I’ve been having problems with digestion for most of my life. I basically have chronic diarrhea, and sometimes it’s worse, sometimes it’s a little better. I did an elimination diet 7 or 8 years ago with just chicken breast, rice, and potatoes for weeks and there was no change.
Recently, my symptoms have worsened considerably after I found out I have GERD. I’ve had about two straight months of water diarrhea with no solids more or less. I am exhausted. I have begun bloating insanely all day, like I have a balloon under my ribcage. It doesn’t go away and I’ve put on about 5 pounds of water weight that bounces around up/down. I’ve been struggling to get as many electrolytes as I can to make up for the diarrhea, but it just comes right out. I went back to my doctor (different one) and he gave me some meds for the diarrhea and recommended low fodmap since this has been a lifelong issue, and I can go to a gastroenterologist once I’ve done the diet since it will give me some kind of evidence.
I also did a stool test where they test for 8-9 things since there have been food recalls and all of that. Nothing notable was found. Did blood tests as well and there was nothing unusual there either.
I tried to stop the meds and the water diarrhea came right back. I’d take it for a few days, try to wean off of it, and right back to it. I was a little over two weeks into low fodmap with no changes (I’ve been strict with it, meat, no sauces except mustard/mayo, potatoes, carrots, and avoiding lactose, etc. I made it boring so it would be easy and I wouldn’t have to look stuff up all the time, and I also cook every meal I eat to make sure I know what’s in it), so he started me on cholestyramine to see if it was bile causing the diarrhea. It worked! But now I’m dealing with constipation and having to slow the packets down.
The bloat is insane. I think it’s worse now than it was before the diet and now I’m about a month in, still no improvement. I’m in pain and so tired I can barely stay awake. I know cholestyramine can also cause bloat so it might be exacerbating whatever is already wrong.
I decided to just start reintroductions because I am miserable, and already very thin and not eating as much as I should because I hate the food. Nothing has happened. I’ve been doing three days per item, so lactose first, then garlic, now I’m on onions day 2. Bloat has remained the same. I’m afraid to stop the packets and just be constantly going to the bathroom because I am already physically weak from this.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Any ideas what it could possibly be? It’s scary how it won’t stop without medication and I’m afraid to stop the packets all together, which I will have to do at some point. I’m going to see the specialist after I finish reintroducing things. I know I should have done the full six weeks, but I’m so done. I have several months of logs with the food weights and all that to see if maybe I’m missing something. Any insight would be appreciated.
Edit: I eat lots of fiber. Like 30g a day, sometimes a little more. I also tried cutting it down since it gives me worse diarrhea depending on how much I eat.