I think my acne is completely linked to whatever I caught in China.

I'm 19, I visited China (Shanghai) 5 months ago. Never drank their tap water outright, but probably ingested a little bit of it. I think I used the tap water to both rinse toothbrushes and stuff like that and also to rinse my neilmed Sinus rinse bottle.

While there, my mom got really sick, just something viral that caused lots of coughing and cold symptoms, and was pretty much bedridden the entire time. I then got diarrhea for about a week, which went away but after that brief diarrhea spell my digestion hasnt been the same since (5 months). I had severe constipation for about a month after that (i was only going like once every 5 days, and normally I'm able to go a few times a day. My diet didnt change, although now I've made a conscious effort to get in 40+g of fiber a day (before I never consumed much fiber, as I like to do low carbs, so most of the fiber I had was from vegetables and fruit, which didnt really add up to much).

So over the past 5 months, the constipation has technically improved in that I'm able to go once a day for the most part (only if I get in like 50+g fiber though these bran fiber cakes from trader joes ), however I think I have some type of post infectious irritable bowel syndrome now, which from what I've read is a permanent thing and basically diagnosed by ruling out other things like parasies, fungus, other internal problems, etc.

It seems weird to me how one can just get irritable bowel syndrome and have it be permanent. I don't really buy that and think most people with it have some internal problem or diet-related problem that they haven't yet figured out.

So, anyway, despite the fact that my frequency isn't technically "constipation," I know it is for me, I'm bloated 24/7, holding tons of water (especially in my face and neck region and despite my low carb/sodium,, high water intake diet), I'm constantly aware that I'm holding onto lots of waste, I havent been able to empty out like I used to able to, my weight in the beginning shot way up from lots of stored feces and water I suppose, but now it's back to normal and if anything a little lighter, my stomach is often making sounds, etc.

on top of this, my acne prior to the trip was very mild (I had pretty much been over acne for a year by that point). Following the trip it increased a bunch and has only gotten worse this entire time, and it seems directly linked to whatever messed up my digestion.

I can provide pics showing what my waist used to look like and what it now looks like (I can look pregnant at times from so much bloating). I'm very aware of my body and health (I'm into fitness bodybuilding, and I'm very low bodyfat, so it's not like I'm mistaking bloat for fat or something, 5 10 145 lbs)

I'm in college right now and both of these problems have affected my state of mind a lot. My face and stomach are constantly bloated, acne has become severe, and it's been hard for me to make an appt with the university health center, and the ones I have made, the doctor just recommended taking a probiotic (which I've been doing) and then I had a stool test which came back negative.

I saw another doctor briefly and told him what I just typed out basically, and he gave me a 10 day course of Cipro and Flagyl antibiotics to treat a likely parasite, he thought. although he didnt do any tests and that was my only appt with him, as i had to return to college a few days later. He said if i didnt improve after that i could come back and have a colonoscopy.

While on the antibiotics, my frequency was almost back to normal and i was less bloated, however my problems resumed after I stopped them.

Sorry for the long and seemingly irrelevant to acne post. I just feel like all this stuff is related to my severe acne outbreak.

I'm thinking it could be some type or parasite still, or perhaps toxins from the constipation are causing my acne.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, Thanks!