I've suffered with IBS for as long as I can remember. My stomach was doing really good got a few months and I felt great. The last week it's back and it's AWFUL. I am having horrible cramping followed by urgency and loose stool. The cramping hurts so bad even after I go my intestines feel very achy for hours after I go. I've had a few episodes this week I almost didn't make it to the bathroom, it comes on very quickly and it's painful.
To my knowledge I wasent doing anything differently or eating different when my stomach felt normal for those few months.
Does anyone have any advice or does this happen to anyone??
Please let me know, Thanks!!
Written by
yelly
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I had this too! I cut out dairy 10 months ago and had been really good avoiding foods I knew would cause a flare up, and Feb, march, April I had felt a lot Better and hadn't flared up or if I did they had been very mild (just cramps and my continuous nausea) the every weekend through may I had a flare up that was really severe exactly how you described always in the middle of the night with my stomach so painful it woke me up! And I hadn't changed my diet, routine,job ect. Either so I could t understand it then it went the start of this month and other than the occasional cramp and the nausea I've been fine again. Ibs is weird that way. I took enterogel and I found that it worked really well to subdue the flare up! It's rather pricey but I think it was work it (even if it tasted like drinking sandy water from the beach) x
I found that because I was feeling better I wasn't taking as much notice as usual about what I was eating/ feeling. It was like "Hey I'm fine, let's get on with life now"! And I let my mind take over and take up all the space.
I didn't realise that we are not meant to think all the time. For example you open a window. You use your hand and arm muscles, then you put them down when you've finished. When we use our brains to think, we forget to stop once the task is over.
For me your body is saying "Hello, anybody there?".
What are you doing at the moment to manage your IBS - meds, diet, lifestyle etc? Meds wise I take mebeverine each day and occasionally Imodium which seems to help 'regulate' me! Diet wise I mainly follow FODMAP as much as possible and don't drink fruit juices, fuzzy drinks, alcohol etc. I actually find my anxiety/stress levels are what is triggering my IBS at the moment so currently working on this with counselling, self help books and various relaxation/breathing techniques. Very trial and error and finding what your triggers are and what works for you. Have you had all the required tests at the doctor to rule other things out? Good luck x
As above really but don't forget pre packaged foods change their ingredients all the time so could be something in there. Or you ate something bit undercooked/cross contamination or gone bad or got dirty and having sensitive stomach its set it off. I am convinced this is what happens to me. My ibs almost stopped for about a year. I then got healthy and fit and felt better then is came back after eating an easter egg and only jsit improving. No logic!
I think the symptoms just change all the time. When you have a controlled good spell ,there is a tendency for us to think we have overcome the problem but when it returns, as it usually does ,it feels very disappointing . We feel back to square one and it can be very depressing.
In the situation that you describe , it sounds like something has just sparked things off. Maybe a tummy bug or even something ingested that has not agreed with your system.
In your situation , I usually take Immodium capsules to try and get things back under control then just try to return to a careful plain diet. It seems like you just have to start all over again and hope for another good cycle. There is also of course the possibility of some stressful situation causing a flare up.
We probably have this condition for life --having had it personally for about fifty years , I doubt if it will go away unless something new medically is discovered.
If you had control over it previously, for a while, just focus on getting control again. There are lots of different pills and potions to try in order to get over a bad spell. You could even try an arrowroot pudding instead of some other meal.. Years ago I occasionally took this for breakfast and it stopped the " D" and got me through the day.
I totally agree with other replies.Get complacent when having a good spell and for no reason I can think of horrible symptoms come flooding back.Just try and think you will get another good spell eventually though think will come and go for life sadly.
I totally agree too. I just got my diagnosis last year. I used to be able to eat onions and garlic and peaches with no problems. So when I start to feel better I eat these things and blow up like a balloon. Something happened that caused this so that is why I am thinking of getting tested for SIBO and taking the antibiotic
My ibs is just this way also. I too have come to the conclusions, as above, that it will plague me for the rest of my days. Having had it really from about the age of 27 and now 32 it is a deeply depressing thought. I have days where it is pretty much fine and can eat/drink anything, fizzy drinks and a curry even ha! This usually only lasts a couple of days at the most however and then the cramps/bloating returns. I've tried so hard to put a positive face and spin on it but now I give up trying to. I blame my OCD and huge social anxiety for it but then I wonder why I shouldn't have the symptoms everyday as my stress/anxiety levels are high every day. It has ruined my life that's for sure. The OCD and anxiety i have had since teenage years so can battle my way through them, and hold down a job/socialise/go on holiday etc. Which I did up until the ibs really kicked in, that is the thing that has beaten me these past few years. I've had the CBT therapy and various medications for OCD but mine is too far gone for that as they weren't any help.
I find that all the ibs medications I've tried over the years very unpredictable as one day they would help and another they wouldn't at all! So now I don't take any at all and my symptoms are no worse, the same regularity and patterns I would say. It's so absolutely frustrating and I can't help but feel bitter about life and angry.
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