Irritable Bowel Syndrome Treatment

Question by FingerNails: Pain after drinking alcohol – male 33 yrs?
For the last few months I have been getting pain in my upper right quadrant after drinking alcohol. I have been a heavy drinker since my university days, I’m now 33, and at one point would probably have been consuming up to 100 units per week.

In January of this year I decided that my drinking had to stop as I realised that I was abusing drink and using it as a tool to mask depression, anxiety and general unhappiness. Around the same time as I decided to tackle my mental issues I started getting these pains on the right hand side of my abdomen (coincidence?) around the bottom of the ribs.

I visited my doctor and explained the situation and he referred me for some liver function tests (2 months ago) and subsequently an abdominal ultrasound (3 weeks ago). Both the liver function tests and the abdominal ultrasound appear to indicate that there is absolutely nothing physically wrong with my liver, gallbladder or kidneys. No inflammation, signs of fatty liver, signs of it not processing toxins properly etc…I have seen three different doctors at my local surgery regarding this and all say that there is nothing physically wrong with me. I have also been physically examined and again nothing would indicate any liver problems.

I have naturally cut drinking down to an absolute minimum and didn’t drink at all for around 2 months whilst I was undergoing tests etc. I feel so much better mentally and physically since changing my habits and have also been taking up a lot more regular exercise: running, swimming, pilates and squash which are naturally helping to increase my sense of well-being.

However on the rare occasions that I have had an alcoholic drink, since being told that I’m fine, I get the pain back. All it takes is one glass of wine or pint of beer/cider and the following day I will have this inner pinching type of pain under towards the bottom of my rib cage, right hand side that heads up towards the navel area.

Can anyone share any similar stories, diagnosis or suggest a line of enquiry I should take with my doctor? Things I am thinking about include:

• allergy to alcohol or yeast/hops/grapes(?!?)
• irritable bowel syndrome (I think the pain would be lower down however)
• gout/high levels of uric acid – can you test for this?
• psychological – am I creating the pain through worry?

I just want to get on with the rest of my life. I feel I have taken some huge steps and have a much more positive outlook but all the time things hangs around it keeps niggling at my brain and my worry is that my symptoms all seem to indicate liver problems but tests prove otherwise.

Thanks for taking the time to read – any advice warmly received!

Best answer:

Answer by Hemen Ee
Another case that leaves the doctors scratching their heads? I suspect you have a weird case of gout where the tiny urate crystals exist in your upper abdomen. To confirm this, go for a blood test for and see if your blood uric acid level is above the range. And then run your own urine test for uric acid, here is how…

1. Get a transparent plastic cup or mineral water bottle
2. As soon as you wake up in the moring, collect the first round of urine into the bottle.
3. Cover the bottle and keep it in cold dry place far away from the reach kids
4. After a few hours, observe (pay close attention) if there is any crystal like substances deposits at the bottom of the bottle.
5. If you see some small white particles in the fluid, then it means you are having hyperuricemia.
6. If no sediments observed, then leave it there for another 1 or 2 days and check it again.

Good luck!

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Question by : Feeling as though I’m getting full quicker, nausea after meals, constipation. What could it be?
I’m 17, and a male. I usually feel sick in the morning, mainly after or during breakfast, and it usually goes away a while before lunch around 12:30. Also, lately, I’ve been feeling full more easily than usual after a meal, and sometimes I feel a little sick too, but I don’t throw up. A few days ago I did end up throwing up, but it was after working hard all day and I think I just may have been dehydrated, or food poisoning from a burger I had eaten 5-6 hours earlier. I’m very unsure and really would appreciate some help with this. Also I have been a little constipated now and then too. My BM seems to be a little more irregular than usual. Sometimes a little more than normal, usually not less. Could it be stress? Irritable Bowel Syndrome? I don’t know, and I’m worried what it could be. Please help! Also: My one uncle has chrome’s disease too, but I don’t know if that means somehow it could be hereditary and I got it too or something. As you can tell I have a lot of symptoms, but no answers for what the source is.
First off, thanks to everyone for responding so quickly.

To Barcode:
I almost never eat fast food, I was returning from a camp I visited to work at and on my way home stopped at a restaurant for a quick lunch.
I don’t smoke, drink, or do drugs, although I used to more than over a year ago now, but I have completely stopped doing all of those things.
I do try to eat healthy every day and I lift weights every day (chest and back (day one), arms and abs (day two)), play tennis almost every other, and run occasionally.
As for water, I’ve been trying to drink more, but still find myself lacking some days.
And I could use more fruits, but get a decent amount of vegetables.
I do use computer occasionally, for school work mostly, but video games are fairly rare occasion for me.
I get 8 or more hours of sleep almost every night. Stress may be a problem though.

To Pacey:
Thanks, I’ll try and get it checked out.

To Eddie:
Thanks, I’ll ask my Doctor and google Chron’s Disease.

Once again,

Best answer:

Answer by Barcode
You’re stuffing your face with too much junk food, fast food garbage & sugary sweet sodas.
No smoking – no beer/ale – no booze – no drugs.
Eat healthy, get plenty of fresh air, sunshine & exercise, exercise, exercise.
Drink LOTS OF WATER to help keep the traffic moving.
Snack on plenty of RAW fruit & veggies to put fiber into your system.
Get off the computer & stop playing video games & get moving.
Get 8 hours sleep each nite. Avoid stress.

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Question by Abby P: Anyone ever get IBS after gallbladder removal?
Anyone out there get diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) after having their gallbladder out? I never had this problem before but ever since surgery I am the classic IBS patient.

Best answer:

Answer by Faith
Beleive me I have the same thing happening to me…

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Question by Carinangel: Stomach Pains After Eating only Diagnosis (FNH)?
Hello,
About 8 months I began to have stomach pains after eating (bloating, nausea and tenderness in the upper abdomen). I thought it was indigestion but acid reducers didn’t help. The only way I could ease the pain is by placing a hot water bottle on my tummy for hours. Later I sought a GI specialist and I took several test and only to discover I have a hiatal hernia and FNH. Focal nodular hyperplasia (in the liver). In the end my doctor tells me I have IBS. Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I don’t have problems with going to the bathroom and the symptoms for IBS aren’t the same symptoms I’m experiencing. Has anyone had this problem? I’m in the process of getting a second opinion because I’ve lost confidence in my GI. Please share.

Best answer:

Answer by GIMD
Your gastroenterologist could be right, and there are functional disorders that fall under the category of irritable bowel syndrome, and which can present like the symptoms you are describing. However, other causes of your symptoms include gallbladder problems. Unless you have already had one, you should have an ultrasound of your abdomen and if normal, it would be worth following it up with a HIDA scan (a nuclear medicine study that can measure the rate of your gallbladder emptying) to make sure that you do not have gallbladder dyskinesia. Since you have already been diagnosed with focal nodular hyperplasia, I assume that you have had an ultrasound, CT and/or MRI already. Another possibility could be gastroparesis. This means your stomach is not emptying properly. Although usually seen as a long-term complication of diabetes, gastroparesis can occasionally be observed in nondiabetic patients, sometimes after viral gastrointestinal infections. Occasionally, people with celiac sprue (gluten intolerance) can develop similar symptoms like the ones you are describing. Your gastroenterologist may have already obtained biopsies from your duodenum in order to address this possibility (assuming your hiatal hernia was diagnosed with endoscopy that would also allow biopsies to be obtained). The symptoms that you are describing would not be caused by focal nodular hyperplasia, however. I suggest that you would follow up with your existing gastroenterologist in order to ensure that these other possibilities have been adequately excluded. This would be the fastest way to get any additional tests done, unless they have already been performed, or your gastroenterologist who knows you better then I do would think that they would not be useful for you.

Please note that this information is provided for education only, and it does not represent a substitute for obtaining healthcare through a qualified professional.

All the best.

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Question by : Could I possibly know just days after conception that I am pregnant?
11 days ago my husband and I had sex and used a vcf spermicidal film, followed the directions, and afterward when I went into the bathroom, there was the film on the toilet paper. Contraceptive FAIL. So the next day I started my period, we had sex again a few times toward the end of my period, once with a condom, once with a spermicidal gel. Ended my period, more sex with gel.

Anyway at this point I cannot tell if I’m psyching myself out, or if these symptoms are legit. So far I have tingling in my nipples, and labias. I have had an aching like bloating about to start my period bloating. Although im 19 days off from starting my period. I’ve had lower back pain, i work in a cubicle for 10 hours a day and now its TORTURE. Im standing, sitting, pacing, stretching. I sleep maybe 4 good hours a night, nap whenever possible, but am sort of tired more than i should be. I get random waves of nausea, sometimes they make me gag. I have been craving apple juice, nestle drumsticks, and peanut brittle. My breasts are slightly larger but dont hurt. And I have been crying at random. I really cried at a pillsbury commercial (dont judge me, it was touching) and (sorry) i have been super gassy.

I took a pregnancy test, it came back negative. Thats to be expected when you take it 23 days before your period.

So serious opinions please, could i be having pregnancy symptoms this soon, or do i have vertigo/pulled muscle/irritable bowel syndrome/ random girly part tingling/ seasonal depression all at once?

Best answer:

Answer by Angela Bendura
Most of those symptoms don’t occur untill farther one, like two months in. My doctor told me before that if you worry about it enough your body can start acting like it’s real. I guess all you can really do is wait it out and if your period is a no-show, take another test.

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