I know this is not normal

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ok, so i have been reading this board, but have not found what i am looking for so i figure that i would ask.here's my problemi am a 22 year old femalei have been having chronic diareah for the last 19 months.my dr has said its ibs, but i don't think it is, and he is starting to doubt himself as wellwhen it started it was 3-4 times a day, then increased to 6-8, then went back to 3-4 then jumped to 8-10, and now its 12-15 times per day.i don't know about anyone else here that has that many bm's a day, but it really affects my life.i have been off work now for 7 weeks, and no one wants to treat mei have been to the hospital because of such dehidration and all they can say is "come back in 3 days for more iv fluids if you need it"i have a gi consoltation at the end of november, but thats still 2 1/2 months away.does anyone else have this problem, and if so what was it, they are really thinking crohns or colitis, but nothing helps,i have been on medications, about 7 different kinds in the last month, and some even caused more diareah.i am very concerned and getting very frustratedplease helpjamie

In my opinion, you're not getting good medical care. You've had diarrhea for 1 1/2 years and have been to the hospital for rehydration. This is not a good situation. As I just said in another post, have you been taking anything for the diarrhea, like Lomotil (prescription) or Immodium?It sounds like you might very well have Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, but you need to be tested to find out. (A C/T with contrast would probably be a good start.) But until you are tested, it's hard to say. But if you have either of these, there are treatments.WRT the debate over Canada's and the U.S. health care system: it's irrelevant. They each have their pluses and minuses, but in the U.S. if you have private insurance or Medicare, you can get what you need (although it's better to be in Boston than central Mississippi). The important thing, in either country, is to find practitioners who know what they are doing, and who specialize in what you have. From your last issue, I certainly hope you got more than one specialist's opinion before having gone forward with radical surgery. In this case, you must be under the care of a gastroenterologist. Waiting another 2 1/2 months for an appointment is completely unacceptable. I know it may not be easy to get a timely appointment with a specialist, but in your case it's a medical necessity. If there's no other way, is paying out-of-pocket a possibility?Edit:> i have been on medications, about 7 different kinds in the last monthWhich medications?

i am in canada, so i have medicare so thats not the problem, i have had a barium enima in the past, as well as many stool samples, my dr isn't pushing for my gi consultation very hard, so its difficult.also i have been on things like buscupan, codene, lamitol, and a few others i forget their name off hand, and i have even gotten so desparite that i have stopped eating because it hurts sooooooo badi find the healthier i eat the worse it gets, so i don't know what to do there

dr isn't pushing for my gi consultation very hard, so its difficultHow can I put this delicately? You're doctor is wrong, and I think he's making a big mistake. If your Medicare (the word has a different meaning in the U.S.) system is not standing in the way of a consultation with a gastroenterologist, then you need to make the appropriate arrangements. You are not getting competent care. Can you just make an appointment with a gastroenterologist, or do you need a referral from your primary care doctor? If you need a referral, then fire your doctor and find someone with half a clue.> i find the healthier i eat the worse it gets, so i don't know what to do thereWhen you have a bowel disease, what's healthy for a normal person is not necessarily what's healthy for you. You may have a sensitivity to certain foods (e.g., gluten), food additives, drugs, etc.; you may have an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); you may have IBS; you may have an infection; you may have any combination of those things, or none of them.How long ago did you have a barium enema (lower GI)? Did it show anything beyond suspected IBS, if even that? Regardless, you need a test now, and you would benefit from something more precise than a barium enema. Maybe a colonoscopy (or maybe not), but almost certainly a C/T scan (where (for contrast) you'll probably either swallow a barium sulfate mixture, or a thinner liquid).Is there any blood in your stool? I assume that's what they were looking for in the stool sample, unless they were also checking for pathogens.It's very difficult to navigate the health care system alone if you are acutely ill, or if you're having a crisis. Is there anyone who can help you deal with this stuff? I realize that, when you feel sick and you're in the hospital getting an IV, you probably don't feel like busting heads. But you are in real need of competent GI care. Please do what you need to do to see a gastroenterologist. If you're already going through this kind of trouble, you might as well seek out the best doctor you can find.The biggest mistake you can make is to just put your health care decisions in the hands of a doctor. You need to learn as much as you possibly can, and seek out more opinions, about whatever ails you, and make your own educated decisions.

well i just had an appointment with my gp, after i told him that i couldn't get the gi appointment bumped up myself, he pushed for a new dr (although he is not a gi specialist) who i get to see in 3 weeks. i also have to do a barium followthrough next week. i don't know what made my dr do something all of a sudden, after 19 months.i had the barium enima in august of 2004, all of my fighting in the er got me no where, so i was very frustrated with that as well.i don't know what i would be sensitive to, except everything, i tried to do the sensetivity tests on my own, but it is sooooo complicatedin canada i guess we don't call it medi-care, more like healthcarei also was sent for a bunch of bloodwork today to test my tyroid, cbc, a few other things and to test for celiac.i am also a little upset because i asked my dr what happens at a consiltation, he said "well if you were elderly, you would be admitted right away because that is a sign of colon cancer, but since your young...."its like age discriminationits too hard in my city to get a new gp, plus this one is my complete family's dr, so he knows everything because my mom, grandma, aunts and uncles all see him.i have the brca2 gene mutation...and i was told that it increases the chance of breast and ovarian cancer, but also up on the list is colon cancer.i was reading what the dr wrote on my time off work papers and he wrote something about psycnogetic (spelling) if its IBS.its it wrong to be upset right now?

> its it wrong to be upset right now?

No! You should be. You need to bring pressure to bear on your doctor to get you an appointment with a specialist. You're not imagining that you have diarrhea, so I don't see what the problem is. Another barium enema would be OK, I suppose, but I'd corner the doctor and have him explain why he wants to do that, rather than a C/T scan.

You can't relent. If nothing else, the doctor will probably get tired of you and do what he should do. Otherwise, I don't care if this doctor treated everyone in your family since you were infants. You need to find someone who will give you proper care.

> bloodwork

Some bowel diseases have "signatures" that show up in blood tests. You need to get a copy of your blood test results and do some research. There are Web sites that explain what it all means. I also hope they're checking your electrolytes, to make sure you haven't lost too much from your diarrhea.

> celiac

Yes, I mentioned gluten.

> colon cancer

I'm not sure how much your genetic condition elevates your risk of colon cancer, but it would be very unusual for someone your age to get colon cancer. There is a specific genetic condition that causes lots of polyps to grow in the intestines, and that greatly increases the risk.

In any case, if you are at a reasonably elevated risk of colon cancer (I don't know what "reasonably elevated" would be), you should be getting periodic colonoscopies (by a gastrenterologist!).

> psychological...IBS

The cause of IBS (and even IBDs) is not well understood. There might very well be a stress component in some (or all?) cases. I can understand the doctor's speculating on the subject in his progress notes, but it doesn't seem appropriate for your "work papers". (Is that something an employer gets?)

ya the papers he filled out are for my work insurance, because right now i can't work because when you have 12-15 urgent bm's its hard to sit on the phone and not be able to go to the washroom when needed, and i was close to getting fired over it