Hi all, first post for me on here. I can relate to a lot of you who say their doctor isnt helpful. Mine refuses to carry out any tests and keeps giving me different medication that doesn't help.
I think I have mixed IBS, had it for about 8 years after a traumatic operation.
What I am struggling with at the moment is the pain after a bowel movement and how I generally feel afterwards. The pain is horrendous and I feel so much worse for going to the toilet, I have no energy, feel low and just want to sleep. When I do eat later on the pain worsens. I explained this to my doctor who didnt really say much and when I told him my IBS is worse when I am tired he said it was rubbish. In that sense I know my own body!
Anybody else suffer from pain afterwards and if so do you have any advice
Thank you
Nicola
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Nictatt
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Tell me where is your pain , on Buscopan I could not stop having bm I mean literally all day that was Saturday and had awful anal pain and felt very poorly, this was on the advice of my nurse , who is opposed to Imodium , so did a no drug Sunday and still bm all day although felt better in myself still had the awful anul pain .. so today Monday I have gone back to two immodium and what a difference no anal pain well very little and so far only two bm .. just need a normalish day ... Our medics are very good but all if our bodies are different and I will report all this to him on Tuesday.. I hope your pain is better today x
Hi Nicola,
Sorry you’re struggling at the moment. I too find that bowel movements don’t ease my pain but I wouldn’t say the pain is horrendous.
You need to push for tests as it’s not fair for you to suffer like this without a diagnosis.
Sorry to hear your having such pain, imagine it makes you anxious about eating as well as when you need to go. You mention traumatic operation and I’m wondering if you have had any counselling or been able to talk about that to an understanding other. From my own experience a lot of pain can come from a very tense gut and body following trauma and pain, body prepares for it by going tense and quite difficult to encourage it to relax. It’s also very normal to feel more pain when we are tired. It can become a vicious circle. No medications helped me, in fact usually made things worse. I Suggest trying yoga, relaxation, visualisations, or guided meditation - know this isn’t easy at first and not an overnight fix, but worth a try, needn’t cost anything but a little time. Lots of free apps to try and videos to follow on u tube. Try it in time before you next get to see GP to ask for investigations if still suffering badly. If you are, you can tell him/ her what you’ve tried, showing that that the pain is severe and your trying to help self.
Yes i do have pain after a bowel movement, esp if i have not been for a few days as i am normally constipated. Then when i do empty my bowels it is very painful in my colon, plus i feel terrible and tired too. Usually its a day i have to stay in and rest. I usually have to take pain killers, and drink mint tea and very light diet, as i think the colon is inflamed after passing stools. No help from doctor either.
I have pain after bowel movements always. I’ve hsd it for years. I don’t know what to do about it. My Drs say it’s IBS, but why after bowel movements? It’s awful.
Thank you for all your replies, its nice to hear I'm not the only one. The pain is in my lower abdomen and if I have a bowel movement in the morning the pain lasts all day. I've tried peppermint tea but it has little or no effect.
I have not had counselling, to be honest I never gave it a thought, the doctor just put it down to my body going in to shock.
Once lockdown is over and we are allowed to make appointments I am going to go and see my GP, I know other people have had tests so need to push for this. Today is a better day, no pain so far however I am anxious about eating as I dont want a repeat of yesterday
Sorry to hear about your treatment. Which country do you live in? In the UK there is a set protocol for diagnosing IBS by ruling out other factors. If you are in the UK and you are getting this treatment, it would seem that your doctor is not following this protocol and you could complain to your local CQC (Care Quality Commission) or try to move to another GP practice.
Here is some information about IBS that I have shared with others in this group:
IBS can be due to a number or combination of factors - these can be stress (including stress from early life experiences) which impacts the communication between the brain and the digestive system. There are lots of free webinars online at the moment regarding mindfulness meditation which might help. Plus you can ask to be referred for CBT or something similar to reduce your anxiety - I would have thought online appointments are available. Exercise can play a major role in IBS in terms of reducing stress, helping your gut microbiome and regulating bowel movements.
There is also not absorbing certain types of carbohydrates called FODMAPs very well, the residue ending up in the colon and bacteria feeding off them causing symptoms. Ordinarily feeding gut bacteria is a really good thing - when you feed good gut bacteria these produce by-products that have great health effects in the gut and throughout the body. However, in some people with IBS bad bugs might have the upper hand over good - these bad bugs may cause symptoms such as pain or disordered bowel movements. This is why it’s worth trying probiotics such as Alflorex (which has been scientifically studied for IBS) or Symprove to crowd out the bad bugs and make their numbers die down. If that doesn't work you can try the FODMAP elimination and reintroduction diet. This is normally under the guidance of a nutritionist via GP referral - this may not be possible at the moment so you can read about it online. If you download the Monash University FODMAP app it will tell you which foods contain FODMAPs and in what quantities. You can eliminate all FODMAPs for 2 weeks and then introduce each type of FODMAP one at a time starting in small quantities, increasing over a 3 day period and wait up to 4 days for symptoms. I go much slower than this - only introducing a small amount (1/4 to 1/3 of a normal portion size) of the same food for 3 days and then increase if tolerable or no symptoms and cut back to the previous amount if symptoms for longer and then try to increment again . I've read your microbiome can adapt to handling a new food if introduced very slowly. Ideally you want to eat as many FODMAPs as you can since they are good for your health. Many people with IBS don't have diverse gut bacteria - it has been found that people who lack a diverse microbiome are more prone to diseases in general. In the long run, if you can get your symptoms under control, the ideal situation is to have a very varied diet - lots of different coloured fruits and vegetables, a variety of protein and carbohydrate sources including cereal fibres. This may seem a long way off, but with the right treatment all of this is possible. Last year all I could consume to control my IBS was white rice, protein and limited low fodmap veg. Using the approach above (particularly introducing Alflorex) I am now able to consume far more foods - more than I've ever dreamed of including wholewheat bread which is unheard of for me.
If you are also suffering from pain, you may be suffering from visceral hypersensitivity (functional abdominal pain) - there is info about it here:
It is where the brain interprets the normal activity of the bowel as pain - this is due to a wearing down of neurons in pain control centres of the brain which can be caused by PTSD, neglect or abuse in childhood, extreme stressful events etc. The first line treatment is nerve pain agents such as low dose amitriptyline. There is a theory that being on something like amitriptyline for 6-12 months can help the pain control centre neurons to regenerate. Note that amitriptyline can cause constipation, but this can be helpful in people who are diarrhea dominant. Unfortunately I couldn't tolerate these. Linaclotide (for IBS-C only) & Alflorex have helped me with this intestinal pain.
You may also find assistance with anti-spasmodic medication such as mebeverine (Colofac) or enteric coated peppermint.
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