Symptoms started November 2022. I was feeling extreme hunger, but when I was eating I didn't feel I wanted to finish anything. This also about the time my anxiety was high so I put it down to a lack of appetite. Just before Christmas the abdominal pain wasn't manageable with just hot water bottles, so I went to the Dr. Dr felt my stomach for thr bloating and straight away said IBS and that he would give me famotidine and mebeverine for 2 weeks. This has helped massively, I ran out of the famotidine this week and the past 2 days I feel like I'm back at square one I was hoping it would feel better. Now I have read up on IBS I realise there isn't a quick fix!!
I'm also concerned that I've not been sent for any kind of scans or tests... should I be requesting blood tests and if so what?
I also take Ramipril for hypertension that started in October and I take Sertraline for anxiety started just before Christmas.
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Kulou
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In the UK there is a set protocol for diagnosing IBS. You absolutely cannot diagnose IBS without eliminating other things through tests. Your doctor is acting negligently by diagnosing IBS just from symptoms. Info here:
Having suffered with IBS for a number of years, I can highly recommend the NHS link posted by xjrs. I have just listened to it and it explains things very clearly and is very helpful if you are just starting out with IBS type symptoms and managing them.
I was diagnosed with IBS in 2018. I did see a dietitian. I did follow the FODMAP diet. I am now managing my IBS well. I still have flare ups, but that is IBS for you.
I have been an IBS sufferer for 15 years almost and I have been on Mebeverine for around 7 years. The Mebeverine helps massively and I see a decrease when I don't take them as I should. That's because my anxiety is always there to a degree. Until I am completely anxiety free, which will never happen as I suffer with high functioning anxiety, my ibs will be there. For ibs, there are no set tests. Please do not listen to the below comment that states there are a set of protocols to dianose ibs. There are not. However the ibs card does get thrown around alot and if you feel that your symptoms are not anxiety or food related, then do go back to the gp so they can investigate. However as you are already on medication for anxiety and your symptoms are classic ibs symptoms, I would say start there. The anxiety will be what you'll need to work on. The medication just helps to ease symptoms, they don't get rid of them if the route problem is still there.I've joined the forum on here for anxiety, it really has been a great help.
I just wanted to write that sertraline is not that great of a drug - it can lead to disassociation in some people and make them more impulsive in negative behaviours. It is also the first anti-anxiety medication that tends to be prescribed, so has global effects but often it can be a tricky to find the ad that works for you. I would recommend getting a B1 supplement from Holland and Barrett and eating yeast flakes as thiamine (vitamin b1) has been shown to be therapeautic in cases of anxiety and depression, and I’ve also experienced this personally. Fenugreek is something I would recommend along with caraway seeds that can be made into a tea and slippery elm if you suffer from GERd like symptoms. There are herbal options for you, and psychotherapy should maybe be tried alongside sertraline and high blood pressure meds also as if you are not getting to the route of the stress, there is no definite way out.
Absolutely need to be referred to a consultant -.IBS is an umbrella term that covers a lot of issues - and it's negligent of your GP not to refer you for a proper diagnosis. Try keeping a food diary of everything you eat and drink to see if you can identify any food triggers. I can highly recommend hypnotherapy as it helps with any anxiety and stress as that can make symptoms worse.
I was very lucky to get an appointment when my IBS was diagnosed. as it was summer 2020 and we were all in lockdown. But I managed to get a phone consultation, picked up two stool sampling kits from the health centre, and did get an in-house blood test.
These tests were so my GP explained, the first steps, and depending on results, and his listening to my detailed description of symptoms. we would take it from there.
He said that if any causes for concern came up, I would get hospital appointments with a GI consultant and further testing.
I will add that I have and didn't have then, any other health issues except a strange episodic weirdness which had been diagnosed a couple of years earlier as "probably a migraine phenomenon", by a neurologist.
The results of the tests all came back completely normal. My GP then listed a LONG list of things that it couldn't be, owing to the results. No red flags of any kind were found and he said I didn't need further investigation at that stage, but of course told me to "keep an eye on things, and any concerning changes, let him know."
The FIT test (for occult blood) was repeated a couple of months later, and was negative again.
At least see if you can get your doctor to run those preliminary first-line tests. It is not sensible to diagnose IBS without some elimination of other possible causes.
Just keep at the dr to have preliminary tests and be referred. It took me 4 years to get a diagnosis and finally treatment. Colonoscopies (9in total) didn't show anything but finally a capsule endoscopy showed inflammation higher up. Then another colonoscopy and endoscopy together showed I had chroens and colitis along with diverticular disease diagnosed by ct after hospitalization a hiatus hernia and barretts oesphagus!! Mebeverinne does help and ask for more fematidine if it helped.
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