[Jenzi]

Yikes! Pete (husband)has been a para for 28 yrs. Having periods of gas, cramping and extraordinary pain and bowel changes. (colonoscopy 2 yrs ago was normal) Lost lots of weight.Went to a food allergist and was told to lay off yeast and dairy, etc. He has done that and now he's in a cycle of diarhea, take 3-4 immodium, feel like crap and no BM for 4 days, then diahrea again.
Looking for ideas on the cause and
if anyone has seen a Gastroenterologist who knows something about spinal cord injury in the U.S.?? I'm thinking it would be worth the trip. This has been happening all summer and he looks like a skeleton on wheels...and he's a bit crabby these days.

[jennyau]

Maybe get a blood test for celiacs disease to rule it out.

[Tetracyclone]

Definitely check for disease as Aussie Jenny suggests, but it may be due to a lack of balanced bacteria in the gut, which is something many of us suffer after much use of antibiotics. Humans rely on a wide range of bacteria and fungus introduced from the environment (foods) in order to digest food. Many nutrients cannot be absorbed unless broken down by these bacteria first. Antibiotics kill off the bacteria, leaving fungus to overpopulate (no more competition from the bacteria) and poison us with their by-products. Search candidiasis. Organ transplant recipients generally suffer the same symptoms, including what we call quad gut, and some believe this contributes greatly to immune rejection.

Were this something affecting your husband, an array of probiotics will slowly bring him back into balance and allow him to absorb some vital nutrients from his food.
Here is a link (I hope) to an abridged info page from the business called Global Health Tracs. I am not promoting them, but the info is sound and many products are mentioned that are not theirs.

I suffered bloating and poor absorption and poor health for years long befor I was SCI. Many antibiotics and poor diet as a kid. I found this general approach restored my health and energy even after my health and weight had sunk into a pit about as deep as your husband's.

I hope the info is useful to some.

Attached File(s)

•  Short candida info page.doc (61K)
  Number of downloads: 24

[partygirl]

That does sound bad, especially the extreme weight loss. Rings alarm bells for me.
Things to consider are Ulcerative Colitis and Crohns Disease. Is he passing any blood in/around his stool? Does his doctor know he has lost so much weight?

[chrisarnold6]

Guts are a variable entity in many people. The advice given is sound. Gut flora can be reinforced with something like yakult. This is certainly useful if you are taking antibiotics, as they are choosy about which bugs they kill off.

[Jenzi]

Thank you everyone for your advise. He went out today and bought some probiotics. His Gastro. did tell him to take them at his last appointment, but he did not follow through with that part. He was hospitalized in April for a week with uro-sepsis....and of course the IV antibiotics are quite powerful, so perhaps that was the start of the extreme problems. Thanks!