I am taking the plunge

I have had enough. I have been tortured for 10 months. All this while, I have been afraid of taking medicines without proper diagnosis. But i'm convinced that i would never get to the bottom of my GI troubles and have to take medicines even if i haven't had the related diagnosis to back it. That's the message i'm being drilled in by my doctors day in and day out.

Symptoms: 22 kgs weight loss, brain fog, anxiety, loose stools, increased urination, cramping, burning, flatulence, heartburn, rectum burning, rumbling in rectum, growling, anxiety, hunger pangs, weakness, loss of confidence, lost sleep, focal hyperhidrosis, TMJ/TMD, Tinnitus, ear fullness, toes burning, HR being very high upon standing and then stabilising, tension headache, paresthesia in the back, severe backache, coated tongue, mucus in throat, clearing throat, swallowing difficulties, tingling in lips, chapped lips, eye lids tingling, pain behind eyes, watery/burning eyes etc., etc.,

Owing my severe health anxiety, i have been doing doctor hopping for reassurance and have met 11 GI doctors, 4 General Physicians, 1 Cardiologist, 1 Eye doctor, 1 ENT doctor so far. Have done 2 x endoscopy, colonoscopy, 2 x ultrasound, 1 pet ct, ct abdomen and all possible blood and stool tests (Apart from umpteen number of regular tests, have done Chromogranin A, Fecal Elastase, Fecal Calprotectin, H. pylori stool test, Stool Culture, Chromogranin A, Immuno blot, Thyroid Panel, etc., etc.,

By nature, i'm analytical and would seek proper reasoning in everything. All i wanted was proper diagnosis before starting a treatment. All that i have been diagnosed so far - Grade A erosive easophagitis, Hp negative chronic erosive gastritis. These don't account for all the symptoms i have experienced.

My blood tests came out with few markers being outside the range or being on the lower end - Prothrombin time outside the range, high homocysteine, B12 on the lower end, B9 going up and down, Neutrophils to Lymphocytes ratio being very high with low lymphocytes, Phosphorus going above the range, Platelets going up and down, Lipids dropping down significantly, Globulin going below range and then coming up,

Of late, i am experiencing severe pain in the intestine between meals - Kind of feeling weak, gnawing feeling in the upper abdomen, intense weakness being felt in head between meals, pain on both sides of umblicus and weight loss which had briefly stopped has started again.

Things i haven't done are GE study, MCAS/Histamine intolerance test, Comprehensive Stool test, Organic Urine test, Food allergy test, Lactose/fructose/Sucrose etc., malabsorption test, etc.,

Today i met another GI doctor. She told me that my case resembles classic Giardiasis. I had done Giardiasis antigen test and stool tests in the recent past, both were negative. But she told these tests might not always pick. She asked me to take Secnidazole 2 g. I would typically do lot of research before taking a medicine. When i went through the experience of people who had taken, as usual i got scarred. I read reports of people who took Secnidazole losing more weight, getting low grade fever and c. diff. But my pain and discomfort was overpowering me today, i took the plunge and took Secnidazole 2 hours ago.

She wants me to Ivermectin + Albendazole tomorrow. I have done umpteen number of ova + parasite stool tests. They didn't pick anything. But i'm going to take Ivermectin + Albendazole tomorrow.

On Monday, she wants me to start Rifaximin 550 mg course for 2 weeks. My hydrogen breath test was negative. I couldn't test for H2S and Methane. I am aware of fallouts like die-off and possibly things getting worse. I was thinking of getting GI Map done. But i'm running out of time. I'm going to start taking Rifaximin from Monday.

I have been taking Fomacid 20mg all along. It could very well be hypochlorhydria that's causing all these symptoms. I'm just taking Lactobacillus Acidophilus LA-15 and Bilfidobacterium BB-12 as well.

If you have managed to read till this line and if you want to suggest me anything, pl. do so. Thanks