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What Causes Diarrhea, Bloating And Abdominal Cramps?
Question: Over the last month I have had wtery diarreah, constant bloating, admonial cramps, foul smelling flatulance and lost about 5 percent of my body weight. Not very hungry most of the time and when I do eat i get full quicker. I have had a colonoscopy-result showed a little inflamtion (biopsy was done), CT scan and he said everything from that was normal. He now has me on Creon and Entera Gam and it is helping some but not what I would have thought. The last couple of nights I have also had night sweats. What else should I consider or test for? I am 59 years old and been in good health all my life. Could I have developed Celiac or Lactose Intorlence? Any other ideas of what I should test for?
Brief Answer:
You probably have a maldigestion/malabsorption syndrome!
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.
I am so sorry to hear about this watery diarrhea that you have mentioned. I have reviewed your information fully and this is very suggestive of either malabsorption or poor digestion. This may be caused by the pancreas not producing enough digestive enzymes needed for proper food digestion or the inability to properly absorb digested food. Because food is mostly digested and absorbed in the small intestine, colonoscopy and biopsy findings cannot provide direct information on this.
This is not typical of lactose intolerance. The normal CT scan also makes celiac disease unlikely. At this time, I will recommend that you go ahead and get a stool to evaluate how well nutrients are being absorbed. If there happens to be plenty of unabsorbed nutrients, this will constitute a lead and guide further investigations.
Furthermore, do you experience these symptoms irrespective of what you eat? Is there much milk and dairy products in your meal?
This will be my initial start. I will await your responses before making guided suggestions on what the next steps to be considered are.
You probably have a maldigestion/malabsorption syndrome!
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.
I am so sorry to hear about this watery diarrhea that you have mentioned. I have reviewed your information fully and this is very suggestive of either malabsorption or poor digestion. This may be caused by the pancreas not producing enough digestive enzymes needed for proper food digestion or the inability to properly absorb digested food. Because food is mostly digested and absorbed in the small intestine, colonoscopy and biopsy findings cannot provide direct information on this.
This is not typical of lactose intolerance. The normal CT scan also makes celiac disease unlikely. At this time, I will recommend that you go ahead and get a stool to evaluate how well nutrients are being absorbed. If there happens to be plenty of unabsorbed nutrients, this will constitute a lead and guide further investigations.
Furthermore, do you experience these symptoms irrespective of what you eat? Is there much milk and dairy products in your meal?
This will be my initial start. I will await your responses before making guided suggestions on what the next steps to be considered are.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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