I have found that when you tell anyone you have IBS they just assume you have the occasional stomach ache - they have no idea how serious it can be or how much it rules your life.
It affects me every day, pretty much all day, but if I mention it to friends they say something like "I`m sorry you`re having a bad day". I wish it was called a "disease" - I think it would then be taken more seriously. There are times when I have been tempted to lie and say I have Chrones Disease. People might then understand my need to be near to a loo and the fact that I feel unwell most of the time
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janke
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Yes I agree to. And it also causes people with ibs to not believe it and spend years pursuing other illnesses. I have a very nasty debilitating ibs. With nausia being the most troublesome symptom, it feels like I have food poisoning everyday.. But I'm sure there must be something else to. I know 2 people with chrons who bolth have a better quality of life than I as there is medication and understanding for that. Yet I only have ibs... Ibs is far to much of a generalized term.
You can make up your own fancy names for it. I always think calling it a chronic disenteric auto immune disorder sounds good.
I know exactly what you mean I sometimes wish that my family could have the symptoms for a couple of hours just to see how I feel. Because I wouldn't wish ibs on my worst enemy everyday is different but on the whole I feel dreadful most days it would be wonderful to be " normal".
Hi Janke,
I call it chronic IBS, but I think someone has had to lived it to appreciate just how awful it is
I agree with you, its an awful condition and effects your whole life not just work(which is often the way employers view it). There are so many things I have missed out on because of my IBS and so many things I want to do but can't. I am at my wits end right now but people who dont have it will never fully comprehend how debiltating a condition it is.
Hi, I know exactly how you feel and I have indeed used Crohns as am too embarrassed to explain what IBS means, I definitely believe this condition needs a new name. I suffer this 'syndrome' with all its misery every day, for 6 years now, which brings on extreme fatigue, depression making life pretty miserable. Wishing you well.
I completely agree w you too Synbad as I have been diagnosed with the most severe form (supposedly) of IBS -C from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio 6 yrs ago. Lost 35 lbs in one year and was put on SSDI in 3 months I haven’t worked in 6yrs. It is completely debilitating to me I take Linzess 290 to have a bm everyday and the chronic fatigue and anxiety and depression and abdominal pain...it has taken away my QOL so much. I can’t work and it’s near impossible to gain the weight back. I saw dr Douglas Drossman in NC, USA. if anyone wants the best in USA. Hang in there everyone Ron
I agree with Alison (from Sick of IBS). I used to say I have "IBS" but now everyone and his wife seems to have ibs, so I now say I have "Chronic IBS" which seems to make people think it's not trivial. But, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, you know what you feel like and only you have to try and cope with it. Maureen.
IBS is hard to treat because it's not a definitive diagnosis. A syndrome is just a fancy way of saying, "you have a bunch of correlating symptoms but we have no clue what the cause is we're just going to call it IBS so you know what to call it." Can't call it a disease since there isn't just one set cause of IBS. Everybody's IBS is different. It definitely sucks, and in my own experience no prescription medicine has given me any relief. Most have just made me feel worse. The only thing that gives me any peace of mind is Imodium. I'm actually planning to go to a holistic doctor/nutritionist soon because I've had my fill with regular doctors throwing pills at me that don't work. I'm hoping I can find a more natural way to alleviate my symptoms and perhaps help me beat this IBS once and for all. The best advice I can give to my fellow IBS sufferers is this: Be your own advocate. Keep researching, keep trying new diets and supplements, keep searching for the cause of your own issues. Don't give up and remember you aren't alone!
Hi Merth, I have often wondered about an holistic doctor but not had much luck finding one. If you do find one please let us know how you get on. Maureen.
i agree i have what the dr calls severe ibs with lymphocytic colitis . I know its not as bad as crohnes but we do have the exact same symptoms at least 90% of them .
Yes I was suffering with chronic fatigue when I got a very nasty food poisoning. It actually nearly killed me. This was just over 3 years ago now. I had evey test under the sun. Did about 10 stool samples and loads of bloods, had scopes that were extremely painful. Just to get ibs as a diagnosis.
I live in the UK and I don't know where you are from but our NHS is very poor. I believe I've had all the tests you have mentioned as I've been through 2 hospitals and 4 gastroenterologist, even sort out a professor at Manchester university. The compassion levels of the doctors and even a few surgeons I've had appointments with have been dire. I even had a surgeon at chesterfield hospital get up and walk out of the room as not even professionals take ibs seriously. So if I was to specifically request certain tests I get called a hypochondriac and told to stop googling symptoms online. The ONLY professional person I have spoke to with compassion was Professor Whorewell from Manchester university who listened to my story for a good hour, he checked over the tests I've had done and was happy to leave me untreated with a diagnosis of IBS and some antidepressants.
I got food poisoning from a restaurant near me and I am quite sure I got ill from a half corn on the cob.
Before this though I was off work (never to return) with fatigue. And was very tired, so even going out for that meal was a big thing. After getting poisoned I didn't have the strength to fight it. As professor whorewell said to me. The worst kinds of pi-ibs come from food poisoning while already being in a low place.
I wrote a post on this site all about my story with how I got Ill. Called "pi-ibs my story"
I get mixed ibs d and c and seam to have one of the most restricted diets I know off to
Hi I'm also in the UK (Scunthorpe) and can relate to your experiences, doctors rarely take the condition seriously, over the years i've even had 1 doctor tell me it's all in my head and IBS doesn't really exist, and another doctor tell me and i quote "only women can get IBS".
The best most caring consultation i ever had was with a locum who prescribed me slow release mebeverine (an upgrade to a prescription i almost had to beg a doctor to try as nothing else worked), it helped to a degree so i got to enjoy more of life, and i'd been working alongside a really great doctor who sadly left the practice i'm with in Feb with introducing other treatments but it's not until i recently found out about a probiotic food supplement called Livespo colon (ironically from a facebook advert) and it has changed my life (don't worry i'm not affiliated with them nor am i going to make a sales pitch)
I gave it a go and the pain has all but gone, the urgency now only occurs about one bowel movement a week, i can eat foods i haven't in 25 years such as bread, cake, biscuits, quiche, pastries etc.
At least look it up, it may or may not work for you but after everything good it did for me doing some research into it can't be a bad thing
Is there anything we can do to organise and advocate for better IBS medical research? I have felt exactly the same way as everyone here. What kind of syndrome can only be diagnosed by the absence of any other certain diagnosis? It also feels like IBS-D and IBS-C are very different and, while having some similarities in as much as the bowel is sensitive, may be two different disorders. Their treatments are mostly different. People do not understand IBS. Doctors do not understand IBS. People think it's a bit of discomfort here and there. The all-encompassing nature of IBS goes without acceptance until someone actually experiences it for themselves.
I read an interview with Professor Peter Whorwell who is quite pessimistic about improvements in treatment as so few doctors are going into this. He thinks it can`t be cured but can be controlled and most doctors prefer to work in areas where they can cure a patient - rather than helping them to live better lives with the condition they have!
I don`t know if I agree that IBS-C and D are different disorders - many of us have a combination of the two with it varying from day to day or even during one day! Personally I find this the hardest thing to deal with as you don`t know if you should be trying to treat the diarrhoea element or the constipation (as you say, the treatments are very different!)
I do agree that more research is needed. I`ve been listening to some interesting radio programmes about the role bacteria plays in all aspects or our health - maybe this is the way forward.
Link to the Radio 4 series ' The Second Genome'. There is good deal of research going on around the human microbiome, and some of the results are quite startling. Fascinating stuff.
Sorry I didn't mean that IBS-C and IBS-D have to be different disorders. I was thinking more in how they're treated medically, that they seem to have such different treatments. I'm well aware (from my own experience too) that it's possible to move from one to the other, which is why the different treatment options can be frustrating.
There is indeed some great research on the microbiome coming out and has been for several years now. It just feels a bit far off in being properly funded and pursued by the medical establishment despite these leaps in knowledge. I hope that changes for all of us.
Can I ask what clinic in London you went to for the tests please?
I myself have had lots of diagnoses, eds type 3, fibromyalgia, tmj, gallstones, ibs.
I am in constant pain, I cannot love like this. I get very bad pain every day. Some days I get bad cramps which causes me to faint. It’s horrible. I feel like no one knows what there talking about, I’m passed from pillow to post. I need to find out what’s wrong with me.
Personally, I like to call it spastic colon. Lol! It sure gets people's attention, then they are interested and you can tell them what you have been through (if you know them well enough I guess and care to share the info ;)). I agree that it should be categorized as a disease instead of symptom. Diseases change our lives most of the time. This'll do it!
I know what you feel like most times I go into work and make it look like I am not in pain when really I feel like lying in bed with a hot water bottle and being left to sleep the pain away Gail
I agree. It makes it worse that many of the symptoms of IBS are basically a social taboo.
Feels like anything to do with digestion that isn't eating is just a joke to society and makes it really difficult to talk about or explain how we feel. Heaven forbid we start talking about stools or flatulence or any of the other many things we have to consider on the daily. It can be really embarrassing!
That's why this blog is so good; safe space to vent feelings with like-minded people.
I agree too, the amount of times i've told someone i have IBS and they say "it's all in your head, just have a poo". Personally i think a lot of the stigma (and jokes from non-sufferers) comes from how it's portrayed on TV and in movies. Showing someone having to rush to the toilet followed by awful sound effects being played, often to raucous laughter from their "friends".
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