Just joined to see if it will help reading how everyone deals with their IBS. I am 23 and was diagnosed with IBS 5 months ago which was triggered by bad sickness which has left me with a dairy allergy. I've had to change my diet so much and stress is a major trigger. I recently went to the doctor who said I've now got anxiety which obviously doesn't help. My symptoms include constipation, diarrhoea, stomach cramps and bloating and nausea. When I get pains it makes me panic as I worry in case it is something else. I've had blood tests and my doctor has told me a million times that it is IBS but I'm really struggling with it and I feel that I'm not coping with this condition. Does anyone have any advice?
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Paige92
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Of course you're feeling anxious and, as that makes your symptoms worse, I think you should ask your GP for further tests to rule out worst-case possibilities. There is a whole raft of procedures that can be gone through apart from the usual blood tests; I've had a colonoscopy, gastroscopy, proctogram, SIBO and SeHCAT tests and I also had a candida test done privately (the NHS won't pay for this as it's not thought to be an illness). In fact, IBS can't be diagnosed until everything else has been ruled out.
Have you got a true dairy allergy or is it an intolerance - the two things are quite different? Whatever the case, don't be fooled into buying lactose-free hard cheese since most 'normal' hard cheese doesn't contain lactose anyway, it's a real con! You can check for this on the back of packs by looking at 'sugars'.
All of your symptoms certainly fit into the IBS spectrum, but remember that IBS isn't a disease in itself, it's just a set of symptoms which are unattributable to anything else. Hopefully one day, somebody will come up with a solution that fits us all (and pigs might fly!).
Thanks Rosie I will definitely ask my doctor and it's a true dairy allergy rather than intolerance unfortunately I think keeping to a strict food plan is quite hard to adapt to but I'm trying! Thankyou for your advice
in reply to
Hi Rosie. Do u mind if I ask u the results of your sibo and candida tests? Did they also check for methane with SIBO? With candida did they do a blood test and check for antibodies?
in reply to
Hi Sherry,
The results of my SIBO test showed nothing wrong and yes, checking for methane is part of the test.
The NHS won't do candida testing but there are plenty of private labs out there which will but I understand not all of them are to be recommended if you take my point.
I went to candidatest.co.uk where they do a range of different levels of tests starting from about £60. It's a stool test (they send you a kit) and results take about a fortnight to come back. If you have questions about your results you can contact them easily to duscuss findings at no extra cost.
My tests revealed an above average level of candida in my gut, but by following a special diet for 6 months I eventually got clear of it and had a fair amount of improvement in my symptoms. I thought it was well worth the money.
Rosie
in reply to
Yesss, me too, only I did the blood test. I get great results...when I'm a good girl and follow the diet and take the nystatin. Then I return to baseline IBS which is strictly trapped air or slow moving air in colon with maybe a small amount of fatigue. My yeast always eventually returns as I fall off the wagon. I'm slow to realize that it's the yeast. I read that you never really get rid of it - that it goes into hiding and it can even adapt to a high protein low carb diet. It wants to live as much as we do. Anyways, I read the only way to get rid of it for good is to use an anti-fungal with a "biofilm buster." The critters allegedly live under a kind of protective dome...mucous like in nature. So right now I'm taking both. Best of luck and may the yeast never darken your doorstep again.
in reply to
That's interesting, Sherry, never heard of Nystatin before.
I've been given to understand that as long as intake of sugars, yeast, fermented and fermentable foodstuffs is kept very low, the candida won't come back. I bet there's as many opinions out there as there are those of us with a prob!
Hi Rosie, Did the NHS provide the SIBO test? Ive heard that doctors dont always know about (or care about) this condition. Also ive never heard of a SEHCAT test, what is this? Did your results come back clear? Thanks,
Yes the NHS did provide both SIBO and SeHCAT tests for me and my results were clear for both.
The SeHCAT test is for bile acid disorder which causes diarrhoea and has only recently been recognised as being a cause for some wrong diagnoses of IBS.
Thanks for your reply Rosie. I will request these from my GP. I have had a Colonoscopy and Endoscopy but results were all clear, and ive been told that theres nothing else that can be done. However now i have something to try so thankyou.
Does the FODMAP diet work well? I've found a lot of trigger foods but there are still some that I'm not sure about just have to try them to see if they are bad or not
I have only just started on it so it is too soon to tell really but I am hopeful. I have downloaded the App from Monash which is proving quite helpful in finding out which is a Green light food etc. It is certainly worth a try I think, for me at least as I have tried various other options. xx
All totally normal symptoms and reactions to those symptoms. It takes time I can say that much.
I have all of these symptoms every single day with little to no relief. You will need to make life changing choices and work with your specific symptoms to regain control of your symptoms and yore mind to begin to move past it.
None of that is easy - but at least its an honest answer
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