The lethargy and tiredness of IBS

[Wifflesnook]

I have many symptoms daily. I’m trying everything to deal with them. I’m pretty sure that my trigger is anxiety and stress as I’m trying to sell/buy a home and it has been going on since April. I’m using hypnotherapy as well as probiotics. Can’t say I’m noticing much improvement. But what seems to affect my daily life a lot is the constant tiredness. I try to drink water, eat healthily, but all I want to do is lie down all day. I do try to combat this, ignore it whatever. I’m retired so of course I can succumb to it but feel that is a Bad idea,. Anyone any ideas how to deal with it? I know it is one of the symptoms. I’d love to feel even a little energy . Do you have this problem? How do you deal with it?

[MissNyxiie]

Hi, have you spoken to your doctor about it? They may be able to advise, I felt very tired and lethargic a couple of years ago with my IBS, they done a blood test and I was anaemic, after taking vitamins for a while it made it feel a bit better. It may be worth a chat to see if they can rule anything out or give suggestions to make it easier for you. Hope you feel better

[Wifflesnook in reply to MissNyxiie]

A while ago I did talk to my doctor as the ibs was so bad and I’d lost weight. He sent me a stool test and I went for a blood test but because of the upheaval of the move I haven’t tried to find out the results and am waiting until I’m in my new house and have a new gp. I didn’t mention the tiredness then, though I have had it for a long time. I’m taking vitamin D and I will put myself back on multivitamins. Can’t do any harm

[MissNyxiie in reply to Wifflesnook]

You may be able to ring your old surgery, the receptionist can tell you over the phone if there was any concerns, may put your mind at ease. Hope the multivitamins help.

[Rossan]

I'm struggling with the same problem. I'm also going to try and get checked for anaemia although in that past that's not been the cause.

Are you trying any diet changes? I've learnt the hard way that caffeine & sugar will only offer short-term relief!

When I was first diagnosed I tried a month wheat-free and it helped a lot. Even cutting back on wheat & swapping in things like spelt might be worth a try.

The dietician tip is always Record, Restrict, Review: start a food diary where you also record symptoms. I try to rate my energy out of 10. Then 'restrict' a food for a couple of weeks/month, then reviews any changes.

[MatthewU]

You seem to suffer from the typical cycle anxiety=IBS symptoms=tiredness=anxiety. Firstly, I would try high dosage vitamin D to treat your tiredness, these are easily available and are cheap to purchase; you'll need to give them a good month if you are to see any results. If that doesn't work an SSRI such as Citalopram is shown to work to help with IBS by breaking stress/anxiety=IBS cycle also most of IBS pain should stop at the same time, you'll have to go to your GP to get that. A good pre & probiotic will help with the usual gut flora imbalance that is often found in people with IBS; you need a combined pre/pro biotic version to be taken twice a day around 30 minutes before food with a complete glass of water to have optimum effect. You should see results after a few weeks if not sooner; after trying several brands without any huge change to symptoms I found BodyFokus SynBiotic Active Vitality gave me much better results.