Flare ups last for days!

Does anybody else take ages to recover from a flare up? The last flare up I had, a couple of weeks ago, it took me about four days to recover from and the slightest thing would make it worse like food and drink even if I had things I am normally okay with. I started to have a flare up yesterday morning and lasted throughout the day. I was feeling better today so I went to a friends house but since about half past 6 this evening it has started up again. It takes me absolutely ages to recover. As soon as I think it's settled down it starts up again and obviously the longer it goes on the more unwell I feel. An absolute nightmare. Does anyone else have this problem and find it takes them a while to recover?

[da88er]

I get this. Had ibs for 2 years. I find very light diet plus Colpermin helps. Despite tracking symptoms & diet sometimes just no reason for flare ups. Find the occasional glass of white wine helps too. Not usually stressed when this happens, stress is the result of unexplained symptoms.

[Hidden]

Yeah, it's a tricky one. If I am having a bad few days with it, literally nothing will agree with me. Sometimes if I have been upset or stressed about something I will have a flare up but most of the time they just appear out of the blue and could last from a few hours to a few days.

[binks in reply to Hidden]

My flare ups can last weeks and absolutely nothing I do helps. It goes away as quick as it came and I remain puzzled by it all 20 years on.... It's the unpredictable nature of this which makes it so difficult to deal with (or understand.) Sorry, I'm no help but you are certainly not alone.

[watergate21]

Hi, yes I've had really bad problems with i.b.s recently where I had unstable i.b.s due to stress, do u have stress in your life at the moment, that could be your trigger!

[Hidden in reply to watergate21]

No I don't have stress in my life at the moment. I'm not really a stressful person. However everyone has patches where they are upset ect about something, that can sometimes make it worse

but 99% of the time they just appear out of the blue. Some foods can make it worse sometimes but I'm still doing the elimination/trial process to see what works for me and what doesn't

[dorban3]

i think it's physiological more than psyc. could be food related. follow some kind of diet and eliminate triggers like coffee, sugar, beans, acidic fruits and foods.

ask your dr. for pill to regulate your stomach acids like losec, prilosec.

eat small portions and drink some goat yogurt it can calm your gut abit.

Being in this period of 'flare up' or worsening symptoms can cause us missunderstanding of the reasons which drived us to this situation - a delusion that something caused this but it is realy something else. try reading more. it takes time to control ibs and it's not the same trigers for everyone.

[Hidden]

I agree with most of the above.I have chronic IBS day in day out for the last 12yrs.Had all the tests available and diets and still can't put my finger on the cause,so don't think your alone as there are thousands of people like us,but we can all be so different.So keep persisting and try not to let it get you down and I know that's not easy.But here's a big HUG.

[whiteladder42]

Hang in there! My IBS is never "off" am constantly in pain, and have had every test (except a CT or MRI scan which I have been refused so we are saving up to have one done privately) come back negatively except some raised CRP levels. I have no life worth living and no hope this will ever improve, and there is no help out there if you don't 'tick the boxes' so to speak. Please make sure you have a supportive doctor to try and help you when you are suffering. Try not to get too paranoid about food since not everyone has dietary triggers-if there is something that helps you feel better then that's great. I hope you have family and friends around that are sympathetic even though it can be embarrassing to try explain what's going on. Hope this makes sense, the Oramorph I have to take to get a little relief leaves me quite fuzzy headed.

[Hidden in reply to whiteladder42]

Maybe you need a change in medication if you are in pain all the time? It took me a year to be told I am taking the wrong ones. I was taking a certain medication for a year but eventually was told it is not meant for people who are in pain all the time. Or try an elimination diet. For example of you eat a lot bread or anything else you eat a lot, you could try cutting it out or reducing the amount you eat for a few weeks and see it if makes any difference. I can completely understand the affects it can have on your life but I got so fed up of letting it defeat me for the year and a half I have had it and I am slowly getting my life back. With the occasional knock back of course.

[Bartz in reply to whiteladder42]

What tests have you had?

I was told by GO that they make diagnosis from symptoms alone as there are no tests to determine IBS.

[woodland]

This happens to me as well. You think everything is going along well and then all of a sudden you are back to square one, the nightmare has reappeared!!! Take Mebeverine three times a day but also Buscopan when I have stomach pains. I also have tried to work out what causes it, some things I have stopped eating which seem to be the worst culprits but I can eat one thing one day no reaction but if I eat it another day I can really suffer. My main problem is having to get up about 3 hours before I go out to make sure I go to the toilet, sometimes can be before 6!!! If I do not go to the toilet I am on edge all the time I am out.

[Hidden in reply to woodland]

I was on mebeverine three times a day as well for about a year. It took the edge off of the pain but not completely but after a year it completely stopped working and things got a lot worse again. I went to see a specialist as none of the medications I had tried were working. He said my ibs is quite severe and also that mebervine isn't meant to be taken by people who are in pain all the time so I came off of it. I also have the dyspepsia side of it as well (nausea and upper abdominal pains). I am currently taking 30mg amitriptyline each day at night but I think it might need to be increased again as I am still having a lot of flare ups ect. I tried buscopan but it did absolutely nothing for me. It just wasn't strong enough.

[Justine-D]

I have tried all the buscopan, mebeverine, colperman etc and they did absolutely nothing for me either.. I find the best thing for the pain is heat.. Lots of hot peppermint or camomile tea and a hot water bottle! Sounds silly but warming my tummy up is literally the only thing that eases the pain.. Also a Benedictine and hot water is great x

[Hidden in reply to Justine-D]

I can understand the hot water bottle as I live day in day out with one on my tum but this is not living .I spend most my life looking for relief but I still haven't found none and I've tried everything .

[Justine-D in reply to Hidden]

I would just say I fight it now as hard as I can.. I switched from retail to work in an office so there's always a toilet on hand.. I sit and do my work and if something bad happens it happens the pain I aid with heat and some days I work from home.. Not everyone has this luxury of course.. We have to adapt our lives to the disorder as it will never allow us to adapt to it it seems ! Good luck x

[Hidden]

I think you are right about heat such as hot water bottles can sometimes help. Unfortunately for me this isn't really an option. When my pain started around the beginning of 2013, I am talking extremely severe pain and not being able to stand up. I would use hot water bottles every day to try help it and because I used to many of them, big red scar appeared on my tummy from the heat. Thankfully after a while of stopping them it completely went away but for me it really isn't worth having them again as the scars may not go away a second time around. I think it is just important to find your own ways of coping and your own way to manage pain as we all keep saying, everyone is different.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I couldn't agree with you more I have hot water bottle scares but rather that than the severe pain I get.It amazes me how many people suffer with IBS and all so differently,and they still can't come up with a solution .I suppose that's why it's called a syndrome it's a good get out of jail card.Rant over

[carole2]

i do mine as really been bad not having much break with it no matter what i eat or not eat .

[carole2]

i do this time been really bad cac't get it to settle no matter what i eat or dont't eat .

[whiteladder42]

I have tried every medication before Oramorph, and every diet (under the supervision of a senior dietician). I have found nothing that causes it the pain or relieves it except for Oramorph which helps a little bit. I have been to see several doctors and none of them have any idea why my symptoms are so severe or what causes any of them (severe pain, dizziness, loss of consciousness, disorientation, shaking, feel very hot, tingling in hands and feet). It is almost continuous, comes on without warning any time day or night. Hard to have a life of any kind, and struggling financially because I don't qualify for a penny of help, or nor have I come across any practical help/advice that enables me to do any kind of paid work. I have even been turned down for volunteering roles since I can't commit to anything. So desperately unhappy and at 29 I feel my life is over.

[Hidden in reply to whiteladder42]

I feel for you. I am turning 19 in August and it can be so difficult to try get your life back together. As soon as you are starting to feel positive and feel as though you are getting somewhere you have a really bad flare up or something and it knocks you back for days. I am still trying to learn to but let it completely control my life and sometimes it's easier than others as I'm sure you are aware. Some good days, some bad days. It caused me to drop out of college because the pain and all other symptoms were so severe. So I completely understand how it really can affect your life. But nobody's life is over. We just need to find a way of dealing with it an no letting it beat us.

[da88er]

I've started gentle walking &swimming again & find these relaxing & also a distraction from the pain. Also found appointments with nhs dietician over supportive

[watergate21]

Yes, yes and a million times yes, awful, awful pain for 2 weeks, not eased by anything all medication changed, still no use, pain moved from left to right side and now into groin, usual?

[da88er]

I've also had groin pain dr said nothing there! However have read about others having this. Was taking paracetamol & codeine for pain. Read codeine can make things worse so now just take paracetamol & also diazepam when pain very bad. This acts as a relaxant saw it mentioned on medical site

[Tessa04]

Yes. Days. For me, this is day 3. Insides are sore. I just read da88er said a glass of white wine. I’m trying that along with eating very light.