I have been in out of doctors offices since September of 2005. I am 17 years old and have been having diarreah on a daily basis. I have bm's more than eight times a day unless I take over the counter pills regularly. I try not to take the pill unless I have to because then I have painful cramps.

I have tried changing my diet by cutting out sugar, caffeine, I tried the brat diet. I don't ever eat fast food. I have had fast food twice since this whole thing started. I have had colonoscopies that have showed nothing. The doctors said that is wasn't colitis or IBS. I was taking a medication called Asacol. I have since stopped taking it since I was experiencing cramps and still having occaisional bouts of diarreah. I was also taking Culturelle. It stopped the diarreah while I was taking it ,but the diarreah came back after the first day of stopping use.

I am getting frustrated because my doctors seem to be content with where I am just taking pills but I feel horrible. I can hardly make it through class without going to the bathroom. The worst has been Lacrosse. Most of the fields don't have bathrooms so I have to take medicine and play with cramps.

I would appreciate any advice anyone could offer. I am 17 and don't want to have to take medication for the rest of my life.

I'm sorry you're having to go through this. I don't know if I can offer a lot of help, but have you tried taking fiber supplements such as Metamucil? They can be bulk forming, and may help you. I'm surprised your doctor ruled out IBS, because that's what this sounds like. Have you thought of trying another physician to get a second opinion? Best of luck.

If your diarrhea was stopped by taking Culturelle then

I think your diarrhea is caused by the friendly bacteria in your intestines is out of balance and needs to be re-balanced.

Try taking Culturelle twice daily for at least a month -- it re-colonizes your intestines with that bacteria Lactobacllis GG but based on my experience it needs to be taken for a while to really be helpful.

Eat a good brand of yogurt and eat some 4X daily --- I use Stonyfield Farms that contains 4 additional bacteria cultures that would help and drink 4oz of Kefir daily -- all will help replenich your friendly intestinal flora!!

I have something similiar to your problem. For 8 years I was able to control it with a prescription - Questran Powder- generic is Cholestyramine and also took fiber. Then all of a sudden it stopped working for me but at least I had 8 good years. Maybe your doctor could issue a prescription on this drug.