So we pick up just after I had been back and back again to see two doctors. I'd asked for a blood test to see if I had suddenly developed an intolerance to gluten (can happen that quickly apparently so I figured I'd rule it out). Now he did the test but also had all my other levels tested at the same time. Gluten intolerance negative. However my liver randomly came back showing elevated ALT levels (still don't really know what that means). He sort of freaked out a bit when I told him I had pain on the right side (even though I had been pointing it out over most of that year) because it's around where the liver is situated. I got told to go away for a month and come back for another blood test.
There was another month of grinding knife pain and epic wind. I can't even describe how painful it got on occasion. I know it sounds a tad dramatic to liken it to a knife, but it literally felt like there was something stabbing me deep inside. The only way to get any relief was by grinding my fist into the place where it hurt for as long as I could stand. And the gas, well it's crazy. I can roll a clenched fist over certain parts of my digestive tract sometimes and it feels (and sometimes sounds) like a woopee cushion being depressed and re inflating. Over and over. I tried all sorts of gas relieving tablets and none seemed to work. I'd also been put on antispasmodics by the good doctor too (who was still bleating IBS at me at every given opportunity) which I have to take before every meal. Not sure if they help but they're not hindering.
So the results from the next blood test come back and my ALT levels are even higher. This teamed with me almost breaking down in the waiting room had him finally convinced to send me off to the hospital. Another month or so of waiting but I finally got the referral I'd been asking for. Anyways I turn up at the hospital and lucky me, I get the fit doctor...on the day I have to chat alllll about my toilet habits. Fan-bloody-tastic. So fitdoctor presses my belly and says something about IBS and sends me for ANOTHER blood test. This one, however, liver specific. They also wanted results from a different ultrasound scan I'd had sendt over but they hadn't bothered, so I also had to go back in a month for both the blood results and the sent ultrasound results.
Fitdoctor had explained how IBS and bowel changes can be triggered by stress. I'm not one for moaning but I've had my fair share of stress over the year with one thing and another so I don't have to stretch my mind too far back to think of episodes which could have triggered it off. As it happens, me calming down and being told it's probably nothing, whilst frustrating, was also incentive enough for the stress to go away somewhat, taking the knife pain with it. It's still there on occasion but not every day. Same with the wind. Sometimes I get it so bad it's almost crippling. Sometimes I don't get a peep from my stomach.
I returned a month later and again they didn't have the ultrasound results. Not fit doctor this time, but someone new to discuss how my poo was looking these days with. Oh joy of cheek reddening joy. He informed me that they didn't have the ultrasound scan results still so I'd have to go to the hospital and have them done just as a final check, but the blood results looked all fine. No indicators of liver disease. The elevated levels were just down to me having a fatty liver due to being overweight (I pointed out the irony of just how many health problems I have had post losing five stone as opposed to when I was more of a knacker and apparently fit as a horse). He said 'you're overweight so losing some would be a benefit...well you're not that overweight so probably a couple of stone'. Not that overweight. Couldn't believe he said that. All my life health institutions have (quite rightly) pointed out how hefty I am. So for him to say those words felt like him saying 'you're like proper almost thin'. I can live with that.
I also, lucky me, got to do a poo sample test thing. I demanded one more test to ease my mind and apparently the old stool sample checks for Inflammatory bowel diseases. I had the absolute joy of sitting in a fairly packed waiting room whilst a nurse, in painstaking detail and at a voice level that can only be described as booming, brandished a cardboard bowl and a stool sample kit and told me what to do with gusto. I'm fairly certain I could have worked it out myself if I'm honest...not gonna lie.
I'll spare you the details of my next hospital visit, more ultrasound stuff, but a few days ago a letter turned up with the results. IBD free, liver looks fine, you've probably got IBS, avoid milk and fibre and enjoy the rest of your life. So that's it. IBS apparently. Something I've seen a friend of mine living with for years but something I didn't expect to ever have to deal with. I'm only just starting out on this diagnosed journey so I'm walking with shaky newborn horse baby steps...but I'm armed with peppermint green tea (can't stand full blown peppermint), peppermint and charcoal capsules and a friend who has several years of experience of this bastard of a condition. I'm determined not to let it get me down...I'm sure once I stop stressing it will cool its jets a bit. I need to do all the food diary stuff and work out which foods hate me. But I have cut out the dairy mostly and after this season of stuffing my face (incidentally another thing my stomach doesn't enjoy anymore) I will work towards trying to craft a diet which won't leave me wondering if I'm going to be able to leave my room after tea.
And for now, I leave you in this weird nothing week between Christmas and New years with peppermint burps and a half smile. Good boo.
No comments:
Post a Comment