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Abdomen pain, occasional constipation, loose stools, flatulence. Treatment?

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Hi
I am having bowel issues since last few months.. this is my history

October 2014 - Constipation in morning. Occasional loose stools too. Pain in abdomen but only in evening with smelling flatulence. There was relief in pain after passing gas. Doctor advised probiotics and Fiber. It did work out good after somedays.

December 2014 - Fragmented Loose stools more often (Had flat shape while coming out , but completely disintegrated like powder after landing in toilet . I ignored it thinking not to stress my self.
I stopped fiber supplements too.

February 2015 - Normal Stools + Powdery stools together more often. Stomach upset after eating heavy meals outside. Also, occasional white cloudy urine after having milk products. I stopped eating dairy products

March 2015 - Added fiber back as supplement, but now I get few normal stool but along with one or two very flat stool. This is worrying me a lot since someone said it could be cancer.

I am attaching an image of the stools that I had today. If you see one is long and flat.



 

Category: Gastroenterologist, Medical

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Category: Hepatologist
 21 Doctors Online

Hello,
Thanks for posting your query at DoctorSpring.com
I am Dr.R.K and I am pleased to assist you.
All these symptoms point towards Constipation predominant Irritable bowel syndrome.
You need to continue taking fiber supplements for relief. If the response is inadequate, you can discuss with your doctor about taking Lubiprostone.
As far as your fear about cancer is concerned, if you have a family history of cancer, you can get a stool test for occult blood done and a colonoscopy.
I hope that answers your query.
Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr.R.K.


Patient replied :

Hello Doctor,
Hope you are well. Thanks for answering my question.
I am not sure if I have constipation . I usually have bowel movement twice or thrice at times. Issue is about the shape. Is the flat shape that is occuring in my case an outcome of IBS or can it be due to an obstruction ?


Hi,
Flat stools can occur in both irritable bowel syndrome and obstruction.
As suggested earlier you can get a colonoscopy done to see if there is any obstruction.
Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr.R.K


Patient replied :

My Appointment is set for 5th May with gastro doctor.
Meanwhile I was travelling a lot and notice that travel make it worse. Also things like wheat and milk makes it more worse.
There are few other symptoms that I wanted to clarify with you:
My stool at times returns to normal (Bristol stool chart number 3). But then it varies from anywhere to 4 and 5 with constipation. I also bought EzDetect from walgreens to get Fecal Occult test. It did not show any blood. Not sure how good or bad the test system is. But thankfully it did not show anything.
But there are two more symtoms that has come up :
1. Occassionaly, I feel burning sensation (not a pain) below the right side where the last rib is. Somewhere around the bottom of liver I guess. It is random and occurs 3-4 times in a day. What that could be. I had that in past too. But ignored it thinking it's random thing.
2. I have this pain, which I don;t feel until I press my fingers. It's a localized pain. I don't feel anything on my own. I just figured it while checking my body for any swelling. Pain is on the right side on the back. Please see the attached image. I tried it doing it on the left side too , same location but that side I don't feel anything. Please note : I don;t feel any pain without pressing. What could be the reason for this pain.
3. Anytime I have milk, I get cloudy urine.


Hi,
Thanks for getting back to me with more questions.
You need to do stool occult blood test on three different days before calling it as negative.
The pain you get on the right flank just below the ribs could be due to issues related to liver, nerves, musculoskeletal, right lung and pleura. You can get a chest xray and an ultrasound scan of the abdomen done to find the cause.
Regards.


Patient replied :

Thanks for replying Doctor!. Today I went for an Iron test to check If I am anaemic as suggested by family doctor. As the results came online and in evening, I don't if these are in normal range or not. For some reason, the normal range value was not visible in the form. Here are the results Are these results normal.

Iron, Blood 97 ug/dl
Transferrin 324 mg/dl
Iron Saturation 21 %


Hello,
Yes, all your reports are normal.
These are all within normal range.
Regards.


Dr. Ratnakar Kini
Category: Hepatologist
Experience: 
Fellowship - DM - TN Dr.MGR Medical UniversityResidency - TN Dr.MGR Medical University Medical School - Stanely Medical College, TN Dr.MGR Medical University
Dr. Ratnakar Kini and 4 other Medical Specialists are ready to help you

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