Leaky Gas Sufferer....Dr's Visit Report

Hi All,

I’m a frequent visitor of this board...always on the lookout for a solution for my fecal Body Odor . I’ve finally reached a point where I WILL find out the cause behind this and work towards a solution. I pay monthly for health insurance and I refuse to give up on this health concern. Just a bit of background:
When I was 13 years old, I remember sitting in class with the worst gas. Rather than squeeze my cheeks to hold in the gas, I, for some insane reason pushed REALLY HARD and let out gas all class, all the while pushing REALLY HARD. From that day forward, I’ve had leaky gas. The gas is stress-induced. When I’m at home with my family or in an environment where I feel comfortable and there’s no level of stress or anxiety, I’m smell-free. When I’m tense, nervous, anxious, stressed or fearful of emitting a gaseous odor, it, of course, happens. I can never feel it happening, I VERY rarely can smell it (unless the wind happens to blow the right way or it’s particularly foul). The gas is almost always accompanied by a burning sensation in my anus. Lately, it’s gotten to the point where it’s uncomfortable to sit on my bottom. I also have experience of incomplete evacuation and a burning anus right after defecation. Although I have IBS, I don’t have extreme problems with either constipation or diarrhea. I’m just EXTREMELY gassy.

I’ve seen a gastroenterologist in the past, however I’ve often given up because my problems seems like such a mystery to them. However, I’ve been suffering for SEVENTEEN years and enough is definitely enough.
Last week, I visited a proctologist. She said I had no case of hemorrhoids to be concerned about. So, that ruled hemorrhoids out as a source of my burning. This was important for me to note, because my anus was actually burning during the exam. She did, however, note during a digital exam that my anal muscles were loose. I suspect something “gave way” during my extreme pushing out at age 13. She has me visiting a women’s health center for physical therapy to help strengthen the muscles. If, after a month, I’m unsatisfied with the results, I’ll revisit her.

Today, I visited a gastroenterologist. He knew his stuff (or he at least made me the most optimistic I’ve ever been during this whole stinky saga). I explained the problems with the odor (sulfur/rotten-egg smelling in nature..and sometimes just regular farty). He explained that rather than an acid issue (which I thought); it was probably a problem with alkali. He explained that acid problems affect the upper GI (esophagus….related to heartburn, etc). Alkali was much more toxic and wrecked havoc on the bowels. He also explained that a normal pH level for the body is a 7. Anything under a 3 would be an acidic environment. Anything 8 and above would be an overly alkaline environment. As you can see, if I have a problem with alkaline, it doesn’t take much of a leap from normal to set it off. This probably explains why my burning/gas starts so quickly after getting tense. Like acid, alkali can also burn. He said that my bowels may also experience this burning, it’s just that I could only feel it on my most sensitive area….my skin/anus.
He also said that the burning could be related to a pain called proctalgia. He says that when I get tense, nervous, etc, it doesn’t allow the muscles to relax, and this, tied in with an alkaline problem, would create the burning sensation. The incomplete evacuation could be from my muscles not loosening enough to release all of the stool.
At the end of my visit, I was feeling A LOT more optimistic of solving this problem. He prescribed Bentyl and also wants me to take Align to reintroduce good bacteria and Citrucel to firm up my bowel movements. Prior to starting this regimen, he wants me to do a Colon Cleanse (similar to what one would do before a colonoscopy) to flush all of the bad bacteria out of my body.

I go tomorrow for a lactulose bactecterial overgrowth test. It’s a breath test that will determine if I have a bacteria overgrowth (which my gastroenterologist suspects). I will be sure to post my results.
Well, that’s it for now. I hope this post helps someone. I’ve felt helpless and hopeless for so long (with a dash of suicidal when things were REALLY bad); I PRAY that this is my breakthrough and turn around.

Good luck to us all.