IBS symptoms?

[Elliehca]

Hi, I’m hoping someone can give me some advice on my symptoms.

I have had bowel issues for a long time (around 20 years) mainly in the form of gas and bloating and cycles of diarrhoea and constipation. The bloating part was the only bit that really got me down, the rest was manageable, so I decided to self diagnose with IBS and never saw a Dr.

About 3 years ago I had my Gall Bladder removed and all was fine until last year when I had bright yellow diarrhoea and urgency. This was a bit of a nightmare and I would be running to the toilet at work all the time. I ended up taking Imodium to help control it. This went on for about 6 months, but I put it down to my gall bladder removal.

For the last 4 months I’ve had acid reflux and upper stomach pains and also constipation with mucus when wiping, sometimes orange, sometimes a light pink and the most awful contraction like pain in lower pelvis and up my bum, just before passing the stools. They are small round balls of stool covered with mucus but I don’t really have to strain. I’m also so exhausted all the time, and I ache all over. Does this sound like IBS symptoms or something more?

(sorry for the super long message)

[b1b1b1]

You need to go to the doctor as soon as you can. I don't know what is wrong, but this is no way to live.

[Elliehca in reply to b1b1b1]

Thank you. I have managed to get a phone call appointment with my GP. Hopefully she can give me a few tests to see. The constipation is easier to cope with than the urgent diarrhoea, but I’d definitely like to have it sorted. I’m a bit worried that if it’s IBS, they will not be able to help.

[MyStar86]

It definitely sounds like you had BAM following gallbladder removal it’s bile acid malabsorption. There are medications for this, please go and see your gp they could prescribe but will refer you to a gastro which you need to see. Take care

[Elliehca in reply to MyStar86]

That is what a thought it might be, but I wasn’t sure if constipation was also a symptom.

[Gold22]

You must get checked out by gp and have tests to rule out anything serious

[Elliehca in reply to Gold22]

Thank you, I have managed to get a telephone appointment with my GP

[jimister]

What you think is acid reflux may well be bile reflux. It causes similar symptoms to acid reflux, burning, and upper abdominal pain. I had my gall bladder removed years ago, and have had digestive issues, and pain on and off since.

[Elliehca in reply to jimister]

That is very interesting, that could well be it. I managed to get a GP phone call appointment so fingers crossed she can help.

[xjrs]

Please make a GP appointment. Self diagnosis isn't advisable. There are some standard tests that need to be run to help eliminate other things:

nhs.uk/conditions/irritable...

It is possibly BAM (bile acid malabsorption) mixed with IBS, but only a GP will be able to tell you that.

[Elliehca in reply to xjrs]

Thank you, I am terrible for self diagnosis but it’s got to the point where it’s effecting my quality of life, so I have managed to get through to Gp surgery and have a telephone appointment.

[xjrs in reply to Elliehca]

Good for you. You shouldn't have to wait until you can't tolerate things anymore before visiting a GP. Always best to nip things in the bud when you've not been right for a couple of weeks.

[FrostGyre]

What was the reason for the removal of the gall bladder?

What is your diet like?

[Elliehca in reply to FrostGyre]

I was sent for an Ultrasound when having a scan to look at my ovaries to check for cysts and for some lucky reason they decided to do a full abdomen ultrasound and discovered stones in the Gallbladder. At the time it wasn’t causing my any bother but weirdly enough, after the scan I had two bad gall bladder attacks and the Dr said it was wise to remove it. The consultation wasn’t the best as he didn’t seem interested in anything other than getting me signing the consent form, so I didn’t know about the side effects of having it removed. But it does seem like maybe I know have BAM, but I will see what the GP says.

I can’t say my diet is amazing to be fair, but definitely better than it was pre diarrhoea. I do take Fibogel to try and help. I am b12 deficient and have injections for that as they said I probably wasn’t absorbing it before from food. There were no investigations as to why though. (Sorry, another long post 🫣).

[Sparrow58]

I had my gallbladder removed and I cannot eat fatty foods. Too much fat shows as orange poo. Write down everything you want to tell the Doc as appointments are hard to get and you do want to forget something. All the best

[Elliehca in reply to Sparrow58]

That will be a shock to my system, cutting out fatty foods. Not that that is a bad thing! I have checked to see if the stool is orange (only in the toilet bowl, I haven’t been getting it out haha!) and it doesn’t seem orange, normally just a dark brown with white/clear mucus on it. Then when wiping, it is just an orange or pink mucus. The worst part of it all is the awful up contraction pain very low down in the abdomen and up the rectum. If I could get rid of that, I’d just get on with the rest.