Burning Pain

[Shele121]

Hi

A few months ago I was diagnosed with IBS after blood results can back negative for chrones, coeliac, ovarian cancer etc.

I can't rememberthe last time I woke up feeling good as I seem to constantly have one symptom or another.

This week though I have had a lot of mucus in my stools and sometimes just mucus and today have a very uncomfortable burning sensation on my left side just under my ribs (presume my stomach).

Does anyone else get this? Is this a typical IBS symptom?

Thanks

[Hidden]

Have you had a colonoscopy ?

[Shele121 in reply to Hidden]

No just the blood tests.

Should I?

[Hidden in reply to Shele121]

I'm not a doctor but I woukd have thought that a colonoscopy would be needed to diagnose whether there was any other disease causing your symptoms, there is also Diverticulitis as well as the others that you mentioned

[Shehangsbrightly]

I have had IBS for several years which I have under control by working out which FOBMAPs I can't eat and avoiding them. In the last couple of months have had problems with a burning sensation on your left side under my ribs too. Doc says it's acid reflux and I have been presecribed 300mgs of Randitine (Zantac) and am cutting out trigger foods and trying to lose weight. Probably worth checking out with your GP as it can get worse and cause more unpleasant symptoms. I know what you mean about not remembering the last time I woke up feeling good. It's rotten isn't it. Hope you get some answers and some relief soon. x

[Shele121 in reply to Shehangsbrightly]

Thank you so much for the reply. I am starting a food diary so hopefully it will help me identify the main triggers. I think I'm heading for a trip back to the doctors. Good luck x

[Hidden]

Hi I get a lot of white mucus and once I had a burning pain when I had gastric ulcers.

And sometimes when stomach is making to much acid.

But it coud be anything thats why its always best to go back to GP has you say, you always wake up poorley

Very Best Wishes

[Hidden]

Definitely best to go back to your GP - I had a Colonoscopy and Endoscopy before I was diagnosed with IBS. Also, it's quite normal for me to every now and again get mucus in my stools - I haven't had the burning pain though.

Best of luck

[Shele121]

Thanks. Have booked to go back to GP and trying Silicolgel in the meantimeto see if it helps 🙂

[VA80]

Hello

This may not help everyone but a few years ago I was suffering from constant stomach issues from bloating to cramps to constipation to diarrhoea and no two days were the same. It was very hard to live with and very upsetting. The doctor told me I had IBS and to try eliminating one food at a time, e.g. Gluten, dairy etc to see what worked. This made no difference.

I then went to the health food store Holland and Barrett (in the UK) as they take a blood sample and test it for you. The nutritionist said it could be a number of things but also asked if I ate atificial sweetener. I did, (on a very regular basis), as I was trying to lose some weight and thought that diet foods would help. He then told me the first piece of advice he would give me would be to give this up, especially aspartame as it is a chemical which is not supposed to be ingested in large quantities and has an extremely negative effect on lots of people. I was eating it all the time -

Sweetener in my cereal and in coffee/tea

Diet coke, sprite etc

Cordial (most of the full sugar ones also have a percentage of sweetener in them now as well). In fact the only cordial I can find in tesco without sweetener is Ribena full sugar.

- low fat yoghurts (SOoooo many of them! Even Activia low fat which is supposed to be good for your gut)

- flavoured water!!!!!

- some fresh orange and apple juice

- some cheap ciders and flavoured beers

- some full sugar soda e.g schweppes tonic, lemonade and supermarket own brands

-lucozade sport

-sugar free chewing gum and mints

-lite hot chocolate drinks

The list goes on and on and on.

It is also in several medicines that are sweetened, e.g. Lemsip and I have also heard it is in Imodium (how ironic seeing as it is supposed to calm diarrhoea!)

There is also sweetener in some of the probiotic drinks we are constantly being told will settle our stomach for the day ahead, e.g actimel

It takes a while but I started by checking every label and avoiding all artificial sweetener. These have many different names but common (in the Uk) are aspartame, Sucralose, saccharin etc.

Overnight my problems disappeared! My stomach literally returned to being calm and normal for the first time in years and I have been fine ever since.

I also told my mum and sister as they had worse problems than me. My mum was diagnosed in 1985 with IBS and had always just "managed" it. They both were cured as well by cutting out sweetener. My sister had been at the stage of giving up her job as a fitness instructor as her stomach was so bad she couldn't get through a class. The sweetener in the lucozade sport she was drinking at every class was causing it.

This was all in 2007 and since then I have told many people who have not believed me at first but once they have seriously checked all labels and tried it, they have been amazed.

My mum said it made sense for her, at the lowfat diet industry started in the 1980s and that is when she started getting IBS. Also it often seems to be women who have more issues and in my experience more women than men buy these products. The only man I ever helped by telling him was my brother in law who was in agony and on a diet before his wedding. He had been stocking up on low sugar products and this was what caused his pain.

I have also read recently that stomach issues in children have increased massively since 1990 and researchers are trying to find out why. Every child I know is constantly being given low sugar juice, yogurt etc as their parents think they are healthier. Before the 1990's no one drank low sugar juice etc as a child.

I believe that the food industry know the risks of sweetener but make far too much money from it (one tea spoon of sweetener is a tiny fraction of the price of sugar).

This is well worth trying, it has changed my life. If you are worried about weight gain, I found I lost weight by eating more natural products and regular sugar when I feel like it.

I hope this helps someone!

Vikki

[773584 in reply to VA80]

Thank you for your advice it really makes sense as because I can't have sugar I tend to overload on sweaters especially on my cereal at breakfast time which really probably helping me. I must admit I've also heard people's worries about them posibly causeing cancer's. Well I'm going to be more aware and cut out as many sweatners as I can thank you again