Doctors and nurses conflicting advice? Very confused.

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You may very well have a virus. Sometimes they cause low back pain. It does not mean that you could not have an underlying kidney or bladder infection. See how you feel when the virus passes and go from there. Do you have any fever? Sincerely, searchin
 
Firstly i would like to apologise if this is in the wrong place. I have symptoms which could be a nuraber of different things and was not sure which it would be best in.

I have been very sick for 3 days now.

Day 1: Severe aching in my lower back,e ither side of my spine. Skin feeling tingly and sensitive. Nausea in the morning - felt like i was going to throw up a few times (i heaved but nothing came out). The nausea passed.

Day 2: Much the same as day 1, fatigue, the same nausea and almost being sick which also passed. Back worse than day one. At around 9pm i started having diarrhoea - it was very gassy, liquidy with no blood or mucus.

Day 3 (Today): The diarrhoea lasted the whole night waking me up around 10-15 times. It lasted until midday when i finally got hold of imodium plus. The back pain has reduced but when i was taking a nap i had some sharp pains on the left of my lower back (sort of where my kidneys are i guess) which made me twitch a little. I turned over and they passed. My stomach is very sore to touch, all over really nowhere in particular.

I haven't eaten anything out of the ordinary, in fact my appetite has been non existent over the last 3 days and i cant bring myself to put very much into my mouth. I have been drinking plenty of water and rehydration powders.

In the beginning i thought it may be kidney problems. I am prone to UTIs and had a kidney infection around a month ago. This time my back was in worse pain. Now that i have diarrhoea my doctor says i may have a virus which sounRAB plausable but doesnt explain the back pain.

A nurse i spoke to in the early hours has said to drink plenty of water, eat when i can and stay away from juice and fizzy drinks, however, the doctor i spoke to this afternoon told me to drink plenty of water and sugary fizzy drinks? I am very confused. I am going to the doctors tomorrow at 6pm but i really would like to know what the best thing is to do. Im not sure that i should go to work tomorrow but we are short staffed.

I apologise this is so long but i wanted to explain as much as i can. I would appreciate any help and advice anyone can give me.

I'm female, 23 and on no medication other than the contraceptive depo injection which i have been on for a while and have had no side effects. I dont have any other problems as far as i know. I was tested for diabetes a few months ago and it came back negative. I do also suffer from migraines which have become much more frequent as of late and recently had a sinus infection.

Again thank you for reading. And i will answer any other questions needed.
 
Hi...you NEED to make sure you get stool testing. Were you recently on antibiotics for your sinus infection and many UTIs you've had? I suspect possible c. difficile infection.

REgarding the food, etc,....make sure you eat small meals and get enough nutrients. Skip the fizzy drinks and take in some tea with maybe a bit of honey or sugar.

Eggs will give you protein...whatever starches you can eat such as toast or maybe rice or whatever.

A fibre supplement such as Metamucil Smooth...NOT the kind that's sugar-free (as a matter of fact, don't take in any artificial sweeteners if you're not diabetic). Take it in a half glass of water, starting with one a day and then after a few days, twice a day.
That will help bulk the stool and help absorb whatever is in your digestive tract. Stopping your colon with imodium won't help to get rid of it. Only take it if you have to go out.

Purchase a good probiotic. I would suggest Renew Life Ultimate Flora Critical Care and take two a day. They're a very high potency. That will help reflourish your gut flora to help fight of whatever is going on.
Take them at night before bedtime on an empty stomach.

Stool testing! Fibre supplement! Take in nutrition, chew well and take it in small meals! Yes, fluiRAB...tea can be constipating for some people, but it'll be good with a bit of sugar or honey. Probiotics!

If this continues, you should see a gastroenterologist to have a colonoscopy done to make sure nothing else is going on.

Please keep us posted how you're doing.
quincy
 
I'm off to my doctors tomorrow to see what is going on. I am in the uk and i dont know if you are but my doctors are very reluctant on referring people for anything!!

I was on antibiotics for the sinus infection, i didnt finish the dose though. I get UTIs a lot, probably 1 every 2 months. The last one was a mild kidney infection. I am trying my bet to stop these - cleaning and peeing after intercourse, avoiding using soaps on 'that' area etc.

Im not sure whether my pee is cloudy or not as when i've been i've been moving my bowel too. I did notice it was quite a dark colour at one point. I naturally pee alot anyway. In and out of the loo all day, wake up at least twice a night to go. I never really get thirsty though, i just drink as much as i can. Also i've always had hard stools since i was a kid i dont know if that means anything.

I will try the tea, although i dont have any honey. I guess i can ask my mum to pick up a few things tomorrow too as ive been in too much pain to go shopping!

Now i seem to be getting bouts of abdominal cramps, sharp and the last around 2 minutes and then go. My stomach is still very tender.

I am trying to eat some soup and bread - i can seem to bring myself to eat soliRAB it makes me feel like being sick i guess it might be psychological.

I will of course post my outcome on the situation tomorrow evening. I guess i should stay home from work.

Thank you for your advice, it was really helpful!! So many things to try :D
 
I would react according to what the DOCTOR said.

Of course I am a little bitter right now as I was recently told by a LAB TECH that I was diabetic, before giving my dr. a chance to tell me.
 
Hi Kristy,

Glad to see that things worked out for you. Burst ovarian cysts are dubbed "white appendix" in the emergency room because they are often mistaken for a ruptured appendix. All of the fluid should be absorbed by your body over time and since you are already feeling better than most likely an ovarian cyst is what it was.

If however, you are still feeling nauseated and have diarrhea, be sure to go back to your doctor for advice. Also, as one responder here has mentioned, those antibiotics will not only kill the bad bacteria for those UTI's and sinus infections but they also kill the good bacteria in your colon. In order to even things out and restore the balance in your colon, you should take a good probiotic. The best kind is found in a good kefir or natural yoghurt but you can also buy capsules. The capsules have to have been kept refrigerated though or you will be eating dead bacteria and wasting your money. This is why yoghurt or even better, kefir, are best.

I have known people who have had horrible bouts of C-difficle infections after being on antibiotics for UTI's. C-difficile lives in almost all of our guts in small nurabers but when an antibiotic kills off the good bacteria that keeps the C-difficile in check, it proliferates like crazy and causes horrible problems (diarrhea which can dehydrate so badly that it kills weaker individuals). Probiotics are the best defence for this as this helps to repopulate the colon with good bateria which will control the bad (like C-difficile).

This is something you should definitely know about if you have constant UTI's and take antibiotics. If you have honeymoonitis, meaning that the UTI's come about after having sex, then peeing afterwarRAB is usually a good remedy for this. Also, keep in mind that hormonal contraceptives may increase your risk for UTI's. I was on hormonal contraceptives and I also had UTI's almost always after having sex. I found that daily cranberry juice and urinating after sex took care of the problem. If you don't like cranberry juice, you can get cranberry extract in capsule form. The probiotics will also help for UTI's because you have good and bad bacteria in your vaginal area as well and new studies have shown that probiotics can help for UTI's as well as other infections.

I hope this incredibly long message will serve to help and inform a bit. Take good care of yourself and hopefully your ovaries will behave themselves so that you don't ever have another one of those cysts burst.

All the best for a speedy recovery.

Estria
 
As I was reading all the posts, I was going to guess either appendix or gall bladder, possibly a kidney stone. Glad to hear it worked out for you! I'm assuming it was a laproscopic surgery? That's how they removed my gall bladder. Instead of a huge scar, I have 4 small ones.

You also asked about whether to trust the doctor or the nurse. Just for future reference, always take a nurse's advice with a grain of salt. I can't tell you how many times the nurses have contradicted the doctors time after time in my experience. They just don't know what they're talking about most the time but they pretend like they do. Always follow what the doctor tells you over anything a nurse ever says. It will work out much better for you that way.
 
Thank you for replying. I just thought fizzy drinks would make gassy diarrhoea worse and more painful. I guess a glass of flat coke wouldn't hurt though.
 
Just thought i'd add my new symptoms. I am very confused and worried.

I've been getting sharp pains whenever i move position for a few minutes that seem to go with massaging the stomach. The feel a little gassy and are in the upper abdomen. When i press under my ribs it is also painful. I had a little more diarrhoea today aswell. Did manage to eat a sandwich.

I have also had some brown spotting today. I havent had any sign of a period for spotting for about 2 years. I went on the depo at about 18/19, came off in 2008 for 6 months and went back on. Never had any problems before. I was unsure if this was related. I had my last injection Tuesday this week.
 
My mother (also not a doctor...;) ) always gave us fizzy drinks for upset stomach or diareah (sp) and it always worked. I would stay with diet sprite if possible. Reason being that it doesn't have all the sugar or caffeine, but does have the carbonation.

(just a thought)
 
Try a glass of sprite with a teaspoon of salt, let the fizzle end. This is great for nausea as well as upset stomaches! Please let me know how it went.
 
Hi...It's possible that in part it's related, but I don't know if it would be a sole contributor, you'd have to do the research on the medication shot. When women have their perioRAB, hormones released can cause diarrhea, cramping, etc. With spotting, hormones will be a tad out of whack and maybe cause some cramping...could be coincidence and two issues happening.

You should call the doctor. Are you sure you're not pregnant?

Please have stool samples done...you need to be checked for c.difficile.

Is it under both ribs that's painful or just under one that's more painful? Is it worse when you're lying down or standing up?

You need to see the doctor and have the stool samples done....

Please keep us updated for sure.

quincy
 
Wow i never knew that! Well all i have in the house is coca cola and lucozade so will have to be one of those since i cant leave the house.
 
Good to know you are alright now kristymarie. I will remeraber this post just in case it happens to me. :)
 
Well i went to my GP last thursday. She referred me to A&E who said it was my appendix.

I had my appendix removed on Saturday afternoon and it turned out that the appendix was ok but there was alot of fluid around which they have put down to a burst ovarian cyst!!

I am now free from pain anyway (other than the pain from the op) so it all work out well. All blood tests, urine samples etc must have been fine :D
 
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