noticeably better but was still paranoid for what my stomach had in store for me. I was finally at the end stage of this horrible sickness although my stomach was not accustomed to holding large portions anymore so I got full on food and alcohol very quickly and the fullness seemed to last forever. This prevented me from getting really drunk, which essentially is a good thing, but made the Vegas trip less on the crazy side.
Literally three and a half weeks after the Vegas trip, I got sick again. I decided to make special plans with a friend to go out for sushi on a Friday night. I was really excited because I hadn't had sushi in a while and I've only been to this particular restaurant once before and enjoyed it a lot. I had one sake bomber, water, edamame, and 2 rolls of sushi. I started to feel very weird a couple hours after dinner, particularly in my legs. My legs hurt like hell, very similar to growing pains. The next day the abdominal cramping came back in full fucking force. I was back in a personal hell with even more excruciating pain and again to find out that my friend was unaffected by the food. The leg pain and aches lasted for about 2 to 3 days. I had the weekend to recoup but found that I could not eat anything because I had absolutely no appetite this time and the pain only grew worse when I did eat. Even drinking liquids was hard for me. This round was by far the worse thing I have ever experienced in my life. All I could do was lie in fetal position holding my stomach in hopes to make it feel just a little better. I napped, which I never do. I managed to drink more water since I felt very dehydrated. Finally Sunday night came and I realized there was no way I could work the next day. I was so scared because I had no idea what was wrong with me and it was disabling me so much, I couldn't do anything at all. So I got the Monday off both of my jobs and made an appointment with my doctor. I made it to the doctors worried that I would shit myself or something because generally the there was no warning, only pain, and when you need to go you need to go immediately. I managed to wait it out in the waiting room, surprisingly. Talked to the nurse and then the doctor. Did a urine and later a blood test. Basically found out that I had the stomach virus Gastroenteritis [which I was leaning towards since I did some research beforehand], indigestion, and dehydration. The blood test was to make sure there wasn't any serious bacteria in my system amongst other things, which I found out I didn't have.
By doctor's order I had to get on the BRAT diet which involved bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. When she mentioned those foods, it sounded a lot better than anything I had tried to eat. I had to drink at least 64 ounces of water everyday [because tons of diarrhea equals major dehydration], take fiber supplements, and take Imodium every time I had diarrhea. I also was referred to a Gastroenterologist, which I managed to get an appointment for a month later. After my doctor visit I went to the store to pick up some of the foods. When I arrived home I made two slices of toast and had a cup of applesauce, this was by far the most I had eaten since I got sick. I continued to have the full force of pain and took it a day at a time and ended up calling out of work for an entire week. I've never done that in my entire working career. The worst part was my summer jobs were ending that week because my job at school started on Wednesday. Thus, this virus caused me to miss the first 3 days of school which I felt terrible about. But it needed to be done. I continued to take fiber and Imodium and eat vegetables, fruits, toast, and applesauce all week.
Eventually my body aches went away but I came upon a new disruption, a massive headache. Every time I moved or changed positions between sitting and standing my head hurt like a motherfucker. It felt like a hangover even though I hadn't touched a drink since eating at the sushi restaurant. This lasted for about a day and a half. I finally realized that it was probably caffeine withdrawal since I hadn't had soda in several days. I bought some Coca Cola and drank it slowly [since my stomach was still not accustomed to holding much]. And the headache finally went away.
When I was feeling slightly better I decided to test my consumption boundaries. My brother and I went to Burger King. I put a lot of thought into whether dinning in or not. Decided it was best to stay there in case I needed to run to the bathroom. Need me tell you an important detail: while I was sick, I went to the bathroom with diarrhea multiple times an hour, every hour. Yeah. So I was almost done with my little hamburger and indeed had to run to the bathroom in the middle of a conversation. After that I stuck with the fruits and veggies. So you can see that shitting constantly can be very disabling, tiring, annoying, and painful. So it was a good thing I didn't work all week. Going to the bathroom that often started to install a feeling in me of VIP status over the bathroom. It really did, I felt some odd sense of ownership over the bathroom, and no shame of how many times I had to walk there. As odd as this all sounds, it actually felt really nice for a change. As I said, going to the bathroom was a hard thing for me, it's embarrassing especially when people notice you going in there, how long you spend there, and how bad it smells. But since I had a stomach virus, I had every right to be in that bathroom all day and to get dibs on it if someone else wanted to use it too.
The weekend came and my friend and I had tickets to a Fetish Heat event. We had the whole weekend planned out. She made me spaghetti and I surprisingly held up well but not totally unaffected. It was the largest meal I had since first getting sick. I decided to quit drinking for awhile and my friend doesn't drink, so we attended a fetish event completely sober and that was definitely interesting. I didn't have to go to the bathroom at all while at the event [we were there for a few hours] and I was thrilled about it. The next morning my friend made me french toast which also did not upset me. If I remember correctly, I had my first solid poop that day. Or maybe it was the following weekend, whenever it was, I was excited about it. Very.
I decided I was well enough to go back to work on Monday. I warned my coworkers that I may have to use the bathroom without warning. It ended up going well although I knew I was not fully healed. In total I felt my normal self after 3 weeks. I drank a few times and wine is the least harmful so I stick with that most of the time, which is nice. Still I've cut down a great deal on drinking and have found myself very uninterested in bar/night life lately.
Since seeing the doctor and to this day I take fiber capsules everyday, eat much better and eat out very infrequently. As my lifestyle changes were set, my stomach caused me less trouble than I've ever had in my life. During that second virus I was growing extremely worried and paranoid of food and that there was something seriously wrong with me. But with the diet changes, increased fiber intake, and less eating out, I wasn't so worried. It came down to me predicting that I have IBS rather than a much more serious illness. This was confirmed when I finally saw the specialist this week. I'm happy to have finally found out something concrete to call all this that I have been experiencing. Plus if it weren't for the virus experiences I probably would of never went to find out more about my digestive system, at least not any time soon. Having a name to it gives me empowerment much like I was describing before. I no longer have as much to no shame about going to the bathroom or talking about my issues. It's so fucking great actually.
Below is a photo of the directions the specialist gave to me. I have to continue what I'm doing now with additional steps. He prescribed me some medication to relax the muscles in my colon for if I ever experience pain or diarrhea. I've taken the medicine a couple times so far and it does seem to help.
IBS is fascinating because there is no known organic cause and no cure. There is treatment fortunately, as you can see. Disruptions to dietary routines, stress, and certain foods trigger episodes. For me, the first two is definitely true, as the for the certain foods I'm still trying to determine those. I will be keeping track, soon, of what I eat and how it effects me. Before my diagnosis, I knew that eating out generally always causes issues for me. I know now that I do not have food allergies, I'm not lactose intolerant, and meat does not bother me. Healthy foods work great and I like them so it's win-win. However I will need to figure out if there are specific food items that set me off. I know more and more people now that have IBS and they have a good handle on what is good and bad for them.
This pretty much sums where I'm at now. I do have to make a follow up appointment with my regular doctor to go over any additional information since seeing the specialist. For now I'm just coming to terms with the fact that IBS is another part of me. Poop rant is over! For now...
1 comment:
As you know, I also have stomach madness. I'm glad you were finally able to get some answers and solutions that are improving your life. I pretty much gave up drinking (except for the occasional beer) and most dairy stuff; those are just my triggers, but I still cheat sometimes. I also always have the route to the bathroom mapped out in my mind-it's just automatic. I think it's interesting how so many people have medical stuff going on below the surface but are so good at keeping it to themselves that most people would never know. When I got IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) it made me look at people in a new light; it really opened my eyes to the fact that people are often walking among us and masking their pain and just fighting through it. I guess what I mean is, it made me more compassionate. I'm glad you shared this.
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