Triggers.....What are Yours????

This post is not a pretty one and if you have a weak stomach, you may want to turn away now.  Disclosure - it's about the bathroom.  Um you know Potty Talk.  For me and a lot of others with chronic illnesses, potty troubles rule the day.  For me it is a daily struggle and something I have to always think about.  Will I be close enough to a bathroom, will I make it, how far can I ride in the car without an incident.

A little background information - I have had what they used to call a spastic colon forever!  I believe I remember hearing that diagnosis at about 17.  Later they labeled it IBS - Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  No surprise there - all of my parts seem to be irritable or spastic. Gall bladder, uterus, bladder, colon....just seems to be the normal for me.  Many people with ME/CFS as well as Fibro have bowel/stomach disorders along with their illnesses. 

 Now to what is going on now.  A few years ago I started having trouble during bowel movements (I know Potty Talk) and it increasingly got worse.  I would feel a little stomach pain and then my ears would get hot, mouth dry, ears would start ringing and as I sat helpless on the toilet I would begin to pass out.  The goal became to complete the bowl movement before passing out so that I could crawl to my bed and lie flat until the episode passed.  It takes an hour or more laying flat or with feet up for it to completely go away.  Sometimes I am successful and sometimes not.  I won't go into the mishaps that I have had and how frustrating this has become.  The name the doctors have given it is: 

Vasovagal syncope (vay-zoh-VAY-gul SING-kuh-pee)

(also called neurocardiogenic syncope) 

Now passing out is no fun in any case but my real problem is the accompanying poop issue.  If I don't get to a bathroom before I go down, I have no control of what happens.  This happened once while we were on our way home in the car and the train left the station and could not be stopped.  I tried so hard not to pass out but was all but gone and I could feel my legs start vibrating as if I was having a seizure.  Hubby had to practically drag me into the house where I had to sit on the toilet with head between the knees - my new strategy - assuming the position.  I can go weeks without an episode and then bam here we go again.  These also come with nausea, belching, tummy rumbling and pain in the middle of the stomach.  I ended up on the floor of the dentist's office yesterday - so embarrassing.  But at least no poop accident....

I am going into all of this poopy talk because I must figure out my trigger.  Just like so many things with these illnesses, there is a trigger.  Things I do know - constipation, over eating and drinking things with sugar seem to bring on an attack.  I have had lots of tests done and the only conclusion is that there is something that triggers this for me.  I am starting to think food allergies, possibly gluten sensitivity.  I have read lots about how common it is for those with Fibro to also have gluten issues.  So my conclusion until more tests are done is that I am going to put myself on a gluten free diet to see what happens.  I figure it can't hurt and all I have to loose are some of my favorite foods.  :-)  For now I just would like to be able to leave home without feeling that I need a diaper and that I must always have a caretaker. 

I would love to hear from others who may have any of these type symptoms with their ME and or Fibro or any chronic illness for that matter.  Together I believe we can figure out things that sometimes our doctor's can't.  Together we are all stronger.