Hi Doctor, About a week ago I started to have stomach pains which I attributed to stress and not always eating regularly because of my crazy schedule. A few days ago the stomach pains went away, but I started to have diarrhea. I took some pepto bismol, which only slowed down the diarrhea, but did not eliminate it. As soon as I stop taking pepto bismol, the diarrhea resumes. Tonight I discovered a long, thick rubber-band like object in my stool. I hope it s not a piece of small intestine lining. Now I am worried that I may have a more serious condition. I should tell you that a few weeks ago I started to take 6 kinds of herblife pills to lose weight. Supposedly one kind of pills enhances the absorbtion of nutrients through the little barbs lining our small intestine. Do you think these pills may have something to do with my problem? I have also been very worried about my business and our finances due to the terrible economy. So it could just be stress. What do you think my problem is? LCW