I was looking for some advice, this issue has been going on coming close to a year and despite going to the doctors I’m not getting anywhere. I have been told years ago I had IBS and through eliminating dairy thought this was settled and has been for many years. I have lupus and endometriosis so take a lot of tablets which requires me to take laxido morning and night to deal with constipation side effects, usually my BM are loose but not complete diarrhoea I take 4 sachets a day (2x am and 2x pm).
I eat a healthy balanced diet which is plant based, I’ve never had an issue until this last year where I am getting periods of time where I will become extremely constipated to the point where I can no longer pass gas and become very sick with fevers and chills. I’ve been to hospital a couple of times where they say up the sachets and give me an enema. It doesn’t help immediately and can take me a week or so for anything to improve. My bloating is terrible it’s constantly hard and very painful, I sometimes vomit from this and have very bad nausea. The fever and chills come around 3 or 4 days without a BM, doctors blame the medication but I’ve been taking it since 2019 so I’m bothered why has it started now?
My GP and the hospital all just keep going in the same cycle and I’m really struggling. Is this just IBS? I’m not sure as my symptoms when diagnosed I didn’t get constipated at all it was the opposite and this was back in 2015 (ish). Can anyone help me and give some advice what I should do? My eating habits don’t change and I keep up with my meds as well as laxido, I’m really stuck with any additional things I can try and getting fed up of feeling this way.
Thank you,
Leenie x
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Leenie0811
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You might want to discuss this with your rheumatologist and a gastroenterologist. It does sound like it may be more than IBS. Are there any issues with diverticulitis? Could it be related to the lupus? Generally IBS does not cause a fever. xx
I am waiting for a rheumatologist appointment at the moment as my last one had to be cancelled due to a double booking. Hopefully I get to see them soon but I might call the nurse specialist helpline, every time I see my GP they don’t seem keen to send me to a gastroenterologist even though I have been referred to them when I was diagnosed with IBS. Do you think the rheumatologist could put me in touch with them or should I just ask for a referral from my GP? I’m not sure what diverticulitis is but I haven’t heard of anyone in my family having that, my mum has IBS but she doesn’t know what sets hers off she hasn’t done a food elimination diet like I have.
And yes I thought it didn’t cause a fever which is why it’s worrying me, I hate all the sickness and vomiting too xx
Leenie - Yes, it is good that you are seeing your rheumatologist. I think he will be able to give you some direction, especially relating to the fevers, as it may be connected to the lupus. Diverticulitis is the formation of small pouches in your colon where bits of poo may get stuck and form an infection. This can cause a fever. I am not sure if it would cause constipation. I don't have any medical background, and this has never happened to me but my gastroenterologist has mentioned it. I am in the US, so not sure who is the best doctor to give you a referral to the gastro, but I definitely do think you should see one. Between the rheumatologist and a gastro I think you will be able to get all the bases covered and find out what is going on. You should not have to live like this, with all the GI issues and worrying. Sometimes it is so hard to get to the bottom of things and I really feel for you. xx
Thank you so much for all that information I will call my doctor tomorrow and see if they will give me a referral to gastro, also I’ll call the hospital to chase my rheumatologist appointment I still don’t have the letter and need to know when they will see me again. It’s so hard with all these symptoms x
A lot can do with stress. The gut goes from your mouth to your back side and anything in the flow between those two points is classed as your gut. The tummy (sounds like a child's word but is used by gastroenterologists) is the largest part of the gut consisting of your stomach bowels liver pancreas gallbladder kidneys etc.
Ever heard of ive got a gut feeling about this or I feel sick to my stomach? Ever wondered why when people get nervous or anxious they can have diarrhoea or can even wet themselves?
Many scientists & doctors doing research on ibs etc will tell you your gut is like the second brain. On one hand it does what your brain tells it to and on the other hand it can tell your brain what to do in terms of nervous system and even your immune system.
I had gut directed hypnotherapy on the NHS in Manchester under professor Peter Whorewell. Look him up on Google and get a copy of his book and watch some of his videos if you can find them. I was lucky to get a referral off my doctor in Liverpool to go and see him. His hypnotherapy unit is the only hynotherapy available on the NHS.
Some people are afraid of hypnotherapy thinking its witch craft, ungodly or some kind of dangerous practice and think of a medallion being dangled in front of your face or Paul McKenna is going to make you do things you don't want to do.
Hypnotherapy is just a hypnotherapist advising you how to relax and stop your mind racing so you can concentrate on the one problem your suffering with right now which is your constipation and ibs.
You can direct the hypnosis at your gut and make it behave how you want it to so it in turn will tell your brain to also not send out the wrong signals of pain etc.
Try lying on your bed and closing your eyes. Then scan your body with your mind start off with your toes feet ankles calves then knees thighs buttocks tummy chest neck shoulders arms hands fingers and you head eyes cheeks and face. You need to see if you can find pain or tension in the above parts of your body and if you do you just try to imagine them relaxed. If you cant feel them relaxed then that's OK you just accept how they are feeling and move onto the next.
Then when you have scanned your whole body you should actually feel a little relaxed because you have been concentrating on one thing at a time and not a million things at once like I have an appointment tomorrow or I must ring my friend and need to get a birthday card for someone and what am I going to have for tea and I need to put the bins out etc etc etc and all the other things that go on in life. Right now your wondering about who will give you an appointment with a gastroenterologist!
If you do the hypnotherapy on yourself you will realise for that half an hour on the bed nothing else matters other than you right now and you focusing on your ibs.
Tell yourself its just lovely lying there for half an hour doing nothing in the peace and quiet and that you have scanned your body so know where your feeling problems.
Count backwards from 10 and each digit say I'm feeling more and more relaxed then say when I say the word relaxed I will feel ten times more relaxed than I already did.
Eg say 10 I'm feeling relaxed 9 I'm feeling ten times more relaxed than I already was 8 nothing is expected of me right now. When I say the word relaxed I will feel ten times more relaxed.
When you get down to 1 tell yourself to enjoy a few moments now of restful relaxation and feel how comfortable your eyes feel closed and let any tension just drift away.
Then say your going to count to 3 and then your going to place a hand on your bare tummy. So 1 2 3 place a hand on your tummy. Then count to 10 slowly and after 10 feel how the the palm of your hand is warmer against the skin of your tummy than the top of your hand is open to the air. Tell yourself that this warmth is sinking into your tummy and making everything inside calm and comfortable. Say its relaxing your gut and soothing any pain or discomfort. Tell your tummy its feeling relaxed and that's how you want it to be. No more pain no more bloating just relaxed and comfortable. Then say your going to count to 3 again and after 3 your going to place your other hand on top of the first hand to reaffirm what your first hand is doing. Soothing your tummy soothing your gut taking away pain and telling your bowel to relax and function the way you want it to.
Keep on focusing on that warm palm gently against your tummy and gently soothing away pain. Then count down backwards from 10 and open your eyes.
At first you might think you feel more relaxed and the bloating and pain may still be there but the more times you practice this the more it actually works. After a few weeks you should find your bowel movements become more normal and a lot of the pains are gone. You do have to stick with it though and try at least half an hour each day or night when you can get some time to yourself. So if you're married etc or got kids you need to let others know your just going in your room for half an hour to help yourself relax and dont want to be disturbed.
Honestly hypnotherapy really does help. It may not cure you as most will say ibs is incurable but I certainly went a few years were I thought my ibs had gone.
If you're taking proton pump inhibitors for acid reflux or gastro problems or because you need to take NSAID painkillers like ibuprofen or aspirin etc then you may want to try reducing them or changing them every so often as I believe they cause ibs by changing your gut biome. Proton pump inhibitors like omeprazole or lansoprazole or pantoprazole and h2 blockers like ranitidine(now banned) or famotidine cemetidine etc block acid in your stomach which can lead to you not digesting foods and drugs properly and can lead to infections in your stomach with the likes of helicobacter Pylori that irritates your stomach lining and buries itself in your stomach lining and can cause damage when the acid in your stomach touches the inflamed stomach lining and this can then lead to a leaky gut and the horribly things that can lead to.
You say you're on a plant based diet but it maybe that you're not getting the nutrients you need out a plant based diet and if you're taking acid reducing or blocking meds any vitamin supplements you are taking may not be getting absorbed.
So use the hypnotherapy but also bear in mind what I say about any supplements you are taking which you should be being on a plant based diet.
Take prebiotics, vitamins and invest in some digestive enzymes from the healthfood stores like Holland and Barrett as digestive enzymes will help you get the nutrients out your food and help make your medications work more effectively.
Also consider your plant based diet and if you have tried something new recently as plant based foods can also trigger ibs symptoms and especially constipation. Many on plant based diets will eat nuts but although nuts are extremely good for you than can also play havoc with ibs and its the ibs that is dictating to your bowel movements or lack of them.
So sorry to have gone on so long but I hate to hear off anyone struggling with ibs or fibromyalgia as both come hand in hand. Fibromyalgia may cause ibs and ibs may cause fibromyalgia. Obviously fibromyalgia can then cause lots more problems with pain around the body and not just the gut.
I hope the above helps and you get some relief soon. Remember your second mind or brain is in your gut and go and do the hypnotherapy to tell your gut how to behave and everything should fall into place.
Stress can cause so many problems in your body and when it does its like a vicious circle. So sort out the relaxing hypnotherapy and once it starts to work the stress will lower and then the ibs will improve even more.
Thank you for sending the link I didn’t realise that the inflammation could cause so many other issues. I need to speak with my rheumatologist for sure I hope they can refer me to gastro as a part of it. It seems when you have one or more conditions they like to blame the other but I really hope I can get this sorted it’s really affecting me. I’ll check my messages soon just seen you’ve sent me something thank you again for all your help x
Yes when I had my surgery in 2017 they said it was stuck to the bowel but not penetrated which really scares me. It does genuinely feel like it’s a block because unless it’s watery nothing comes through and it makes me really poorly. I have a telephone appointment with my gynae this week so I will let them know what’s been happening x
Hi leenir0811I also have ibs and it has changed over the years now it’s not exactly like yours is but when I get a flare up I start with pains in my stomach then I have to have a bowel movement for the pains to pass but in between the pains cause nausea and vomiting but before I’ve vomited the hot flushes come and once I’ve finished with natural vomiting or me sticking my fingers down my throat as it’s often quicker I then get the chills totally takes it out of you sometimes I get this for a few weeks a month for a bit then just disappears and my diet is generally the same I’ve given up on the doctors as it’s just too stressful so I just manage it myself just thought I’d add to the replies to say your not alone
Thank you for your message it’s good to know we aren’t alone in all this, I just wish the doctors would get to the cause of it and treat it properly. Fed up of going round in circles all the time. I genuinely feel like it’s a blockage and it causes all these other symptoms having lupus, endometriosis, Raynaud’s and asthma is just exhausting x
Hi, I think the nausea, vomiting, fevers and chills may be pressure on the vagus nerve. You can get what is called a vagus attack when there is pressure on the vagus nerve from the bowel. Some people pass out with it. Please see link attached.
Heya, I've been diagnosed with IBS and then 11 months later endometriosis. My gynecologist said that 'IBS symptons' are a side effect of endometriosis. Its definitely worth getting that side of it checked out and making sure your GP knows its a side effect as in my experience, not all GPS are clued up on Endometriosis.
Yeah I’ve been teaching them a fair bit about it and have a call with my gynae this week it keeps getting put back this was considered an emergency referral back in September 2020 as I was admitted to hospital with endo pain but I was in a lupus flare at the same time. It was horrible and just so upsetting things aren’t moving forward x
Hi. Sounds like you are having a horrible time. I don’t know what your position is but I paid £180 to see a Gastro privately and it was the best money I have spent in a long time. I know it’s so wrong but once you pay they have a totally different attitude. They can still order scans tests etc on the NHS but you can actually have 30 mins telling someone exactly what is going on and be listened to. My gp just wiped her hands of me even tho my quality of life was very poor, she did refer me on the NHS but there was a six month waiting list. Obviously not everyone can do this but if it is an option I would consider it. You can get your GP to refer you privately or some private hospitals you can just self refer. I rang my local Nuffield.
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