symptomatic ecstatic

I have been reading symptoms related to gall disease, irritable bowel syndrome, pancreatic disease, ulcers, and many other disease and never found any that nailed my symptoms or explained what could possibly be going on in my body... until now. humaworm.com offers a list of symptoms that explain a lot that I have been experiencing that aren't found elsewhere.

Again... more self-deprecation.

-gas/bloating
-diarrhea
-abdominal pain
-hemorrhoids (for a month!!! It was so bad I was on a prescription)
-Burning Stomach (doctors could never explain why my stomach burned, it wasn't symptomatic of anything they knew of)
-lethargy
-itch skin/rashes
-itchy nose (this has been a symptom that I've never brought up but is very prevalent and I could never explain! As with the following symptom)
-unclear vision (I have suffered this from a young age, every once in a while--once a day or more--my vision will go unclear for a minute or two, like there is something on the surface of my eye, and then go away)
-allergies (never used to have those and have started carrying Benadryl on me this year because of reactions)
-hair loss
-disturbed sleep
-weight gain/loss (down 20, up 25, down 10, up 5.... in one year. I'm ready to stabilize.)
-muscle cramping
-numbness in hands
-pain in navel
-water retention (I'll drink tons and nothing will come out!)
-candida (never had that before this year)
-poor immune response (I can catch any and everything...try me)

A lot of unexplained symptoms were revealed when reading through this list, so I'm excited to see if the DE can clear these things up.

Blugh

So yesterday was day three and what a day! Definitely had the flu-like symptoms they were talking about would happen from upping the dosage. I went up to a full teaspoon and a half. I was weak, tired, nauseated , my head was beeping and didn't get out of bed until 6pm.

Today was GREAT! I had stomach pain that was about a 1-2 on the pain scale so I capitalized on that and played volleyball!!! And the old girl still has it. :) But then I was distracted by a chip wagon with fries doused in vinegar. Sometimes when I finally get to feeling good I get excited and I'll eat something that is actually delicious to me, and then it will launch me into a pyrotechnics show. I can't complain too much, had little to no pain for half a day! This is exciting! I even went for a walk/run later tonight...which ended in diarrhea. So... babysteps.

Talking to the fam and their condition, everyone is just peachy keen, no side effects... except for my 16 y/o nephew. He was in the bathroom 11 times today! I don't know if the two are related seeing as we're all taking the same dosage, but we'll probably learn more tomorrow. I could see it having more to do with his twin sister preparing his "dirt" (what we call the fossil shell flour in the fam) with an extra heaping spoonful. Ha ha. Sounds like an experiment I would try on my brothers :)

My mom, well she might be the first of us to have discovered success. She eats the same thing everyday so nothing really changes in the make up of her bowel movements but she claimed to see small pieces of something, like dark rice or caraway seeds. Interesting.

Day Two Times

It's just 10:30 am but I've had diarrhea twice in the past two hours. It's different than usual, much more loose, but still no sign of my little friends. I just took my third dose of DE. Yesterday was miserable stomach pain, not to mention I ate something that cut my throat that sent me to the clinic. But, I did get six letters written to missionaries, so it wasn't completely a bust of a day.

Day Won

Yesterday I took my first 1/2 tsp does of DE. I had burning all day as usual. Today I took dose two and my stomach is burning as usual, only this morning during my regular bout with the toilet I think I saw one of those critters. Just one. Mom says it sounds like the description of pinworm... I can't be sure though. I think tomorrow will be more conclusive.

Yup, that's pretty much what it looked like.

Remedies...

...have quite possibly been my least favourite part of this quest for health.

Mood music for the post:

This is a picture of the few remedies doctors have prescribed:

There were three other prescriptions as well, but I completed those so they are not included in this picture. Side effects included - drowsiness, blurred vision, light headedness, increased diarrhoea, SUPER cottonmouth, and increased acid reflux. The tums were probably the most benign. The doctors never did find anything to treat the pain, nor could I find anything. I would resort to a "rice baby"--a pillowcase filled with rice and piping so hot that it would draw attention away from a burning stomach and toward my burning skin.

Oh right, there was that one time when the doctor told me to go have a giant fatty fast food meal to see if it was gallbladder (I NEVER eat fast food), so I went to Sonic and spent two days in the bathroom and in bed. However because the reaction was delayed he said it ruled out gall disease.

Ah yes, then my dear concerned father wanted to test that even further by having me drink apple cider vinegar. If there is on thing that I know for sure hurts my stomach it is vinegar. But like a trusting child, I drank the bitter cup. And bitter pain ensued. I was in bed/bathroom for another two days.

I ruled out food allergies by going on a chicken broth diet for a week and then slowly introduced foods again. That was ruled out when cream cheese sent me into an attack one day then didn't even phase me four days later.

In a last grasp at having any normalcy in my life (before abandoning my lifestyle to move home and focus on my health) I tried a Pepto Bismal diet (another one of Dad's remedies.) Four bottles. Three days. And looooooads of Greek Yogurt. It was three days of constipation and then a day of Death Diarrhea. Surprisingly it was not black as it is supposed to be. And it was not the cure.

Gratefully, this illness sent me in for a colonoscopy. At my age (27) it's very rare to find anything, however mid-procedure I awoke from the sedation at the EXACT moment that they found a polyp and removed it for testing. They knocked me out again because I may have muttered something along the lines of, "victory is mine!" to tip them off that I had woken up. I was so heavily sedated that I slept for two days. Later results returned to tell me that the polyp was pre-cancerous. At my age that's a big deal and wouldn't have been found until I was probably 50 and had my first colonoscopy, at which point it may have been too late. So... good gain was made from a little pain.

On a recent trip to Utah the pain was so bad that I had to see someone. Referred to a miracle worker, Iris Cox, that practices holistic medicine, it was in a brief hour and a half with her that she was able to identify my problem as none other than the life sucking, unwelcomed squatters... PARASITES.

WHY DID IT TAKE ME A YEAR TO FIND OUT I HAD PARASITES?!!!!!!

After some research my family, along with myself, are trying a remedy called Diatomeceous Earth. It is fossil shell flour that is basically like a bunch of microscopic shards of glass that when eaten by the parasites fillets them and then takes out the trash. Testimonials have said that it clears up symptoms related to parasites, fungi, arthritis, fibromialgia, and even for some cancer! (My colon likes the sounds of that.)

So, appropriately titled, say "Hello," and hopefully, "Goodbye," to my little friends. The following posts will be a catalogue of my DE treatment.

Our Anniversary

It was one year ago that I made friends with diarrhea. You heard me correctly. I have had diarrhea every day for a year. What makes it so unique is that 95% of the time it is confined to the hours of 5am - 9am. Needless to say, I'm a bit stubborn and let this evil persist for about four months before actually admitting that I had a problem. This was due in part to excruciating stomach pains that would appear throughout the day. In the beginning I would experience this pain one day a week, then three, until about seven months ago when the pain arrived and never retreated. I have had gnawing stomach pain for seven months.

The pain has taken multiple forms that I have noticed thus far, 1) (which is rare but ENTIRELY unwelcomed) sharp piercing, burning, knife pain just below my xyphoid process. It does not penetrate to the back, it is confined to the frontal portion of the stomach, and I CANNOT move, focus, even drool it is so debilitating. Thankfully, I only had this for about a week in December, another week in March and then the odd days peppered throughout. 2) Buuuuuuuurning. I can only describe this pain as having really bad road rash...on the inside of my stomach. Just as road rash scabs and starts to itch, so does this pain. It's can be so itchy that I will scratch and scratch the exterior with the hope that one day my hand will magically pass through and get to the source. I've been placing a lot of stock in magic as of late. 3) Heartburn. It's not very constant but when I do get it it comes quickly and violently. It will last for about four days and I can't even bend over to pick up socks without sterilizing the inside of my head. 4) Diarrhea of Death. It's happened about five times but it is quite possibly the most pain I've ever been in. It lasts for about half of the day (sometimes I just set up shop in the bathroom) and is a foray of pyrotechnics and defeat. And 5) Bruising. Don't worry, it's not a visual bruise it's just the feeling that my entire torso is bruised. It is tender to touch and is pretty unnecessary if you ask me, after all the other pain I have to endure.

So, it has been a year and doctors are stumped, concluding, "It's Irritable Bowel Syndrome." This is made known through a process of elimination--if it's not any other known disease they fall back on the trusty IBS. Well, they got two letters right.

I will post one more entry (to follow) on medications I have endured and home remedies, and then I will get into the nitty-gritties with you.

This is a blog of enlightenment. Hopefully you will come to understand what I've been going through for the past year, but mostly walk this path with me as I try to find my own cure for this illness, and offer answers and hope to many others that are struggling with this as well.

Happy Trails,

Erin