I’ve been having IBS symptoms for the past ; months but my GP says I’m too old to start with IBS ?
I’ve had blood tests, stool tests etc etc all thankfully negative but this leaves me in no mans land
I have constipation for 4/5 days followed by a day or sometimes 2 of diarrhoea all day. It’s getting me down as nothing seems to help and I can’t think of why it’s suddenly come on
I have a good diet with lots of fibre. My bowels have always been a bit lazy and I’ve never been regular but I’ve never had anything this bad. It’s so depressing
Has anyone any advice or had similar symptoms- AM I too old ??
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Nadgers
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Hi Nadgers, I was diagnosed when in my sixties (4/5 years ago).I thought the same as you but my Dr. said you can get it at any age. I'm 71 now still struggle with accepting it,but I know my Ibs is made worse because of my Health Anxiety. It's better if you relax apparently. Wishing you well! x
It is possible you are getting overflow diarrhea after the 4/5 days of constipation. This is where liquid food gets backed up behind impacted stool and then overflows around the stool.
The thing to treat is the constipation. If you were always a bit sluggish, once you get older things can start to slow down even more to a point where it becomes far more noticeable.
It's good that you are high fibre (although some people might find too much is unhelpful, but it also needs to be consumed with plenty of water). I'm going to put some tips here - please ignore any that you might be doing already.
To improve constipation in the short term you can try ground flaxseed on your breakfast, starting at 1 teaspoon and increasing at 1 teaspoon every 2-3 days - you'll need to consume extra water with it.
These foods are also high fibre:
8-9 Prunes
2 tablespoon chia seeds (soaked for 10-15 mins in milk or non dairy milk with cereal or water)
Shredded wheat (or if GF: Nutribrex)
60g Quinoa
Wholewheat bread
75g Whole grain pastas
(if GF: Buckwheat)
2 Hard pears
5 Dried apricots
90g Raspberries
1 orange (contain a natural laxative)
2 kiwi.
I find that I need to have 1 orange a day and then another high fibre fruit later in the day to help with BMs.
I also take 30 drops of ginger extract before bedtime to aid motility. You may need to work up the dose to say 7 drop increments each night.
I have been giving Optifibre a go, which has been helping but I need to be careful with the amount since it gives me gas.
Exercise can help with BMs. The government recommends 150 mins of moderate exercise (e.g. walking as if you are late for an appointment) or 75 of intense exercise (e.g. jogging) per week. I also have a bit of a walk around straight after breakfast to get things moving.
You need to ensure that you are drinking enough fluids (2 litres of fluid per day).
There is some good advice about constipation here:
There are also medications that help IBS-C (constipation dominant IBS). I suffer from IBS-C and have been prescribed Linaclotide for it. I also take Alflorex probiotic which has made me more tolerant to taking in the extra fibre I need for a BM.
Some people are more prone to constipation due to their intestinal anatomy. Through colonoscopies I have been told that I have a long loopy (redundant) colon. This means that food takes longer to pass through and in the mean time the intestines have more time to suck out water from the stool, drying them out and causing constipation. I have found that I need to consume much more fibre than other people to have regular BMs.
I have also found useful having most of my food as meal times, leaving 4-5 hours of not eating between meals, eating my fruit snack before a meal. This means that your digestive system has time to process each meal. It also allows something called the MMC (migrating motor complex) to run which sweeps food waste from your small intestine into your large intestine. This only happens when you have an empty stomach. When people snack regularly, it prevents the MMC from working properly. I also find the larger meals help to push things along better than drip feeding through snacking.
Welcome to no mans land, there are a lot of us here. When all other diagnoses have been dismissed, IBS is the label of choice. As long as you are still breathing it is possible to be IBS.Diet, anxiety and stress all contribute to IBS. Lifestyle can also be a factor.
I experience the same symptoms continually.
It is more usual the anxiety is to blame but not always as too much vigorous exercise and/or poor dietary choice can also be the cause.
Two things I do are, one try to keep a strict diet and two by far the most difficult, stop worrying. I'm great with the diet but a total novice with stopping the worry.
Sadly the answer is so simple for the anxiety yet very difficult to carry out. I try to keep my mind occupied so I'm not worrying about my health or any other thing that I can't change in my life. Not fool proof but it does help. No longer being young and bullet proof the anxiety has taken over and seems to get worse with age, despite still thinking I'm 39 but going on 70!
For me it is about managing the IBS, I can not eliminate it but I do mange to minimise it to were I am comfortable, until I make yet another bad food choice or get stressed out.
Thank you x My doctor has decided to refer me to the hospital as he’s done all he can and still refuses to accept that it could be a possibility - sigh !!
I think until then I will presume it is IBS and follow the excellent guidance you guys on this site have been giving me
I’m so grateful to be a part of this helpful bunch of people xx
Hi Nadgers, all of the comments are good but one thing that is not mentioned is gently rubbing your stomach. When in the shower gently rub your hand in a circular motion up on the right and down on the left, so as if you have a clock in your stomach. Do it at speed, duration and pressure that is right for you. Our intestines go down ward on the left. This may help.Also do research into soluble and insoluble fibre and generally speaking soluble is gentler on our digestive systems. Example porridge is soluble while high bran cereal is insoluble.
Time and trying different foods will be invaluable to you. We are all different and different things affect us at different times. We are dynamic and ever changing which makes it very hard to work out what is going on.
In my 60s now, had ibs most of my adult life and now have gone gluten free (for another health problem) and my ibs issues have so improved. It has taken 2 months so I'm not saying go GF but it can take a long time to see a difference with trial and error it can take a long g time!!!
Good luck, be patient and go with your gut feeling 😅 pardon the pun.
Thank you so much Penelope2 that’s really helpful advice. I’m going to try avoiding bread for a while to see how that goes but as you say it’s tricky to fathom out what helps and what doesn’t if you do too much at once - but at least I’d be self helping - goodness knows how long I’m going to have to wait for a hospital appointment and I can’t carry on as I am or my anxiety alone will just overwhelm me xx
Nadgers if you do go gluten free then just cutting g out bread is not enough you have to read every processed food label carefully. Obviously natural unprocessed food is safe. Look at the Coealic UK website for good advice.Take care.
I have read extensively on the subject and never once come across the information that late onset rules out ibs. Change your doctor. You are in my thoughts. Bx
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