Hi, I am a 16 year old male highschool student and I have an embarassing and socially crippling health issue. The main issue that I have is the persistent odour emanating from my anus (rotten fish/feces smell). No matter how many times I wipe myself and how many baths/showers I have per day, I always stink. This problem started around mid October in 2013. Prior to this smell problem, I used to get abdominal cramps rather frequently. I can also recall straining to have a bowel movement nearly everyday for a long time. Some other symptoms that go along with the constant unpleasant odour are: fecal leakage (small amounts of feces leaking for 2-3 hours after having a bowel movement), occasional constipation, small spots of blood left on toilet paper (this symptom recently seemed to disappear, 3-4 weeks ago) and I noticed that my stomach seems to grumble and gurgle alot, especially when I go to bed. Approximately 3 weeks after I first noticed these symptoms, I went to go see my family doctor to see if he could solve my problem. He ordered that I get some blood tests done and an ultrasound. The blood tests, I believe, were to check blood sugar levels, as well as any bacterial related infections. The ultrasound, I believe, was to check for any lumps or abnormalities. All tests came back normal. There are many digestive and colon issues that 'run' in my family. My dad has diverticulitas and hemorrhoids. My Nana has IBS and I believe that she is diabetic and/or has Celiac disease (not positive about which one).
Possibly seperate from this issue, or maybe completely connected to this issue is another health problem(s) that I have been having. Since Grade 9 (2-3 years ago), I have had eye and mental issues. I get eye strain quite frequently and I feel like my eyes are always really wide open (abnormally so) all the time, and I can't control it. Whenever I am in a social situation, such as at school or a family get together, I get eye strain. I can also feel that my eyes are open wider than normal and dart around with a look that my friends describe as 'You look like your going to kill someone'. Some other syptoms that I am having is short term memory loss, speech problems, forgetfulness and a minor, infrequent studder. Interestingly though, I noticed that within my highschool, there are MANY other people dealing with these same eye and mental issues. Through a little bit of research, I came to notice that most of these symptoms in this paragraph listed above, directly correlate to Aluminum toxicity and possibly other metals too. Also, if you have what is considered to be a toxic amount of aluminum in your body, it can lead to various digestive disorders. This may possibly be the cause for my issue listed in the first paragraph, however I have not come to any definite conclusions yet. IMPORTANT: the only reason that I provided information about the issues listed in this second paragraph was to provide as much information as possible to hopefully solve my problem listed in the first paragraph.
I am sorry for the large content of writing that I have provided but this smell problem has really affected my life (mostly negatively as of now). I used to be an A student before this smell problem started. I would always get 80's and 90's in every subject, but since my smell problem started, my marks have significantly dropped. I have been staying home from school 2-3 days per week. I have been depressed and I never want to leave my house. My teachers think that I have a very serious health problem going on because I stay home all the time. All I want is for my smell problem to go away so I can regain my social and academic life back. I have literally spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on possible solutions and products but nothing has worked yet. Again, I am sorry for writing so much and I realize that you are not a psychiatrist but I just needed someone to talk to about this issue. I would GREATLY appreciate if you could email me back and maybe shed some light on what my health problem may be and possible solutions for it.
PS I forgot to mention that I tried preparation H ointment (as I thought that I may have hemorrhoids) but it didn't provide any relief in terms of the smell. Also, I'm thinking that the cause of the smell may be because my anal opening isn't closing properly. I'm just not exactly sure what would be causing it to not close properly.
Thanks alot,
Ryan
Category: Internal Medicine Specialist