I’ve been suffering from IBS-D since early/mid 2016 - although I wasn’t diagnosed until Jan 2017, so until that time I didn’t realise what was wrong.
My symptoms when it first began we’re just D every 7 or so days. Frequent enough that I went to see my doctor anyway.
She did a blood test for Coeliac and took a stool sample. Both were negative.
For the rest of 2016 I continued as normal - the D became a bit less frequent, but in hindsight I’ve realised since I’d been unintentionally on a low FODMAP diet as I was trying to lose a little weight before my wedding in December 2016 - so I kind of ‘forget’ about the D.
The day after my wedding though I had severe D and admitted to myself that something was actually very wrong. I also had a very poorly stomach over my honeymoon - great.
I saw the doctor again in Jan 2017 and she told me I had IBS and I was signed off work for 2 weeks. I also took Mebervine and started the FODMAP diet.
The first few weeks were great but if anything the Mebervine was blocking me up, so I reduced the dosage, eventually quitting it altogether in March 2016 as I wanted to see if the FODMAP diet alone was helping. Which on the whole it was.
However.. since around October of 2017 I seem to have added a lot more symptoms to my list than D.
Every day I feel nauseous, have no appetite (I force myself to eat), feel very tired, have a very sore back and my stomach is ‘off’ even if I’ve eaten stuff I know is usually tolerated well. I don’t actually have D in the typical sense as much now, just frequent loose stools and every time I go it’s a different consistency. Sometimes it’s a good, normal one! But only sometimes.
I don’t eat gluten, dairy or soy as these are all triggers discovered via FODMAP.
Last night was what scared me the most though. I suffered severe stomach pain, which I’ve never had before despite everything else going on.
I’ve had cramps but this was on a whole new level.. I had to lie down and couldn’t move. I couldn’t even yawn without pain. It ran from under my breasts to my stomach. Right in the middle and across my belly button. I had ice and a hot water bottle on the area and took 2 Colpermin. It came on suddenly about 2 hours after eating a meal and I’d been to the toilet 3 times that day, so don’t think it was trapped wind or anything like that.
I did manage to get to sleep eventually and I slept well all night as I think the Colpermin kicked in - also by the time I tried to sleep I’d been in pain for 3 or 4 hours, so I guess whatever the trouble was, it was also passing itself.. this morning I feel fragile but no pain.
I just wanted to ask whether anyone else’s problems suddenly got worse after a steady year or so?
Also I wanted to ask whether the pain I experienced last night is normal? And how everyone else deals with it?
Luckily I’m already booked to see my doctor on Saturday as the nausea and loss of appetite were getting too much, so I can now mention the pain too.. but I know how unhelpful they can sometimes be, so thought I’d come here for advice/sympathy(haha) too.
Sorry for the essay!
Oh, I should add I take a probiotic every evening, Vit D in the morning and I am at home not working, so not stressed. (Husband is being a hero and looking after me).
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Wow You have suffered My IBS is much simpler to define Just constant burping and trapped wind It could be a small hiatus as am not always in discomfort Just for the record I have changed my diet to Low Carb and this has helped -no bread and few potatoes and no sweet things whatsoever.
Hi this site is amazing . With really good advice if you scroll through . When my daughter first got symptoms she had quite severe cramps ,she took buscopan cramps bought over the Counter they really helped as did mebevrine and mintec from doctors. My daughter also had a mint tea and a banana every day after symptons got not so severe. Now just taking As and when . But stopped all dairy . And then slowly re introduced. We also kept a very strict food diary listing foods eaten symptons and meds taken that really helped as you do start to see a pattern of flare ups
Thank you for your reply. You’re right, this site has been great! I keep a diary too, but sometimes I’ll eat the same thing one day and then on another and have a totally different reaction. It has helped me identify some main triggers though!
I have ibs c and d goes between both.... got diagnosed about 8 months ago when like u i was crippled with pain.
I even went to a&e becoz i think u dont have pain like that aless ur dying lol!!
So i am same as u gluten, dairy, onions, garlic, anything spicey and yeast which is my worse enemy free which has helped...
it a nightmare
I never knew what was coming but i ended up seeing a nutrionalist, who asked me if i had taken alot of antibiotics in my life which i had just before had pain in stomach i had a throat infection and it wouldnt go so i kept having to take some more.
He tested my blood saliva and did some other things and said i had ibs but i had candida overload( sibo) leaky gut ,it called many things... it where the antibiotics kill the infection but it also kills every bit of good gut bacteria u have so u just get really ill, i felt awful, id had gut pain,couldnt stop pooping,lack of apetite, lost 2 stone, sleep all time, i looked grey, headaches, brain fog ....
So he said go home “ no sugar ,fruit or carbs for 6 weeks” he also gave me probiotics, peppermint oil cap, digestive enzymes and dida( a candida tablet) and i went home and i thought what is this ... i dont undestand... so i did my homework( google) and i did everything he told me.... literally lived on chicken green beans and spinach.... gluten free crackers.... but the change was amazing..... within one week pain in stomach and poops had gone... within 3 weeks i was normal....within 6 i went back and it had all cleared up... i have since stuck to that diet but not so extreme, i dont do much sugar, i also still take all the supplements as it worked for me... it controls my ibs.
So mayb this could help u..it sounds like ur gut bacteria is not healthy so u need to make it better the healthier ur gut is the healthier ur b.
I even had people make remarks that i have de aged about 10 years, my skin, nails and hair look great
Thank you for your reply! I as well couldn’t believe the pain the other evening. Sorry to hear you suffered the same! It sounds like a really good detox could help me, I’ll speak to my doctor about it tomorrow and push for lots more tests! I did take antibiotics for a long period - but it was over 10 years ago. Perhaps it’s a super delayed reaction. I have my suspicious it was switching birth controls pills that started mine though. Who knows?!
I was gona put that in the last post, my nutritionalist said about sibo leaky gut or candida with the pill... if u google candida and the pill there loads on it.
It messes with ur hormone and bacteria in body.
The doctor does not recognises candida sibo or leaky gut.... so they do no tests.. they just class it all as ibs which is not true. There totally different things.
I only know this through my nutritionalist and googling it.
Feel free to ask anything or like i said there is loads on google about it...
I noticed i was so ill but i got worse when i ate certain food ie bread, pizza,anything sugary , stodgy, doughy which is all bad for gut bacteria. If u do have bad gut bacteria it can make u very very ill
Thank you. I have googled it a little before but got a bit overwhelmed, having just got used to FODMAP and all it’s rules etc.
I will see what the doc says tomorrow and if I’m not getting anywhere positive with whatever he suggests, I will look at trying the Candida diet myself!
I completely avoid all gluten now, as I was having major signs of non-celiac gluten sensitivity and I eat a fairly restricted, healthy diet now, but it certainly breaks a few Candida diet rules, so perhaps that is the one for me.
Having used the diet, do you still follow it to keep symptom control or have you been able to add foods back in?
I basically follow the fodmap more or less now to. I just had to do the cleanse for 6 weeks, which was hard really hard but it worked i felt better within 2 weeks. After the 6 it had gone my spit test and all the test he done was good. I knew anyway i could tell. So it is no sugar,no fruit, no carbs, no caffiene,no gluten no dairy,NO YEAST for 6 weeks.
I now eat heathy loadsa fruit and veg and gluten free food, meat. I do have treats but it always gluten dairy free.
I do still take me supplements to as if i dont i notice my ibs will come back and il get bellyache.
It not something u have to stick to the candida diet , it just a cleanse really once it dies off ur have healthy gut again and u can start entering stuff.
I never felt better so i kind of kept alot of it, no caffeine,no gluten no dairy no yeast. Thats ur choice though
Yes, I take Align and have been for a good couple of months now. It’s the same as Alforex in the UK, I think. (I’m from the UK but currently living in the US). I do think overall they help. No miracle cure though!
Peppermint capsules I do have plenty, but I stopped them as I didn’t think they were helping. I think I’ll try them again as I seem to be in a bad patch! You never know
Some of what your going through sounds similar to my experience. I've not got any helpful advice really just some solidarity! Funny what you said about birth control pills though as I've been wondering about a hormonal link.
I'm still in the early days of tracking everything and trying the basic stuff so your probably further ahead in finding out how to control it so good look and post on here how you got on particularly if you find something really works! Good luck
I saw the doctor yesterday and he’s run some further blood tests - there were quite a few, so unsure what they were all for but I think it was to check that most of my organs down there - pancreas, liver etc - are working as they should.
He’s prescribed me Bentyl for the spasms and says to take as and when.. and has also recommended I take 2 teaspoons of Pepto-Bismol every night(!) to help settle my stomach. I’m willing to try anything, so I’ve started that.
I’ve also been referred to a gastro doctor, so I’ll be booking an appointment Monday.
The doc (as they all do) tried to blame stress, but trust me, I’m probably the world’s least stressed person!
Will let you know if the gastro has any further advice!
Hiya it would be worth trying to rule out a few other things - can you ask doc for a scan to circle for gallstones? Would also ask for a colonoscopy. Do you find other types of food trigger symptoms or sugar/yeast? You could get a stool analysis to check for candida overgrowth (yeast infection) and parasites. I doubt the stool test you did with docs covered this. I did my test privately with
Oops sorry pressed send too early! Visit candidatest.co.uk/. I'm considering a colonic treatment in the new year as this test showed a yeast infection. You could visit a good nutritional therapist as I really don't think NHS look at IBS in an holistic way. X
I’m definitely going to ask the gastro re gallstones, as after the pain I experienced the other night, I wondered the same tbh! And I’m also hoping he will want to do a colonoscopy. I’m currently living in the US, so I have a feeling he’ll be more open to running these tests as it makes them money(!) Also hoping it’ll be a lot quicker to get everything done!
My plan after seeing the gastro and depending on what the results are, is to look into Candida actually, so I’m completely on board with your entire post!
Great hope you get to the bottom of it all. You guys in US are a bit more forward thinking it's very restrictive here with our docs they just treat the symptoms mostly not the cause for IBS. Good luck x
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