After going for years of ibs with diarrhea... it seems as if my body said: "Ok, let's now switch to constipation" ... I actually feel WORSE with the constipation... Glycerine suppositories do nothing... not even an enema will 'get it all'.... Guess I'll start taking a half of a Cascara Sagrada capsule (along with my usual psyllium husk drink and one stool softener... I still get nervous going out now, because when the urge hits, it has no patience whatsoever...
Have any of you just 'switched' like this suddenly??
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BettyA
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Hi I've been suffering Consipation. For months now if tried everything the only thing works is microlax when I'm walking it's like something stuck in front as well it makes my anxiety worst Hd a colonoscomy. And said it's nothing but tear I'm going through. Hell I also had a anus and rectum scan under tunnell to check for rectocele
Magnesium citrate tablets are life savers.i take400mg before bed but you can take more ot less.also better for you than laxatives
Hi,
From what I've read on here, some people switch from D to C and back again on a regular basis so pretty 'normal' for an IBS-er I think.
I can see from your previous posts that you've had a colonography, but have you ever had a proctogram? This is a scan taken of your colon whilst you're actually passing a bm and it enables your doctor to see what really happens in there at crucial times!
Sorry to hear of your situation. Yes I went from d to c but am now slowly getting improvement with the Special Carbohydrate Diet. It can take a year but I have done 8 weeks so far and I felt an immediate change for the better. It is not easy but offers you your health back in the end and that is surely worth it with this horrible illness.
Yes, IBS is literally a pain in the "butt" no pun intended... but you/I never know which Im going to wake up with. I had to switch back to taking fiber that had apple pectin in it to help relieve MY constipation. I am retired and am thankful because I have found that I have to get up 2 hours before I have something planned because I dont know if I will have constipation or diahrrea that will keep me running to the restroom. So then Im able to leave the house for my errands once it settles down.You might try taking 1/4cup of aloe avera a couple times a day. Its a good healer and stomach settler. Good luck...
I have IBS with a tendency toward bad constipation a few times a year sometimes due to even slight dietary changes, but i have found Symprove to be hugely helpful in keeping symptoms at bay.
Thanks Marymarcy... You know what helps me a lot from your post? When you mentioned "even slight dietary changes".... which can really mess you up but good!! I have been so guilty of that more than once... and its just not worth 'cheating'...not even ONE bite! Have a good upcoming week! (everybody!)
Actually i didn't mean cheating as such. If i change from eating badly to eating well, i can get badly constipated. Unfortunately chocolate seems to work well for me to keep things regular, and when i cut that out, ( and it has to be all or nothing, i can't do moderation with chocolate!) in spite of increasing fruit veg water and exercise, i often end up in a bad way. Acupuncture is helpful to me at times like this, (Dr Tan method)but not a quick fix.
With me cheating is about eating ANYTHING that has wheat in it... Sometimes I can do gluten free but that doesn't work that well, either... And when things were going along well, I would think oh at little bite of this or that...THAT won't hurt me...but I 'knew' better... oh heavy sigh...
I can eat dark chocolate...the kind that is at least 70% cacao... but one square is enough...
Well, good luck to us!
Hi BettyA, I'm sorry you are feeling so crummy
I don't know your age, but I went most of my life with chronic constipation and at one point when I was 39 and under A LOT of stress, my guts just freaked out and I had a bad month or so, and even after that I had about a year when the IBS would flare up for no apparent reason. It did finally calm down and not flare up that often. Recently it flared up because I now have interstitial cystitis with pelvic floor disorder, and the bladder and colon "communicate" with each other. So to answer your question, yes, this does happen; they refer to it as the "fluctuating" kind of IBS. Someone can have either mainly constipation, or mainly diarreah, and all of a sudden you can get the opposite, or both, even happening in the same day. Unfortunately it is not unusual for someone with IBS to "not get it all", as you put it. It sounds like you are having a bad flare up. During that bad flare up that I described I was getting every kind of symptom all in the course of a single day. I know it is really awful to go through that I wish I had a perfect answer for you, but I am actually going through a bad period myself, only with my bladder. The thing that has worked the best is trying to remain calm (hard to do), practice meditation or quiet visualization, sometimes listening to a guided meditation on youtube, and practicing deep diaphramic breathing. Also I am having pelvic physical therapy. They are finding more and more that the fascia of the muscles of the pelvic floor go through a lot of stress just as the back, shoulders, etc. do, and this can affect the organs that the muscles are supporting, like the bladder, intestines, etc. There was a time in my life when I would have thought that all this was nonsense! But actually even mainstream doctors are accepting this concept. Are you going through a lot of stress right now or did you recently go through a lot of stress? That's what did it to me. I had always had problems with constipation unless I ate a lot of fiber, but that one stressful period really caused an awful month or so. I finally decided to accept that I had the problem, and when it flared up to make myself as comfortable as possible until it passed. I know that is not easy to do with constipation. We are not in the same country so I'm not sure if you have magnesium citrate, but that usually cleans a person out and gives some relief. The thing is that if your colon is having these spasms, you might just end up getting constipated again, but the magnesium citrate at least helps you through a difficult period. It's not an answer to the whole problem, but will give some relief.
I hope you find some relief soon; I am having a very hard time myself right now and in a new city in the US definitely NOT finding sympathetic doctors who will take the time to try to help. I feel at the end of my rope.
Good luck and best wishes to you. This fluctuation that you are experiencing is not unusual for IBS.
Thank you, Sadpelvis!! For this most excellent post... I am so sorry YOU are going through a rough time right now trying to find a dr that acts like he/she CARES..... I have one now who I finally got 'trained' to realize that I will NEVER take Rx drugs if any kind of alternative meds are available...
Yup! today was a day in which I had 'both kinds' of ibs 'challenges'... Thankfully, there are a number of Drs who don't totally worship Big Pharma and are willing and open to alternatives...
YES, I totally believe that 'calming down' and meditation really helps... its wonderful how many good meditation videos are available on You Tube. And paying attention to one's breathing is so important...
You're welcome I wish I had friends that I could talk to about what I am going through. I just wrote you a long response about my problems, but deleted it! Too complicated. I am needing help with pain and the trend in the US now is "no opiates", even when the pain can not be controlled any other way. I feel that I need a small amount of pain meds for bad, persistent pain in my legs, despite the yoga, meditation, stretching, PT, etc. that I do, and the doctors are basically unsympathetic. This past week I went to a "pain management" specialist and I think the visit has just pushed me into a bad depression. And this bladder thing is awful I am off to a yoga class; I keep trying...
This is just an idea you might try... Try taking a combo of MSM with Glucosamine (should be higher dose of MSN) every day... It always takes away my now only occasional bouts with Fibromyalgia (which can really hurt!) It may take a few days...but it has never failed me... This can be gotten in any health food store in the U.S.... Don't get a cheap store brand, to me, that never pays off.
In my Kroger store in Denver, we have a 'good supplements' separate section...so I have a choice of good brands.
That's funny. I didn't even notice. So what is MSM? I am trying everything for this chronic pain. PT for the pelvic thing. Thank you very much for writing.
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oh heavy sigh...
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