Newbie

[nessie71]

Hi all hope everyone is as good as can be expected. This is my 1st post on here so not really sure what I should/shouldn't be writing here. I have had severe IBS since early childhood, I was firstly diagnosed with spastic colon when I was around 6 or 7 years old, from there it has progressively got worse. Initially I was given colafac to help with the bad cramps etc I was then referred to a different doctor who then diagnosed IBS and I was given buscopan which helped a little for a while. Then when I moved out of the family home to be with my now husband I obviously had a different GP and he gave me mebeverine, which helped for a while they stopped working after a few years and I am now on Alverine Citrate which sometimes helps and sometimes doesnt so much. I have at least one "flare up" a month, had all the tests etc colonoscopy etc and everything was clear at the time. The problem is I flip flop between diorreah and constipation my stomach gets bigger than my daughters and she is 7 months pregnant with twins!! I have bleeding and lots of mucus and the pain I suffer is horrendous the DR prescribed me tramadol to help with the pain which only dulls the pain it doesn't stop it. I guess what I'm asking is this normal for IBS sufferers or could it be something else?? So sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for any advice or tips. Just want this to stop as when I go out I have to plan my route around toilet stops etc plus I live on Imodium which obviously not ideal. Thanks once again tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

[runswithdogs]

Welcome. You'll find all manner of IBS sufferers here. Mine is mostly diarrhea which I can control with watching the food that I eat and being careful to reduce stress, but I also get flare-ups every 4-6 weeks or so with seemingly no cause. I also get bloated and mucous in my stool, you're certainly not alone in that regard. Have you tried any elimination diets to discover any food triggers? Many folks here have done the FODMAPS diet and found success, myself included.

[nessie71 in reply to runswithdogs]

Hi runswithdogs thanks for your reply. Mine is mostly diarrhea too but I do have bouts of constipation. I do watch what I eat I love vegetables and fruit but sometimes I have to avoid them like the plague!! Mine also happens with seemingly no cause too, I'm so glad that I found this site as it has made me aware that I'm not alone in this. I haven't tried the FODMAPS diet as I haven't heard of it until now. I was just wondering do you have vomiting with your IBS too?? I have this very often and I feel absolutely awful for about a week at a time sometimes more. Thank you so much for the welcome it means a lot. I hope you are well at the moment. Take care. xx

[runswithdogs in reply to nessie71]

If you find fruit and veggies bother you, definitely look into trying FODMAPS. It's a temporary elimination diet to help find your triggers. After eliminating them for awhile you slowly add them back in to see if you react. I found several fruits and veggies from it that give me great grief. I did it under the supervision of a dietician familiar with the diet.

I found it helpful to keep a food diary, recording food and symptoms. I just got a cheap app for my phone so I'd have it on the go but pen and paper works as well.

Vomiting is a funny one. I do, but I'm not sure if it's vomiting or regurgitation. It doesn't happen all the time, and it doesn't seem related to the same foods that give me diarrhea so I'm not sure if they're related. But yes, I do bring up low acid vomit quite uncontrollably sometimes. Not with any sort of regularity. It can happen every day for a week and then won't appear for a month. I haven't asked my gastroenterologist about this. Perhaps I should book an appointment one of these days.

[Robinson32]

My ibs is stress related due to severe social anxiety and that which accompanies my OCD. My ibs symptoms started at about the age of 27 and now 5 years later after much much analysing of it, I'm 99% certain this is the case. Yours sounds horrific and much more intense than mine! Many remedies i have tried don't do much help for me, i guess because my stress levels are generally very high and it isn't certain food types causing it. For the diarrhoea side of it maybe try a product called enterosgel, it is supposed to be brilliant! Mine is mainly bloating and general 'full up' feeling so not really suitable for me. Silicolgel is good also for all symptoms.

[nessie71]

Hi Robinson32 I'm so sorry to hear about your anxiety, I suffer with this too and I'm having therapy not just for the anxiety but for other things too. thank you so much for your reply and thank you for the suggestions on treatment I will try these as I will do anything to stop all this pain, bloating, vomiting, diarrhoea and constipation!! To be quite honest I'm fed up of it all now it doesn't matter what I eat now my IBS just continually flares up and it seems like the more flare ups i get it just seems to get worse each and every time. Runswithdogs has suggested to try the FODMAPS diet (which i hadn't heard of until he mentioned it to me) i think I'm going to have a bash at that too. Thanks again for the advice and tips. Take care

[nessie71]

P.S where do i get the enterosgel and the silicol gel from Robinson32??

[Robinson32]

Boots is where I bought mine from if you live in the UK. They are about £20 for both I think.

[Robinson32]

Sometimes I feel that ibs just has to be accepted (well in my case anyway) and lived with. It is so hard to just accept yes this is how it will be for the rest of my days, and the rest of the world doesn't really understand which adds to the utter frustration of it all! Hope you find some relief somewhere somehow anyway.

[nessie71]

Thank you for letting me know where to get these items from I will definitely be trying these 2 out. Yes I agree that we have to just accept and live with it. I find that if I tell people that I have a bowel problem instead of saying I have IBS they accept it a lot more and it is easier for them to understand. I tend to find that people just don't accept IBS as an issue they say things like "oh its only IBS that's not that bad to live with" these comments actually make me kind of angry as they have obviously never suffered with it or know someone close to them that has otherwise they wouldn't be saying things like this. This condition can be totally debilitating at times and others just don't see the symptoms pain etc that an IBS sufferer goes through!! Anyway I hope you are OK and thanks for the info and chat. Take care.

[Robinson32]

Not a truer word spoken. I can understand people not understanding though, just as I probably wouldn't be able to understand somebody suffering from a disorder that I had never experienced. It's just natural maybe.

I too say that I have a 'bowel condition/disorder' when needed to, it just holds far more weight than just saying I have an irritable bowel. Not wanting to take anything away from the more serious bowel illnesses like Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis etc however.

[dg8867]

i have same issue with bouncing back and forth from d to c, and i can tell you i stopped taking imodium and it did help , my stools are more normal now, along with probiotics with my diet i am improving. maybe ween off the imodium and see how you do, the cramps may go away due to your stool not bunching up soo much