Struggling mentally because IBS is making weightloss impossible

[StrugglingAirHostess]

Hi guys,

I don't know if anyone can relate but I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle due to all these health issues. Thankfully I am in a healthy weight range (just) but I want that last stone off and with constant bloating issues, flitting between diarrhoea and constipation etc I've found that for this whole year so far all I've done is lose and gain the same 4lbs and it's really getting me down. Yesterday my stomach was the size of a house despite being really good, I looked pregnant and it can really mess with your head. I wouldn't mind but my job is very physical and I run around like a headless chicken the majority of times so I should be like a whippet!! I do feel I have more going on than just IBS. I've been referred to gynaecology as well as gastro because as well as the typical IBS symptoms I get pelvic pain frequently and my bowel movements are really painful and feel like intense period pain amongst other symptoms.

I'm just so fed up with it all and desperate to shift this last stone and feel like it's never gunna happen because of all these reasons beyond my control. Overall over the past couple of years I've lost 4 stone so know what I'm doing and how to lose weight, I just feel like my health issues are now making it impossible.

I don't really know what I'm looking for by posting this. Maybe see if anyone relates and just to vent really.

[Lamly]

I am the opposite I am losing weight and can’t afford to, I try to think one day when my IBS is much better I will but the weight back on. Take care

[StrugglingAirHostess in reply to Lamly]

Ahh I'm sorry to hear that. Where as funnily enough I find myself thinking that one day when everything calms down I'll shift this last bit of weight but that one day never seems to happen. You take care also x

[medds in reply to StrugglingAirHostess]

Hey, unfortunately I am in the same boat as Lammy. A GP advised Fodmap diet and self monitored has led me to being in eating disorder services for the past 4yrs - I am still underweight but much better and have come to accept that bloating doesn't discriminate against your weight, it's just part of many peoples symptoms! I'm so sorry I can't help.

[Iesgobdafydd]

I can relate. When I had IBS I was actually losing weight slowly, as it's hard to eat when your gut's mildly uncomfortable a lot of the time and all your favourite tasty foods don't go down very well. But now, my gut is fine but I'm tired all the time and also getting hardly any exercise, so it's hard not to gain excessive weight. I'm hoping to cure the fatigue, and I figure if that happens, the weight gain will sort itself out or at least be easy to put right with a bit of effort and self-discipline. Maybe if you can cure your IBS, your weight gain will stop being an issue? It sounds like you know what to do about the weight gain, it's just too difficult to actually do it properly when you're having to deal with everything else on your plate. Trying to force yourself to lose weight as well as everything else you're dealing with might even be adding to your stress and making the IBS worse. But if it's really important to you to lose that weight sooner rather than later, maybe there's something else burdening you that you can drop in order to reduce your psychic load to get the strength to carry through with the weight reduction?