Stomach Cramp, Diarrhea, sweating , light headedness and fainting

[tomski]

I have experienced on 4 occasions in the last 6 years a rather weird Diarrhoea attack which really is painful and scary. Here is a description of what occurs.

1. Sudden abdominal pain which increases in intensity over a short time. The same sensation one might get when they are about to get Diarrhoea.

2. I go to the toilet and try excreting whatever wants to come out. However after about a minute of sitting there with nothing coming out I suddenly few light headed and am starting to get a dizzy spell like I am about to faint and my breathing weakens.

3. This borderline fainting sensation lasts for about another minute before I break out into a sudden sweat all over my body. Within a few seconds I have sweat literally pouring out of me, my clothes are wet as if I ran a marathon or something.

4. After a minute of sweating I suddenly feel something coming out of my rear end. I try to squeeze it out and only a hard stool comes out.

5. The sweating stops and the stomach cramp subsides. I think everything is over and I clean up. I walk out of the toilet and in about 2 minutes time the stomach cramp and the fainting sensation comes back (I've fainted only once to date from this and was out for about 15-20 minutes).

6. When I get back to the toilet I have a really violent Diarrhoea episode in pure liquid state. It takes a few minutes to subside and once I

[Jazzygthatsme]

I'v e suffered from this about 4 times now. It starts  with regular cramps from a normal bout of diarrhea. It's slowly or quickly intensifies to where I am confused on the toilet and having feelings of contractions as though I'm going into labor. Having 2 children without medication I know pain and this could be really damn close to the pain of childbirth. I usually pass a very hard stool. On two occasions at this point I  fainted, pants down *** up on the bathroom floor.  At one point I woke up in a pool of black diarrhea and  the other time I was able to wake up and make it back to the toilet.  I am usually confused ,very weak,shaking and sweating bullets.  While passing the black diarrhea I often have a feeling of hot liquid rising in my body all the way to my heart. Very scary.  Once the black diarrhea is expelled I usually feel better even if momentarily but the shivering begins.  I have often push myself into the shower fully clothed and let the hot water run on me for fear of drowning if I filled the tub.  After my second attack I started paying attention to my lifestyle in the days leading up to the event. I was on a medication that had constipation listed as a side   effect in at least two cases I had eaten a lot of cheese. I  bought a medicine holder with labels of the days of the week on the lids and  now I take a stool softener every 3rd day.  If I miss having a bowel movement for more than 2 days I immediately take a gentle laxative.  I think the dietary changes have been my biggest help in avoiding this the last year. I  eat yogurt at every lunch and greens at every dinner and I've cut down on Cheese (my fav).  I try to avoid holding in bowel movements at any cost even at the cost of using a public restroom I would normally avoid at all costs.  I've also cut down on my salt intake  by cutting out soda and using unsalted butter. Small changes.  I have also started drinking the recommended 8 glasses of water a day, versus the one glass a day I usually drink. When I'm on medications  drinking alcohol or doing anything athletic I often drink 10. If  you suffer from any health problems and are often stuck at home I would recommend taking a walk for at least 20 min a day if possible or any exercises you can manage.I haven't had any attacks since I've made these changes however, I will keep you posted . Just so you know visiting the doctor about this is very important. I did and my blood work all came back normal which led me to make these dietary changes.

[Michelleka91]

This has just literally happened to me the now there,I honestly thought I was going to die!horrible!I too get this several times a year and cannot find out what causes it.Anyone know what it could be?really don't want to go through it again.

[goldenpons]

research histamine intolerance, and you will find your symptoms and how to avoid triggers and treat the very scary episodes

[HowCanSheSlap]

I've been experiencing exactly this for several years now, usually once or twice a year it happens, sometimes more.

It happened again last night, which is the reason I've been google searching and ended up here.

The process for me is mostly the same as anyone else: Bubbling/cramping pains like I'm going to have diarrhea. Once I'm on the toilet, I can't actually produce a bowel movement, but the cramps intensify and I start to feel light-headed, nauseous and my vision starts to fade-to-black. Yesterday, whilst experiencing this stage of the 'attack' my ears started ringing, it was very loud. I usually stop myself from passing out by getting a member of the family to hand me a cold towel which I hold over my face. I have passed out several times though in the past during the 'attack'.

Once the majority of the bowel movement is over and I've passed an exorbitant amount of diarrhea, the symptoms subside and I start to feel okay again.

It's so strange. I thought I'd figured out the cause at Christmas this year, as I usually always receive Haribo sweets at Christmas and I had eaten a large amount of them the night before my previous episode. However, the episode I experienced last night was not caused by Haribo, so I'm not so sure anymore.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one experiencing this.

[goldenpons]

research histamine intolerance

[Gatekeeper101]

General comment for everyone. I have been suffering the same for many years as does my 2 daughters. I 'think' this is called Postprandial Reactive hypoglycemia. Basically the body floods with natural insulin which causes these effects. No known 'cure' but dairy products and alcohol can be involved.  Hope this helps

[goldenpons]

same symptoms here, very scary episodes...finally diagnosed with histamine intolerance...a relief

[goldenpons]

same symptoms here, very scary episodes...finally diagnosed with histamine intolerance...a relief

[jdHere]

Gatekeeper101, did you have the abdominal complications others have had here as well? And after bowel movement, everything is more or less back to normal?

[Bunnytrapp]

Just wanted to say that I have had these episodes for years...maybe 2-3 per year. I wondered if anyone has tried anything to keep the fainting from coming on...is there something u can do or try??

[Gatekeeper101]

General comment for everyone. I have been suffering the same for many years as does my 2 daughters. I 'think' this is called Postprandial Reactive hypoglycemia. Basically the body floods with natural insulin which causes these effects. No known 'cure' but dairy products and alcohol can be involved.  Hope this helps

[meg_999]

I'm glad to have found this thread to see I'm not alone in having these excruciating episodes, but a little disheartened from the stories... It seems this will probably never go away, and there is little chance at a firm diagnosis or treatment. Great.

I am 27 and started having these episodes at 25/26, 3-4 times per year. Same thing as everyone else -- excruciating cramps, vasovagal response, sweating buckets, nausea, nearly passing out, and finally multiple bouts of diarrhea, which eventually makes me feel better. I haven't actually ever thrown up or passed out, but have come close (vision has gone black).

Sometimes the diarrhea has mucousy blood in it, and sometimes it doesn't. My lower abdomen and back (feels like my kidneys) are usually sore/tender the next day.

So far I have found no correlation with any particular foods or my menstrual cycle, but I will continue to pay attention to that. There is no family history of IBS or anything, but my grandpa died of colon cancer.

One time I took a stool softener at the onset of the cramps, thinking it would speed up the process, but eventually I was only passing pure blood (no stool) which ended up lasting over 24 hours. It was extremely scary. I went to a doctor and they confirmed it was internal (not hemorrhoids or anything) and they scheduled a colonoscopy but I couldn't get in for 5 months. Those 5 months went by with no problems, so I canceled the appointment. 2 months later, I finally had another one. Now I'm not sure if I should reschedule the colonoscopy or just accept the fact that these episodes are a part of my life now...

[Mricha29]

Did you ever get any answers from a doctor and/or test??

[yamirare]

It's so gratifying yet sad to find others who have the same experiences; it doesn't sound like any of us have any firm answers on what causes our symptoms though. My "episodes" started in my late 20's (am now 50) - almost always the same: first a rumbling sound in my intestinal area, then waves of crampy twinges in my sigmoid colon, feeling faint (and I get pale apparently), then the nausea hits and I know I need to get to a bathroom ASAP.  I never vomit, but I do sweat buckets -soak my pj's a lot - and let me tell you - it's so weird to feel yourself sweating between your toes...I sit on the toilet waiting for the cramping to stop (and I agree, the pain is worse than labor - this coming from a woman that had a baby pulled from her with forceps after vacuum extraction failed - no drugs, no cesarean - she was stuck in the birth canal) which it finally does after a bowel movement that sounds like I am peeing.  I usually will lay on the cool bathroom floor after the initial bm, because I know that things are not over -- my episodes come and go for around 4 hours.  Most times I use a folded towel as a pillow as I sit on the potty and wait or while I'm on the floor - at this point I've had enough of these episodes to know whether it'll be a while before the next one and sometimes I just crawl back into bed in my damp pajamas until the next wave comes.  Like most of you, the majority of my bouts come at night, but sometimes they hit during the day at very inconvenient times - like at work.  Having said all that, no cause has ever been found after colonoscopy, biopsy, blood tests, etc.  (am told I have unspecified colitis- thanks that's such a great help)...But I have found a few things that without a doubt will bring on an attack - onions, bbq pork that has been simmering in the sauce (I can eat pulled pork with the sauce on the side), major stress, and progesterone (I get a shot for birth control - it's synthetic progesterone- and within a couple of days, I have an attack).  After reading all the posts here, it seems there are a few things in common among most posters - the onset of their symptoms (females, anyway) began about the time of puberty or within a few years of then - so hormones possibly contribute.   And it sounds like a lot have different food triggers...  I had the vasovagal syncope once, all the symptoms of the onset of a bout, but no bm resulted - maybe because I did faint?  Ended up in the ER for that one and the dr said a lot of people with vv pass out several times because they try to get up too quickly - stay down for a few minutes to allow the pressure on the nerve to ease.  With no definitive answer, I keep researching for a diagnosis - currently looking at "intestinal pseudo obstruction" which is a rare, hard-to-diagnose nerve/muscle disorder that delays intestinal emptying - so here are some questions for those of you that have had this problem for years -- have you also had intermittent problems with constipation since you were a child, do you have no appetite, and does fiber do more harm than good?

[goldenpons]

research histamine intolerance, i suffered this for years and finally got a correct diagnosis