Does anyone have Ibs and Fibromyalgia.

[Hardwick77]

Ive had Ibs since my back accident in 2003.I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia last sept 2013.My condition is hard to understand.I'm in excruating pain allday.I wear a Fentanyl Pain Patch which is x20 Morphine into my blood stream and I change it every 3 days.I also take Morphine Liquid when required.For my Bowel I take 2 Buscopam 3 times a day and Mebeverine 1 3 times a day.

[fenbadger]

Yes and with similar timing but not a similar history. Don't know that I can add anything useful. A medic told me that aspartame could have "uncomfortable" side effects and this MAY have triggered an increase in the IBS when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. (Diabetes nurse recommended artificial sweeteners) I rarely have anything sugary and use honey on my breakfast. I use a lot less of it and there may be a few things in it for general health. I agree with everything that kerrym212 says.

There's no apparent evidence the two conditions are connected. Though it's a good point about Vit B12. I use loperamide for control and just take an extra couple of capsules if I'm going anywhere. All types of IBS affect the way nutrients are absorbed (or REABSORBED). Broadly speaking the contents go through too quickly. There are loads of triggers. They don't all apply to everyone but it looks like there's a raft of basic TYPES of trigger.

Go back to HealthUnlocked. There's an IBS group similar to this one and has links to a FODMAPS diet as well as articles on things like artificial sweeteners..

Do please talk to your GP about any concerns and if you are contemplating taking any supplementary remedies.

I take half a pharmacy a day and don't want to unnecessarily complicate my intake. I have an excellent GP and he's very good at pointing out why some remedies are unnecessary, useless or downright harmful when mixed with current treatment.

Hope that helps.

[Ibsr]

Yes! I have had pains for a number of years and kept getting told to take pain killers. I insisted that I was sent for tests on my joints etc and eventually was told that they found nothing so "it must be fibromyalgia". I disagreed with the Dr because by the time he said this I had already put myself on the FODMAP diet and noticed a huge improvement in not only digestion but all other pains. I also refused his prescription for high dose meds. In fact been on FODMAP a year and no pains..(well maybe slightly but nothing that stops me to notice it), unless I have slipped off the FODMAP wagon

There is a huge link between diet and fibromyalgia.

The other thing I have been doing is having regularly acupuncture since last July and its not specific to the fibro type symptoms, just a general overall ' body service' lol a bit like a car service. A few years ago instead of pain killers I had electro acupuncture and that was the bees knees!

It's interesting that you say your IBS started after the car accident...have you seen a chiropractor? Maybe your body just needs slight realigning...again a very common thing to occur after accidents and I believe fixable for some via the gentle techniques of a chiropractor...find someone highly recommended for this...maybe post another thread asking specifically if anyone has had the same?

[binks in reply to Ibsr]

I suggest you read Prof John Hunter's book "Irritable Bowel Solutions" - it talks about musculo skeletal pain and IBS. It may make a lot of sense to you.

[Ibsr in reply to binks]

Binks, I looked into Hunters' work before but had never read the book. Just had another look.. found the book in Google books...and omg! You have just helped to confirm everything I have thought for 20 years of pain! I had quite a few things confirmed in the exerpts i could read and now need to get the book as the pages for treatment were not shown. Thanks for this!

[Boogie]

Hi,

I don't have fibromyalgia but I have been diagnosed with chronic fatigue that has stemmed from my IBS onset. I also understand a bit about fibromyalgia. You say you had a back accident in 2003 and I can't help but wonder if your neuro system has just gone haywire since then. You need to calm it down and feeling tense due to the pain will only wind it up more and more and lower your threshold further.

Can you tolerate anyone touching your back? If you can I think massage could be a good place to start - it will help release the tense muscles, and release natural endorphins which will help you to start to feel better. There is not going to be a quick fix and any massage will have to start very softly and over weeks build up to deeper tissue work to get the most benefit.

Acupuncture could be another option and you can't feel the needles so don't worry about that but it can also relieve tense muscles and can have an influence of the nervous system. Occasionally someone like you might have a reaction to acupuncture because your neuro system is so wound up. If you can get a good acupuncture specialist they may be able to mediate this and for a while you might just have one or two needles while your body adjusts.

Meditation, deep breathing and relaxation are things you can do for yourself to help calm things from the inside out and will help the other therapies but I think you might also need some outside in therapy also as the onset started outside. Don’t underestimate how useful a bit of relaxation etc can be in the long term but it won’t make the pain etc go away over night but it works in the long term by slowly dialing down the severity of the pain.

See if your doctor or fibromyalgia specialist can help you get some of this on the NHS - some can, others can't. Your acupuncture may be best done by someone with both western and eastern teaching - ideally an eastern master taught with some western techniques is a bonus. But for any therapy it needs to be with someone you trust/like/and can identify with what they are trying to do to help you. NB: the NHS is very limited and even if you can get some sessions it will probably only be a few, but some better than none, especially if it can help to reduce the medication bill for them! If you are finding benefit of a therapy on the NHS tell your Dr/specialist they may be able to use it as justification to get you more but it would need to be having a noticeable effect.

Have a look at some of Kerrym212's posts about diet advice for IBS - I've found them helpful. Your medication may also be contributing to making your guts worse - we are all different and what works for one does not work for all.

Aim to reduce and eventually get off all that medication - accept that you may have discomfort on/off for many years to come but if treated right it will get so much better and reduce in severity. It’s a long road but you have to know you can get so much better than now you just need to find what works for you. xx

[fenbadger]

Oh, and there was a post about a year ago listing IBS as being one of many things associated with fibro.

[Cherjane]

I have had IBS D for over 30 years. I was diagnosed with Fibro in 97 and now have atrial fibrillation. Fibromyalgia can result in other conditions.

[kathyg16]

Hi there. First of all I would find a doctor who believes in fibromyalgia. Its harder than you think. I dveloped fibro after I had a fall and hurt my spine in 2001. The pain slowly crept up my back, legs, arms, neck, over the top of my head and into my eyes. It was only then that the doc told me I had fibromyalgia. At the same time began with ibs. Apparently both illnesses can be bought on by trauma or stress. Over the years I have not found anything to help either condition.. but having a warm bath, trying not to get stressed (easier said than done) and just keeping my eye on what, how and when I am eating. Smaller portions and more often is better for me but it's not so easy to keep to. Same treatments for ibs. I was on the fentanyl patches but they literally sent me bonkers. I kept going into small faints and they weren't doing anyything for the pain. Coming of them at the request of the gp was sheer hell, cold turkey literally. Very frightening for me and family. I then started to attend pain clinic where I found that other people were going through similar things as I was.

With the ibs I always go out with the ibs kit. Toilet roll, in cse non available in wc's, small air freshner to cover up nasty whiffs when in public, moisturized bottom wipes, try to know the places that have nice clean toilets when you are out and about, and finally tell the person that you are with that you may have to get to the loo fairly quickly. Dont be embarresed by telling friends and relatives. It does make your life easier and helps them to understand a problem that has to be managed by more people in every day life than they think. Unfortunately I haven't found anything to cover the sounds of an 'evacuation' in a public loo. You also just havecto think that after an onslaught of a bad bout will come a time of freedom from ibs no matter how short.