Suffering from severe IBS & Functional Dyspepsia

Hello everyone. I am an 18, soon to be 19 year old female and new to the website. I am writing this post to see if anyone else has the same experience or has any tips.

Around eighteen months ago or so at age 17 I began starting with the symptoms which included extreme pains to the point of not being able to stand up, several bouts of diarrhoea every day, loss of appetite (that and the extreme pain contributed to a dramatic weight loss), nausea, tiredness (sometimes too tired to do anything), wind, backache ect. Things got so bad, I had to drop out of education.

The pains are a mixture of dull aches, spasms, tightness, sharp stabbing feelings. at the beginning I was loosing a lot of sleep from being up all night with the symptoms. so I went to the doctors and had all the tests done you can possibly think of but nothing showed up, which was when they diagnosed me with irritable bowel syndrome and gave me medications which took a while to work, they took the edge off but the pains never fully went away but I was able to lead a semi proper life. around a year of so after taking the medications they stopped working and things got worse again and began having a lot of flare ups which are extremely painful. the pain starts in my stomach and works its way down my digestive system which eventually leads to the D and could last for hours. it takes me at least 48 hours to recover from a flare up as it makes me feel so unwell afterwards.

seeing as things got worse and the GP couldn't figure out why I wasn't feeling or getting any better, I was referred on to a specialist. they were so helpful, for the first time since I started with the symptoms I actually felt listened to instead of being thrown different medications to try. I gave him a list of my symptoms and said it sounds like a very severe case of IBS and even said to me 'I bet you feel as though you've not been listened up until now'.

I experience nausea every day, sometimes gets to the point where I feel as though I am going to vomit. this is often made worse after eating as well as the abdominal pain (on a bad day, going to the toilet straight after eating). I under went a test just to confirm it was IBS. I also suffer from acid reflux. from telling him about the nausea, the upper abdominal pain and the pain I get there when going to the toilet (sometimes also get pain in lower abdomen when opening bowels), I was also diagnosed with functional dyspepsia.

I am currently waiting to go back to the GP to be suggested new medications as the pain and nausea are symptoms I suffer 24/7 and feel too unwell to carry on a normal life.

anyone else who has symptoms like this, please feel free to comment or if anyone has any tips for management or anything like that, they will be welcome.

[Huston]

Can I suggest that you need to investigate the diet route as well as the meds route . Tell your GP that you want to see a dietician trained in the FODMAPS elimination diet and see if your problems are diet related primarily . If it is anxiety that's kicking things off for you diet change may not make a difference . However if it is what you are eating FODMAPS is probably the best place to start . There is no magic bullet but identifying and isolating triggers is a way forward to beginning to understand your individual and particular condition , because every single person on this site with 'IBS' all have a subtly different story to tell . And that is why the medics find dealing with us such a problem .what might work for one could be the worst thing for someone else .good luck because it will be a long and winding road ,

[denvajade]

Hi there just wondering if you have been tested for coeliac disease? what about a gluten free diet and lactose free diet?

wishing you well.

[Hidden]

Hello. I have been tested for both of them at least twice.

Accidently deleted my last reply so I'm not sure if you or anyone read it. I don't think mine is triggered my food, not that I have noticed anyway. At a guess I think it could possibly be a mixture of inherited and horrible bout of gasterentisis I had about two months before I noticed the symptoms. Looking back I think I have always had a bit of it but not enough to notice. It was the end of 2012-present when things got really bad.

[binks in reply to Hidden]

Have you read Dr John Hunter's "IBS Solutions"? Many people on this site recommend it. On P.56 under the chapter "Malfermentation and IBS", he says: "Far more likely to provoke IBS however, is gastroenterinal infection. The infectious diseases department in Sheffield followed up patients who had suffered gastroenteritis and found that many went on to develop IBS. A larger study, performed in Spain, showed that patients who had gastroenteritis were nearly 12 times more likely to develop IBS in the subsequent year than others". He also states that food intolerances can be triggered, or new ones develop after a bout of gastroenteritis. Get the book if you can, because there is a lot of sensible advice.

I feel for you - it's horrible!!

[Hidden in reply to binks]

to be honest, I try not to read too much into in-depth things as everyone is different and not one thing will apply to every single person with the condition. im not 100% sure what caused it to happen, I think that's something a lot of people will never know. one of the harder things is learning how to live with it and manage it. as I suffer from it pretty bad as well as FD, it has been hard to find the correct medication as well as experimenting with the dosage. im currently still waiting for that to happen.

thank you though. maybe it is something I will have a brief look at.

[Hidden]

It could still be lactose and dairy related as these are common triggers.- if doing an elimination test you must keep it going for at least 3 weeks

Lactose is in a lot of tablet medication

[s-unrise]

Sorry you are suffering. I wake up with a painful and uncomfortable stomach but it seems to ease when I go to the toilet, full of gas I assume, often bloated.I get nausea most days, dyspepsia and acid reflux. I have a cup of lemon and ginger tea with manuka honey which seems to settle my stomach a little and helps a little with the nausea. I am still getting indigestion even when on omerprazole and lately it's between my shoulder blades. Back to the doctor today to see what they suggest. I also buy ginger sweets from Holland and Barrett to take out with me to help with nausea.

[Hidden]

I hope the doctors find the correct medication for you. It's really not nice to have to deal with, especially when it takes a while to find medication that works for you. I still haven't found any that work. My mum bless her is always buying me what we call 'potions' to try make me feel better as nobody likes to see their child or loved ones suffer. I am currently not taking anything for the functional dyspepsia and need new medication for the lower abdomen as they are no longer working. In a morning and evening I take chewable acidophilus probiotics and sometimes peppermint oil capsules for the lower gut, however the peppermint can sometimes make me feel more sick, probably because it's quite a strong taste. I also have some ginger root tablets to take which I occasionally take to try subside the nausea.