I'm sick to my stomach typing all of this out. I will kind of give you a little background. I was diagnosed with UC at 19. Battled it on and off until I was 30 and then had J-pouch surgery. It has been fairly smooth sailing since then. (a few obstructions and pouchitis every now and again but overall my health is good)
My 20 year old daughter and I were in with an endocrinologist's office two days ago and she asked her about her constipation/diarrhea. My daughter said she has had diarrhea as long as she can remember almost every bowel movement and sometimes three times a day. There is no blood in her stool per my daughter. This was 100% news to me.
She has been struggling with a lot of issues lately, one of them extreme fatigue. She had half of her thyroid removed at 15 due to an unusually large benign cyst. I was assured that she wouldn't need thyroid meds that the half of the thyroid would be sufficient. Her TSH while still in the normal ranges has been steadily climbing since her 1/2 of thyroid removal. She does have a lot of hypothyroid symptoms, fatigue, anxiety and depression, cold, rough skin and I can almost pinpoint it to the thyroid surgery. We started having her tested for anemia and thyroid issues about six months post op due to fatigue. This is why we know that her tsh levels have been climbing. She is not anemic and never has been.
I know that we should see a gastroenterologist however I just don't see that we are going to get it all in before she goes back to college. I do not think she is gluten intolerant (Celiac) as she went through a significant period (probably about six months at least maybe a year) of not eating gluten and the bowel issues didn't change. If this doesn't change, I'll get her into see a doctor after she's home for the summer.
What are your thoughts on starting her on a trial of VSL #3 just to see if this helps her bowels? Her gut flora has to be out of wack with chronic diarrhea. She said she does get bloating and gas.
Hypothyroidism generally causes constipation not diarrhea. But I think that the diarrhea started around the time of the thyroid surgery...it was for sure after it. Could the chronic diarrhea be causing some of the fatigue? My gut says yes (no pun intended).
Any advice? Anyone experienced any of these symptoms?
