Does this sound like ibd or ibs?

[Abi_97]

Hello, if this is not allowed I'm fine for it to be deleted because I havent actually being diagnosed but looking for help 😮 Also I think all of you are so brave! Anyway where do I start🤔 A year ago I fell ill my brother recovered but I couldnt shake off the nausea and began to lose lots of weight so much the doctor though I was bulimic he then diagnosed me with anxiety and ibs. After I had seen a therapist and I couldnt totally shake off the nausea I started to try and change my diet but I never totally changed my diet because I felt like non of it was helping. At the same time I was visiting my doctor about gynae stuff I was recentlly diagnosed with endometrosis with can involve stomach problems. I also went to the doctor about asthma because after I felt like I couldnt speak walk without loosing breath I got given a inhaler for exercise induced asthma but still feel constantly weak. Skip ahead to now I've manage to ease up my nausea by cutting out gluten and processed food having turmeric and peppermint tablets. I do eat smaller proportions of food but overally now I've gone from 10st10lbs and 7st10lbs without wanting to over a year (I lost 6lbs after pigging out at christmas). My nausea comes in waves some weeks I'm fine some weeks I'm not. I do get stomach pain whenever I eat something more than a snack and if I dont eat in time I get stomach pains and nausea. I dont always get the runs but I do get constipated a lot. I do bleed and bloat but endo can cause that . I'm also getting tested for anemia because I tend to get dizzy a lot and always tired. I hope you dont mind do you think this maybe be ibd or just ibs? I'm trying to understand if its just my diet change or ibs or endo or something else 😮

[willow24 Administrator]

hi, any questions are welcome here. With IBD flare you have diarrhoea with blood/mucus. bowels are opened often in excess of 10 times aday and this includes night as well as day. There is also severe abdominal pain, and blood tests will show raised inflammatory markers.

However constipation, nausea and weight loss could indicate a bowel stricture.

I would request from GP:-

Faecal calprotectin - a stool sample that indicates inflammation specificly of the bowel

blood tests including CRP/ESR/PV - these are inflammatoty markers

referral to gastroenterologist

Sorry I cant give you a definate answer, but IBD is hard to diagnose and many of IBD sufferers face years of being wrongly diagnosed with IBS,

Good luck, and please let me know how you get on xx

[Abi_97 in reply to willow24]

Thank you for this information though. Would my doctor be able to tell if it was something like ibd from my anemia blood tests because when I start to talk about my weight she told me to wait until I have my blood and heart screening results? 😮 I mean it could be just my endo but I dont really have vomiting just runs occassionally and constipation but some how I'm still loosing weight 🤦🏼‍♀️ Xx

[Hidden in reply to Abi_97]

Hi Abi, what a shame to hear you're unwell. I had endometriosis for years so do understand (mine was cured when I had my hysterectomy!) and it did give me symptoms of stomach pain and diarrhoea with urgency (but not rectal bleeding or mucus). Last year I was diagnosed with IBD (ulcerative colitis) and so understand the symptoms of both conditions. The difference with my IBD is that I get rectal bleeding and mucus. You mention that you get bleeding but is this rectal or vaginal? Endometriosis would not cause rectal bleeding I'm sure. I agree with Willow and think you should persevere with your GP and request a referral to Gastro if necessary. Just to point out though that during a severe flare my Gastro consultant carried out bloods and I didn't have high inflammatory markers!! He said that can happen with some patients and it's a strange anomaly! Also, no-one's ever done the faecal calprotectin test for me (poo sample) so I've never had that checked and got a diagnosis without it as the IBD was all seen on colonoscopy.

I hope you get the help that you need, take care xx

[Abi_97 in reply to Hidden]

Hi thanks for the reply! I feel for you endo is tough 😭 I get bleeding through my butt on my period and I have endo on the pouch of Douglas but sometimes I get bleeding off my period and mucus 😮 I dont get enough to worry though which makes me think it maybe malnutrition or my endo but I still keep losing weight 😮 Also at the start of the year I did have a poo test but I dont know if it was for ibd or infection doctors are not really helpful 😂 Thank you though xx

[willow24 Administrator in reply to Abi_97]

anaemia is not a diagnosis for IBD. I have almost had bowel perforation from a flare and even sepsis, but I have never been anaemic fortunately.

it may sound odd but uterine cells can be found in other parts of the body and can be effected by endo, I can remember a case yrs ago in the hospital I worked at whereby a patient had endo of the lining of her nose!

I would ask to see another dr too, 3 stone unintentional weight loss should be taken seriously x

[Abi_97 in reply to willow24]

Oh okay I read online that theres a certian anemia that only people with ibd have but its probably wrong 😮 Yeah I saw someone who had endo in their eye 😱 Mine is on the pouch of douglas so it could be on the bowel or bladder 🤔 So it could be my endo but will definetly push to have everything checked 😮 I havent seen the rubbish doctor that I had at the start of the year anyway 😮 X

[Abi_97 in reply to willow24]

Update: my doctor is testing me for celiac and h ployri even though a year ago they both came back negative (also I didnt eat gluten before I took my blood test) 😮 Also my liver came back as high functioning as if I've had lots of alcohol even though I dont drink 🤦🏼‍♀️

[willow24 Administrator]

coeliacs can cause probs with the liver. it may still be worth asking for a faecal calprotectin test and if they can check the inflammatory markers in your bloods xx

[Abi_97 in reply to willow24]

Thanks for the suggestions 😮 I may mention it to the doctor when the test comes back negative 🤔 I dont know if you know but I'm curious is there also a link between non alcholic fatty liver and ibd 😮 Xx

[willow24 Administrator]

There is but its related to certain medications such as steroids, methatrexate and anti TNF.

[Abi_97 in reply to willow24]

Ahhhh okay 🤔 Thank you 😮

[musiclover29]

it could be coleiac disease as you said the nausea was relieved when you stopped having gluten foods