I am struggling big time with lower abdominal pain. Besides the bloating and pain there are other issues but I won’t get into detail. I think I may have a parasite from a trip I took to Honduras in June. I have been to three different doctors (including gastro ent, tropical disease md) and have had no luck in treating it. From what I have read parasites can be very difficult to detect and treat. Diabetics are also more susceptible to them. The doctors are not convinced it’s a parasite but they also have no answers for me. Any suggestions???
Go to your local health food/vitamin store and get a Digestive Enzyme (ask for help if you can’t find them). Take one with each meal. You may have ingested something on your trip that has messed up the chemical balance in your digestion process. This will rebalance you, doens’t need to be taken forever and you should feel results within a couple days. Good Luck.
I’ll give it a try! Thanks!
Hi Brian,
Where exactly is the pain? Front, back, side? Is it a sharp, stabbing pain, or a dull ache? Constant or intermittent? How long have you been in pain?
Is ameobeic dysentry was excluded? it is common after visits to tropical places.
Being type1 diabetes have you been screened for celiac lately?
Hope you will get better soon
I just got some blood tests back and again it does not seem to indicate a parasite. The pain is a consistent rumbling and grumbing in the front lower part of my abdomen. It’s there as soon as I wake and until I go to bed. Every few weeks it gets really bad and I’ll have extreme sharp pains for a day and then it goes back to the regular grumbling. On thing the blood test showed was a lower red blood cell count and high bilirubin. The doc didn’t seem too concerned but I’m wondering what that means.
High bilirubin counts are attributed to jaundice. Have you noticed your skin is turning yellow or the whites of your eyes aren’t as clear as they should be? Jaundice is a symptom of something else being out of whack. Talk with your doctor again about those high counts. Jaundice left untreated can cause liver damage. We already have enough side complications to deal with. You certainly don’t want that on top of it. Also ask to be checked for Hepatitis as Jaundice is a side effect of that.
I have not noticed any yellowing of my skin.
Brian,have you been tested for celiac disease? it mimicks irritable bowel syndrome .You need a good general physcian to listen to you and decide what next
I have not been tested for celiacd disease. I would hate to have an even more restricted diet…but i would like to but an end to this.
Hi Brian,
I really agree that you need to be checked for celiac disease. Even if the blood work does not come back as a true celiac it may be that you are extremely sensitive or intolerant of wheat and gluten. My daughter is too. The truest test is an endoscopy. You should talk to the doc about having both upper and lower. You need the biopsies. I know it is a hassle to prep for them, but then you know for sure They can put you into twilight sleep for the procedures and it is over with very quickly. A word of caution though. If you have the blood work drawn, do NOT cut out the wheat and gluten before the test. You want it to show up. My daughter swallows gas pills each time she eats and has cut out all wheat and gluten and does very well without it. If this is what it is, it is very treatable and you will not be in misery like now. The gas pills help tremendously and I pray you get an answer soon. The longer you leave it untreated the more likely you will have other involvement. For some reason not a lot of docs think about celiac right away, but if you ask your doc it is easy to get the blood work drawn and the tests ordered. I know you are in misery and will keep you in my prayers. We will all be with you and help you through. I send you my prayers, my hugs and all my support.
Blessings be to you.
I talked with my endo and apparently i tested negative for celiac back in 2002. I don’t know if that means I couldn’t test positive now. I don’t really eat a lot of wheat products so I not so sure that may be the problem.
Well Brian,you have symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome which mimick celiac symptoms,your Hb is low,with high bilirubin,ask your endo if he can check it now ( last 2002,6 y ago!!!) Just to be on the safe side,you are type1
My daughter went through this last year. It was awful. She was finally diagnosed with gastritis/abdominal migraines. We took her to the ER twice in one day with her screaming in pain. The ER Dr.s thougt it was the flu…That same night she ended up in a ambulance for a 1 1/2 hr drive to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. We actually spent six days there before all the Dr’s could come up with something. If she starts to get a upset stomach she immediately takes a Nexium now…If she feels any headache coming on…immediately she takes a motrin. For the constipation and gas she will take a gentle stool softner like Colace. The pediactric gastro dr told us that the glucose can cause all kinds of gastro problems. Chloe was vomitting coffee grain dried up blood by day three in the hospital…I hope this helps and I did not freak you out:)
Hey Brian, have you gotten any anwers yet? I was recently diag with celiac. My world has changed since starting the gluten free diet. I was missed diag for years. Doctors told me I had IBS, Gasto paralisis, acid reflux and more. I had a upper and lower endoscope and all came back clear. Finally I got so bad that they did some more blood work and stool samples to check for parisites because I had been out of the country a cople of times in the past few years. I was overwhelmed at first with having to guggle D and Celiac diets. It is well worth it to feel so much better. No more gas, bloading and all the other syptoms that go along with it. I wish you well and hope you have some answers.
Teresa
Hey Teresa,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have actually been feeling better after a week on Flagyl. It’s an absolutely horrible antibiotic to be on but it effectively deals with parasites, bacteria etc. I think it may have solved the problem. Most of the stomach pain I was dealing with has subsided. I was tested for Celiac about 6 years ago and tested negative. I still notice some bouts of fatigue after eating. Might not be a bad idea to get retested.
I am going through that right now. It has been very bad. I have missed 4 days of work. I went to the ER but nothing showed up even after abdominal xray
Not everything shows up in xray, ultrasounds and ct scans. If the pain continues go get an endoscopy and colonoscopy.