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What Causes Green Stool?
Question: For 18 years my husband has an illness that NO doctor has been able to diagnosis. Daily he has diarrhea that is green, so I Googled what causes green stool and looked at all the symptoms for each. The one cause that has my husband matches 95% is Wipple's disease. He is a white male started when he was 35 he is 52 now, severe weight loss, joint pain, weak and tired, vision problems especially early in the morning, high blood sugar which cannot be controlled with meds), food allergies, malabsorption, lack of concentration and severe memory loss. Wipple's disease is very rare but can be fatel if not treated. With all those symptoms, would you recommended he be tested for it to rule it out? 18 years and 10 doctors and $50K later, what do we really have to loose? If so, do we need a family doctor to send us to a Gastrointestinal physician or can we make an appointment directly with them?
Brief Answer:
whipples is a possibility, but more in favor of chronic pancreatitis.
Detailed Answer:
Hi! Welcome to health care magic! Thanks for sharing the details.
Based on his history as you have put, it is quite possible to be whipples but for such long standing history of malabsorption symptoms or fat soluble vitamin defficiencies alongwith greenish stools and deranged sugars it could be chronic pancreatitis as well. But there is no harm ruling it out whipples first as you people have already been through alot already. To start with less invasive procedures, I would recommend to start with PCR for whipples on stool as it is highly sensitive but may not be specific. That means if it comes out to be positive, it can be due to whipples or a normal flora may have it. But if it it's negative yiu can safely say it is not whipples. Also serum amylase and lipase alongwith ultrasound abdomen will rule out pancreatitis. Ultrasound can also reveal mesenteric lympohedonopathy or mucosal thickening on Xray abdomen can all point in favor of whipples. Colonoscopy is a later option if gastroentrologist suggests so. Rest of the labs I have mentioned can be suggested by a GP and you may not need a gastroentrologist for those.
Hoping you people to come up with something to treat and recover. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. You can also reach me directly through my profile in future, in case of any more questions, I would be more than happy to be able to contribute. Regards.
whipples is a possibility, but more in favor of chronic pancreatitis.
Detailed Answer:
Hi! Welcome to health care magic! Thanks for sharing the details.
Based on his history as you have put, it is quite possible to be whipples but for such long standing history of malabsorption symptoms or fat soluble vitamin defficiencies alongwith greenish stools and deranged sugars it could be chronic pancreatitis as well. But there is no harm ruling it out whipples first as you people have already been through alot already. To start with less invasive procedures, I would recommend to start with PCR for whipples on stool as it is highly sensitive but may not be specific. That means if it comes out to be positive, it can be due to whipples or a normal flora may have it. But if it it's negative yiu can safely say it is not whipples. Also serum amylase and lipase alongwith ultrasound abdomen will rule out pancreatitis. Ultrasound can also reveal mesenteric lympohedonopathy or mucosal thickening on Xray abdomen can all point in favor of whipples. Colonoscopy is a later option if gastroentrologist suggests so. Rest of the labs I have mentioned can be suggested by a GP and you may not need a gastroentrologist for those.
Hoping you people to come up with something to treat and recover. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. You can also reach me directly through my profile in future, in case of any more questions, I would be more than happy to be able to contribute. Regards.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Sonia Raina
My husband, XXXXXXX has already been tested for Chronic Pancreatic. I think Rick's high blood sugar is what throws every doctor off when looking for the cause. Rick's already had an Abdominal Ultrasound on 08/21/2015. I've attached a copy for you to view. His most recent lab work also is attached from 08/05/2015. Also, there are three different Antibody Array tests from Cyrex labs that was done back in 2012. Could you review all these tests results and tell us if you feel a Gastroentrologist is the best specialist XXXXXXX should go to and if you still think we are not out of line for asking that XXXXXXX be tested for Whipple's Disease if nothing else to rule that out since it can be fatal.
Appreciate your medical advise on what type of doctor or type of testing you feel we should be asking a specialist to perform so we can get to the bottom of the cause and stop treating symptoms that aren't curing this unknown illness. We'd like to know what is the cause/illness so it can be treated and cured.
Thanks so much!
Appreciate your medical advise on what type of doctor or type of testing you feel we should be asking a specialist to perform so we can get to the bottom of the cause and stop treating symptoms that aren't curing this unknown illness. We'd like to know what is the cause/illness so it can be treated and cured.
Thanks so much!
Brief Answer:
You may proceed with whipples testing first
Detailed Answer:
Hi! Thanks for sharing the details. It really is a very extensive workup. Based on the whole history and the current scenario, o would suggest that your first priority should still be to consult a gastroentrologist and you can process with whipples workup and it doesn't sound that out of the way. Your next best priority should be to visit a rheumatologist, if gastroentrologist doesn't seem to reach somewhere. Discuss all the previous record with your gastroentrologist and I hope he will be able to recommend you in a better way. Hoping him a speedy and permanent recovery from all these troubles. Keep me apprised with what he can come up with. Regards.
You may proceed with whipples testing first
Detailed Answer:
Hi! Thanks for sharing the details. It really is a very extensive workup. Based on the whole history and the current scenario, o would suggest that your first priority should still be to consult a gastroentrologist and you can process with whipples workup and it doesn't sound that out of the way. Your next best priority should be to visit a rheumatologist, if gastroentrologist doesn't seem to reach somewhere. Discuss all the previous record with your gastroentrologist and I hope he will be able to recommend you in a better way. Hoping him a speedy and permanent recovery from all these troubles. Keep me apprised with what he can come up with. Regards.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
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