jessabel
07-23-2005, 01:30 PM
I've been experiencing kind of strange symptoms over the last few years, and I'm not sure if they're all coincidental or linked to something a little more serious. Thought I'd try to get some opinions from people who've been through this...
A couple of years ago I started experiencing pretty painful stomach cramps, nausea, and sweating every time I ate beef. I passed it off as either a beef allergy or just the fact that I hadn't eaten a lot of red meat for awhile, and after around six months the symptoms decreased in frequency and severity. I pretty mkuch forgot about it.
Recently (within the last six months), those symptoms have come back along with irregularities in my bowel movements. I have, several times, noticed blood on the toilet paper and a little in my stools, but assumed it was just hemmorhoids. I've also had week long periods (usually once every month or so) where my stools are either almost white colored or very very dark green or black. I also alternate between healthy bowel movements and periods of constipation that leave me sweating, nauseous and in pretty nasty pain in the middle of the night. At those times my stools are pretty thin, but not necessarily hard like regular constipation.
Finally, over the last three weeks, I've experienced a 14 lb. weight loss. I'm pretty overweight for my height, and had just restarted a new exercise/diet regimen, but I don't think I should've been losing nearly a pound a day. That's pretty scary for me.
I should add that I'm 25 years old and in good health other than being overweight.
Am I just being crazy, or should I get this checked out? I'm not sure if all the symptoms are even related since they're so spread out over time. I'm transitioning between college and a new job, and I'm not sure if I'm even covered under health insurance yet, so I'm also worried about the financial strain of a colonoscopy. Maybe I just need to relax. :)
Thanks for reading this and sharing your opinions. Best wishes to all of you.
jessa
A couple of years ago I started experiencing pretty painful stomach cramps, nausea, and sweating every time I ate beef. I passed it off as either a beef allergy or just the fact that I hadn't eaten a lot of red meat for awhile, and after around six months the symptoms decreased in frequency and severity. I pretty mkuch forgot about it.
Recently (within the last six months), those symptoms have come back along with irregularities in my bowel movements. I have, several times, noticed blood on the toilet paper and a little in my stools, but assumed it was just hemmorhoids. I've also had week long periods (usually once every month or so) where my stools are either almost white colored or very very dark green or black. I also alternate between healthy bowel movements and periods of constipation that leave me sweating, nauseous and in pretty nasty pain in the middle of the night. At those times my stools are pretty thin, but not necessarily hard like regular constipation.
Finally, over the last three weeks, I've experienced a 14 lb. weight loss. I'm pretty overweight for my height, and had just restarted a new exercise/diet regimen, but I don't think I should've been losing nearly a pound a day. That's pretty scary for me.
I should add that I'm 25 years old and in good health other than being overweight.
Am I just being crazy, or should I get this checked out? I'm not sure if all the symptoms are even related since they're so spread out over time. I'm transitioning between college and a new job, and I'm not sure if I'm even covered under health insurance yet, so I'm also worried about the financial strain of a colonoscopy. Maybe I just need to relax. :)
Thanks for reading this and sharing your opinions. Best wishes to all of you.
jessa