Early morning IBS pain

[Reindeer1]

Pain early morning due to IBS. Normally go about 8.00/8.30 with help of laxatives but after waking up at 5.00 am I am in pain and need something to ease that pain and hopefully get back to sleep

[Frasina]

Think it best you speak to GP; over the counter pain meds like paracetamol will probably help but if the pain is quite bad then I think only a GP will be able to give you something that works...my IBS (20 years plus) also gave me pain but I was ok with paracetamol most of the time... hope you find something.

[xjrs]

You may be suffering from visceral hypersensitivity (functional abdominal pain) - there is info about it here:

iffgd.org/lower-gi-disorder...

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. Unfortunately I couldn't tolerate these. Linaclotide (for IBS-C only) & Alflorex probiotic have helped me with this intestinal pain. Alforex can help in cases where there is a gut bacterial imbalance which is contributing to the pain, which is often the case with IBS sufferers. For example, my IBS was first experienced after a bout of food poisoning. Bad bugs can sensitise nerves in the intestinal tract.

The timing of your pain is similar to mine. Around 5am is when your intestines are at their most active preparing for a BM in the morning. Your brain could be picking up this normal activity as pain when it shouldn't for the reasons described above.

Please note that paracetamol won't help with this type of pain if visceral hypersensitivity is diagnosed. Probably best to discuss all of this with your doctor so that you can get the right medication. However, in the first instance I would try the Alflorex. When using Linaclotide the pain reduced by 50% to 60%. When I added in Alflorex the pain reduced to zero and only comes back when I am testing out new foods until my body gets used to them or I need to keep them out of my diet. Alforex may be all that you need, but if that isn't completely helpful, you could then ask about Linaclotide.