Intermittent Constipation, Stomach Pain, Grey Lint-Like Substance On Stool

[jordanschnapp]

For the last 2.5 months I've had various GI problems, it started with diarrhea and breathing issues, then a long period of constipation and nausea, my lung issues resolved themselves a couple weeks after my gi issues started however i still feel nauseous from time to time, and in the beginning i had no urge whatsoever for bowel movements for almost 3 weeks, for which i took magnesium citrate and i had 7 bowel movements that day and since then my bowel habits have changed quite significantly. Since then my stool has been about half the length and 1/3rd the normal width, its also been lighter in color and has a mucousy, lint-like substance covering it more often than not recently. This has been accompanied by transient widespread abdominal pain, and at first i felt severely bloated at all times of the day but that subsided a few weeks ago. Now, however, i feel constant pressure in my upper abdomen between the epigastric and umbilical area, and i am able to very clearly see and feel my heartbeat in my upper abdomen. In the beginning i had almost no outward audible bowel sounds whatsoever, but now i hear dozens of bowel sounds a day which is out of the ordinary for me as i usually only hear sounds when i would be hungry or digesting food. Also for the last few weeks, I've had muscular twitching on my left arm, left eyelid, and stomach, although primarily on my left arm, dozens of times a day that lasts anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. My heartburn has been much worse recently, and I also feel full much earlier and much longer than i did prior to my gi issues, eating about half as much as i was and only 2 meals a day, and i assume my muscle tone loss is related to that; also i feel very sick when i eat more than that. Also for the last few days, I've been having painful bloody bowel movements, though i believe that's related to an unresolved hemorrhoid that got worse as my colon rarely wants to naturally let stool pass through it, i have to push almost every bowel movement, which started a little over a month ago. Also yesterday 2 times i felt the need to have a bowel movement, but nothing came out and when i wiped there was a significant amount of blood, the color being a neutral not too light or dark red. For reference, I'm a male 5'7" 190 pounds, 20 years of age, and i drink a lot of water and generally only water. I had a muscular build with an average amount of body fat prior to these issues, however as mentioned I've lost most of my muscle tone and overall I've lost around 15-20 pounds since this started. I talked to my doctor when i had about half of these symptoms which included elevated hemoglobin, about 2 months ago, and she said i could have celiac or ibs, she ran blood tests however i don't go back for another 2 weeks so i don't know the results as of now, and since then I've changed my diet to include more fiber less gluten and much less cheese, although it doesn't seem to have helped much. I understand this is quite a broad set of symptoms and a large wall of text, i would appreciate and be thankful for any insight. From the research I've done, I've concluded parasites or celiac are the most likely, though i am no medical professional. I also came across this condition called an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which sometimes presents with the ability to see your heartbeat in your stomach, which has me quite worried as I've been unable to find any other conditions relating to it, at least on the internet, although from what I've read it's exceedingly rare and unlikely for someone in their 20s, i should mention that immediately prior to these symptoms i lost my job and have lived a sedentary lifestyle since then with very little exercise, and i also handled a large quantity of soil with bare hands of unknown origin immediately prior and also ate undercooked chicken, and combined with the stomach and lung issues led me to assume i had a parasite. One last piece of information which may or may not be relevant, but right before these issues started i was an avid marijuana smoker, smoking on average twice per day for 2 years, but now it causes severe discomfort and anxiety, and i had heart palpitations and breathing problems which led me to the er where i had an x ray and they told me my lungs were inflamed and prescribed me steroids, which resolved my lung issues, and i haven't smoked in around 2 months, i also quit smoking cigarettes around 5 months ago and i don't drink, and lastly for the last 2 weeks I've had a scaly rash on the sides on my feet and on both pinky toes, which do not appear to be allergic reactions. Thank you for reading, any help is appreciated <3

[TheLightSeeker]

Hmm, could be post gatroenteritis / salmonella infection
Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a rather common clinical occurrence ( up to 30% of sufferers of the aforementioned
infections)

The hallmark symptoms of this are:
1. Diarrhea in the beginning
2. Blood in the stools
3.  Abdominal cramping, pain, discomfort
4. Significant weight loss (10 lbs + )
  If you want to look this up online, search under PI-IBS

You may also have several withdrawal symptoms, from the abrupt discontinuation of smoking marijuana and cigarettes.

The steroid meds helped to treat some symptoms at the time, however,  bear in mind there's ALWAYS a biological trade-off in such situations!.

It is possible that the combination of cigarette and marijuana smoking did affect your lungs.
I hope your lung related issues are permanently resolved.

IBS  (highly suspect) is challenging to treat, so my recommendation is that you look into the SCD program very seriously.
You could avoid the medical merry-go-round and unnecessary prolonged suffering.

Best wishes,
Niko
Niko

[ROKO10]

Hello Jordan. I am reading this and I have similar health problems , abdominal cramps, constipation abd the grey lint. Have you figured out more what the issue was for you? And what the lint is?