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10 replies

Fatigue and discomfort

TrailerParkHeroTrailerParkHeroMember
Hey j-pouchers, has anyone had experiences with parasites? I'm not really sure what else could be happening. For about two weeks I've been dealing with muscle fatigue, discomfort with eating and very watery stools. It started with what I thought was a stomach bug, with chills, watery stools and fatigue. After 2-3 days, the chills went away but still had watery stools and muscle fatigue. I called the specialist and was given the usual precautionary order of Cipro, with only noticing constipation as a result. I was still having the previous symptoms of fatigue and lack of desire to eat with cramping while on the antibiotic. The symptoms seem to occasionally let up, but I haven't noticed a vast improvement. Eventually, I went to urgent care and was later sent to the E.R. once I mentioned the abdominal area and discomfort. After blood work and at a C.T. scan, everything looked "great". Of course I was happy to hear there weren't any blockages found. But I've never experienced anything like this during the ten years of having the pouch. I can still function just fine, but definitely feel fatigued. The specialists that I usually see are about three hours away so that's why I haven't made a visit yet, and am now planning to make an appointment with a referred G.I. specialist in the area. Any thoughts though? It's been a strange few weeks.
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skn69skn69Member
TPH,
I had an experience with some Chinese food in San Fran and a trans-Atlantic flight that I thought would kill me...chills, fever, vomiting, nausea, muscle aches etc...started about 4 hrs after the meal and lasted for a month...I never thought to see a doctor because I thought that it was pouch related and was sick of antibiotics...it was only months later when my GP found me terribly thin and gaunt that I told her what had happened...she said that it was probably parasites...from the meal (undercooked food? contaminated?)...don't know but it was a roller coaster ride for my gut. I stuck to fluids for the whole month and lost about 20lbs...I later found out that I could have gotten very sick from it all without treatment so I was lucky but don't let things get too out of hand, have yourself tested ( I think that it is a stool test, not sure anymore).
Stay hydrated and keep up your electrolytes.
Sharon
Scott FScott FMember
Some things clear up on their own, and others really need to be treated. It's a pity the ER didn't test your stool for parasites. You shouldn't need a speacialist to run the right tests. Other possibilities include salmonella or shigella. Hopefully not C. diff...

I had Giardia some years back, even though I hadn't been out in nature much. I was glad it got diagnosed & treated.
TE MarieTE MarieMember
I agree with Scott about the c.diff as I've had it many times. Cipro can actually cause it, or make it worse. You can't be tested for it until you have been off of antibiotics for 14 days. Hopefully they tested your stool for this before you were on Cipro. I think you should ask if they did. Same thing for the other things Scott mentioned, see what they ruled out.

I also am wondering if you might be experiencing the beginnings of another autoimmune disease or syndrome like fibromyalgia and/or chronic fatigue.

You could just be fatigued as you are recovering from whatever it was you had.
I hope you are better soon.
TrailerParkHeroTrailerParkHeroMember
I don't believe the Cipro caused any ill effects, it just didn't seem to have much effect at all. Except constipation in the beginning. But with that said, nothing has gotten better either. It's just strange. The blood work done at the E.R. apparently didn't have an elevated white blood cell count and electrolytes were fine(even though I find that hard to believe). The ER doc said that most likely ruled out auto immune issues. The only other things I could think of were parasites or some sort of onset of crohns? or allergies to food... I remember hosing some items down weeks ago that happened to be around lots of dog waste. I'll be seeing a specialist this Wed, as the local physicians appear to be booked. It's rough through, I'm very outdoorsy and spring is here.
TE MarieTE MarieMember
I hope you don't have anything wrong I was telling you to look out for. Just warning you that I got c.diff after taking cipro and can't take it anymore. If you no longer have diarrhea you probably don't have it.

The ER doctor can't rule out all autoimmune diseases as there are too many. It's a good thing you are seeing Specialist Wednesday. It is too bad you are feeling bad as it is Spring Frowner

Please take Care and let us know how you are doing.
TrailerParkHeroTrailerParkHeroMember
Thanks for the responses. I was lucky enough after the j-pouch to not have any complications afterwards till now. The diarrhea is still present, other times there seems to be really slow, painful(cramps) digestion. It's great when I'm asked about symptoms because there have been so many over the past 3 weeks. I've seen lots of chatter over C.Diff, but haven't look into that. I'm guessing no one wants to hear that as a diagnosis?
TE MarieTE MarieMember
No you don't hear about it. I bet they checked you for it when they ran stool samples. Some doctors don't think you can get it with j-pouches but you can. Many of us here prove them wrong. You can tell the difference between the big D and normal BM's after 3 years with a pouch and there are a lot of things that be causing it, so Weds can't come soon enough!
TrailerParkHeroTrailerParkHeroMember
Incredible. After multiple visits with different physicians and minimal testing, I got what I wanted. A stool sample. I think every other Dr. visit I went to previously, there were so many other scary possibilities mentioned. So when I would ask about parasites, it was kind of shrugged off. Nearly a month has passed and I received a call this afternoon I had test positive for giardia. Man, as weird as it sounds, that was what I was hoping for. The meds had to be ordered as they weren't in stock. So, what recovery like from giardia? Fairly quick I hope?

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