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Unexplained fatigue for months (IBS related?)

I (28 year old male) have been dealing with various health issues since November 2013. I had some intense worries over STDs at the end of last year which turned out to be unfounded but caused a lot of stress. Following this, in January, I had an infection that gave me stomach pains which I assumed to be a bacterial or viral issue. The stomach pains were accompanied by fatigue as well but at the time were the main focus of my concern. They did not go away after the infection cleared up. I had blood and stool tests to check for coeliacs disease, crohns and h pylori. I was found to have h pylori but nothing else and so underwent the eradication therapy to get rid of the h pylori bacteria.

After completing the therapy, in June, I had a repeat test which confirmed that the h pylori was gone but I continued to have stomach problems. A doctor suggested that the issues could be IBS and in July I started taking antispasmodic pills Buscopan. The stomach pains have responded very well to these and have more or less vanished (my bowel movements -- sorry! -- have been relatively normal recently and I have only had some diarrhoea sometimes after drinking too much or having spicy food).

However, I am still experiencing intense tiredness which stops me from doing a lot of what I want to do. I have had further tests to check levels of iron and B12 which have all come back well within the normal range. I have been assured at my clinic that if digestion issues were preventing my body from assimilating important nutrients then this would be reflected in these tests. I have taken a further test today to check blood sugar levels.

I am not even 100% sure that I have IBS since I have never been given a solid answer by the clinic (they have referred me to a gastroenterologist but I am still waiting). Still, it is the only thing I have to work with since none of the tests has revealed anything.

I find it hard to find out anything about what could be causing this since if I search for fatigue-related terms then I get results for chronic fatigue syndrome. I do not think it is that because I don't have any other pains or muscle aches, it is just tiredness. It has been on and off for months, since the start of the year, but generally on.

Perhaps it is simply anxiety but it does just feel like tiredness, similar to the sensation of being up at 2am, only all of the day, rather than social avoidance or depression.

Anyway, if you have made it this far, thank you for reading and I would appreciate any pointers on what I might be dealing with. I also think that there should be big warnings about stress in general and getting into a flap over STDs, since it seems like that has been a root cause of the problems I have had this year. I might be wrong about that (maybe it was just an unrelated stomach infection) but it all seemed to happen at about the same time.
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Avatar universal
It does sound a lot like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Where is the stomach pain located exactly? Believe it or not there is a rarely diagnosed condition that case studies have shown can cause abdominal pain and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as well as IBS. It’s called Nutcracker Syndrome (Renal Vein Compression). It can cause Chronic Fatigue,upper abdominal pain and gastrointestinal problems. Google:

Nutcracker Syndrome and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Many people that have this condition are also diagnosed with another very similar condition called May-Thurner Syndrome Iliac Vein Compression). It can also cause extreme fatigue, lower abdominal pain and IBS. I was recently diagnosed with this condition and after a simple stenting procedure almost overnight all my problems started going away.

Unfortunately very few doctors understand or have even heard of these conditions so they are rarely diagnosed. More and more people are getting diagnosed with these multiple Vascular Compression Syndromes and in many cases after surgical intervention the problems begin disappearing shortly afterwards. Do some research into the Nutcracker Syndrome and join a support group on Facebook.
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Avatar universal
I too have recently been told by my doctor that i have IBS. I also have the chronic fatigue very severely to the point where i have gone to the doctor to check for anemia or deficiencies and they too were negative. I am trying to get through medical classes and some days i feel so ill like i might actually be dying. I have done research and there are articles that say that IBS and chronic fatigue syndrome definitely are linked in people.  I literally typed in IBS and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and i found so much of what i have been dealing with. I hope this helps. Definitely look it up!
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Avatar universal
You may indeed have a food allergy or intolerance.
You should PROPERLY check for coelliac. This is ONLY done via a biospy. A blood test for coeliac MAY indicate you have the condition but a biospy is the only way to know for sure.

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks for the response.

Back in March, I went to see a nutritionist who asked me about family history and used a 'food allergy' machine to detect intolerances. After this she advised on eliminating gluten, yeast, dairy and prawns as well as taking a probiotic (Saccharomyces Boulardii), linseeds and a bitter aloe vera drink. As you can imagine, this wasn't much fun but I followed it for about a month. It produced some mixed results but overall I was not convinced.

I know that the possibility of systemic candida infection is viewed with scepticism by doctors, so I am also sceptical, but I would be willing to try for a short amount of time to see if it helps.

I don't understand how you can eliminate sugar within a healthy diet. Don't all vegetables and fruits contain sugars and also carbohydrates are digested as sugars? I can't see how it is possible to have a healthy diet without any of these.

If there were a specific set of recipes to try out for a few days then I would do that.
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363281 tn?1643235611
COMMUNITY LEADER
Have you been checked for Candida. This is a yeast infection that lives in the gut area and can cause soooo many symptoms. Do a Google search, you will be surprised. One book I recommend looking for is called "The Yeast Connection" it is an eye-opener.

If you have not been checked, you can do a type of in-home test, just start avoiding all food that has sugar, wheat and yeast in it, if this is your problem, you will start feeling better in a few days.
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