teenager + menstrual cramps + intestinal/colon cramps = medical mystery???

[lizzie.helene]

hi. i'm lizzie and i'm about to turn 15 at the end of this month.
for the past three years, i've been having these colon/intestinal cramps that include:
- bloating
- severe cramping and gas
- chronic constipation
- expansion of the colon from stool build-up
- soft stool coming out the size of a pinky

after countless hospital visits and up to 6 capfuls of Mira Lax daily, it's still not improving. but it all seems to revolve around my period. i take Mira Lax daily to relieve some of the cramps and bloating as well regulating my bowel movements. with the Mira Lax, i have bowel movements every time i use the restroom.
but i discovered that one week before my period (which started when i was 11) the bowel movements stop. it's like a switch in my body has been turned off and no matter how much pressure or efforts, i can't make a healthy bowel movement. if i'm lucky, i will get these soft stools that are the size of my pinky or smaller. i have no diarrhea though.
i have now gone gluten-free for most food to help calm the bloating and more veggies and less meat and sweets.
the pain constricts me from going to school or doing activities that normal people should be capable of (like P.E. class or dance class)
if you have any ideas of what this might be please help.
thank you :]

[WildChild]

Try eating salad for breakfast. A nice big salad, no iceberg, lots of Romaine and spinach. I read about this in the book, Born to Run. I'm very regular and the first couple days, it kind of threw me off but I'm really enjoying it and feeling great.
It just may do the trick for you. If not I can recommend some herbs to get things really moving but you would need to check how that might affect the drug you are taking. It's really best if you can avoid depending on a laxative because your body will become dependant.

Do a search on exersize and constipation. Classical Stretch has some dvds for this, I'm sure there are others as well. Exersize is very important to stay regular.

Another trick, if you aren't too heavy and are flexible enough to do it, is to alter your posture when having a bowel movement. The western, seated position is actually not really natural for the body to eliminate well. A squating position is more natural and lines up the bowel for evacuation. Try placing your feet on the toilet seat to position yourself in a squat over the bowl. You may find that this really helps.

Drink lots of water, avoid soda, have some olive oil every day and some flax seed oil or fish oil. It's good you are removing gluten, what about milk? Unless you are 100% caucasion chances are you have some sort of dairy or lactose sensitivity. Try taking ALL dairy out of your diet for at least two weeks and see what happens?

[ItsASecret]

I have not heard of the period part getting incorporated into a bunch of symptoms like this but eliminating dairy is a good start to just see what happens. Other than that the only thing I think you can do is see a specialist. A Gastroenterologist would probably be your best bet. The at home remedies stuff may comfort you for a given period of time but since this has been going on for a long period of time there is obviously something wrong on the physiological level. If all other "at home" ideas have been used up then a different drug may be prescribed to balance out the ions and hormones. If you do get a new drug consult with your pharmacist about drug interactions, they know far more about that stuff than even a specialist.