Awaiting diagnosis

[andreaclaire]

I am a 57 year old female who has recently consulted her GP regarding symptoms that sound like IBS.

Am normally careful with what I eat. I cannot drink full fat milk as it makes me feel sick and these days even semi-skimmed is not better so I drink skimmed and like it.

Over the years I have had all the symptoms one at a time and have been able to manage them with a change of diet and over the counter meds but from the beginning of June things started to get worse till two weeks ago I had them all together. I felt worst first thing in the morning burping and feeling sick as soon as I ate my breakfast. I had to sit for a while to let it go down. The burping was really bad. I usually have muesli with extra nuts (cause I like it) and swap it out if its not suiting. After breakfast I usually get mild burping which doesn't bother me and I find by the time I have walked to work I feel fine.

I have had some cramps in the past but this time it was just tightening rather than cramps. My bowel habit is not its usual self and I feel like I could go again when I have opened my bowels.

Once I contacted my GP I took my diet apart and cut out my high fibre breakfast. I swapped this for a bland cereal and light bread. Immediately the morning symptoms got better though I still have mild burping. My diet is currently very bland and I eat small amounts often.

All this has left me tired with no energy.

My GP has taken various blood tests and I have done a 'poo' test to see if I have microscopic blood in my faeces. I get the results next week. However, bloods did come back with a problem with my blood glucose - I will be speaking to someone about this next week as well.

I am tired in the morning and for the moment have altered my working day to accommodate this - starting and finishing later. I sincerely hope that this is a temporary thing.

Has anyone been in this position? Any advice welcome.

[Hidden]

Hi there Andrea, I am 58 and have had IBS since 1996/97 and this sounds like it could be IBS but of course you won't know until you have had more tests i.e. Colonoscopy/Endoscopy - these are the two tests that I had. I had a full blood test around 2 years ago and nothing else showed up.

I also can feel tired but I have had low iron before and I expect that's what it is. I also think that the bland diet is probably partly to blame as well as of course bland food i.e. white bread/carbohydrates turn into sugar which is energy zapping. Once you've had your results back it may be a good idea to look at your diet and start to keep a diary if you feel worse when you have eaten a certain food. I can't eat raw carrots, raw onions or sweetcorn - I can't go anywhere near those foods as I get immense pain; I can eat small amounts of broccoli but not sure about cauliflower as I haven't had it for a while.

I am also buying Lactose free products as I think that may also be a problem with me. I am slowly but surely going through my diet.

Best of luck with the results.

Alicia