FOR OLD TIMERS, HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU? NEED HELP

Its been a very long time since posting here. Life has gotten so big that i faded away into work, life, etc.. I will be three years out with my DS surgery come December 8th. I am revision 2 x over, 54 years old and up  and down my entire life with my weight. My body has been through the ringer. I wish I could say that i have been the model DS patient and did everything that i am supposed to, but that would be a lie.... I lost 76 lbs in the first 8 months and stayed there going up and down 10 lbs during the past 2 years. I never lost more weight as i started eating sugar, carbs etc... basically eating what ever i wanted when i wanted. Its a miracle I did not gain an abundant amount of weight, but that is where the DS has worked for me. I pretty much have always had diarrhea even before the DS but since DS it was a bit worse but manageable. all of a sudden a few months ago, my diarrhea got worse and started losing control of my bowls in the middle of the night when sleeping and having accidents. Totally humiliating, humbling, embarrassing,, frightening, scary. I finally it enough of a bottom that i made myself stop eating sweets, flour and fried foods thinking that would make it better. Well it did a little bit but still having accidents and totally frustrated. I called Dr Keshishian yesterday to tell him what was going on and he said to stop using artificial sweeteners and and lay off of fruit and vegetables for a while and go back to basics of PROTEIN, PROTEIN, PROTEIN!!!!! I have always eaten my quota of protein, but was just eating all the other junk too. So now just protein. He said that my GI track was completely out of wack and that is why i am having the bowel issues.  HAS ANYONE ELSE experienced this????  I am so freaked out and scared. Having diarrhea is one thing and i could live with that, but losing control in the night is completely horrible and not something that has been normal for me. In the last month i have lost 10 lbs that I am happy about but not in an unhealthy way....HELP!

A couple of years ago I had a bacterial overgrowth in my digestive system. The only thinkg that helped was a prescription for flagyl. (Metronidazole) an antibiotic. I had to take large doses of good probiotics to get my system back in order and haven't had a problem since.

Thank you Gail, which probiotics did you take and how much, how often?

I bought two kinds and took one in the morning and one in the evening while on Flagyl. Normally I just do one a day.  I use Trader Joes best, (though now I use their less expensive one) and Costco Truenature brand. It is just a good idea to get as big a variety of boitics as possible when recovering from this issue. 

I would be trying flagyl and probiotics too!  Another thing you can start is adding a lot more calcium.

Thank you Patty

this is awful....hope you find some relief soon.....I have never had diarrhea or constipation with my ds revision (before i was a disaster).  there is obviously a problem, you are very very young and you have had  no injuries, etc.  I would find a GI specialist, NOW, they may not be familiar with the ds, but look for GI specialists that research IBD, especially chrons resections or short gut syndrome, cystic fibrosis etc.   hoping you find your answer real soon

Thank you so much for your kindness and support. Miss seeing you, I need to check in more often.Yes, I do believe it is MORE that what Dr. K is stating i need to do. It just feels like something is really wrong. I am going to call a specialist today and look into tests for the very things you mentioned....

That happened to me at 7 months out!  It was a food borne illness!!!!  Aeromonas hydrophila... not one of the better known culprits like salmonella or e-coli.  I thought it was caused by my food choices and the fact that I was cheating around the holidays, but it didn't get better.  I didn't find out until one morning I had gotten so dehydrated that I passed out in the shower and went to the hospital.  Stool samples revealed the cause.  I took a strong antibiotic and within a few days I started to feel better.  BTW... uncontrollable diarrhea was the only symptom (besides feeling worn out) I had so I just assumed it was my food choices.  Haven't had any issues since.  I am usually pretty good with my food choices, but there have been occasions when I have really eaten alot of the wrong foods and never had a reaction like I did when I had the food borne illness.  Hope you find the cause and get some relief!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!