Familiar Flare up

[Misspomfrey]

Hiya everyone

I'm feeling a bit off the last few days, just came on for no apparent reason. I knew today wouldn't be good, as I didn't sleep last night and was sweating, the usual headache, lower back pain, wind, stomach rumbling ,tiredness, bloating. Then this morning I was on the toilet and on and off during the day. What worries me and I know it shouldn't as I've had this many times before when these flare ups start, motions are ok at first, then the next time will be like shoe laces, then the next, ribbon like, and feeling like there's always a bit more, sorry to be so graphic 😝 I always worry that it might be something worse than IBS, but then it all goes back to normal after a few days.

I've been a bit edgy lately and fast heart beats which is another familiar symptom. Seem to be worrying about something and I'm not really sure what it us. Seem to have to s to do late!y and never seem to have to e for myself. I ate a bit of rhubarb yesterday, home grown, not sure if it could be that as it's rare that I'll eat it.

Anyone else get these symptoms?

[Luisa22]

Miss Pomfrey, I have a similar thing right now. I had been feeling kind of exhausted for a while but guts weren't bad at all. Then yesterday I felt so much better. But this morning upset tum for no reason I can work out. Possibly a bit too much organic spinach last night...? But that usually suits me well, even in flare ups so I don't know what's going on. No other diet changes or stress. Though the damp gloomy weather never suits me and I had awful lower back pain too last night I imagine from the dampness and chilliness.

Weather can often trigger things with me.

I think this is what happens with IBS. It comes and goes no matter what we do or don't do.

Rhubarb is a bit notorious for being laxative. Maybe it was that?

If it was something blocking your bowel, the ribbon like or pencil thin stools would be every day not just sometimes, surely? Stools often do get thinner if we go more than once or twice in a day.

[Misspomfrey in reply to Luisa22]

Yes, I agree, when I get this from time to time, I always start worrying thinking cancer must be there blocking the bowel, which accounts for the stringy and flat motions, but then a few days later when it's settled down, everything is completely normal. This wouldn't happen would it? I'm 99% convinced it's anxiety with me that brings this on, more than what I eat or dont eat, and has been going on for 15 years. So I'm used to the symptoms, but as I get older, nearly 66, I worry about it more and then the worry makes it worse. It always happens when I'm worrying about certain things in life that I think I can't solve and they gnaw away at me until a solution is found. Yes, I know I can't solve everything in life, but it's my nature and I seem to be a victim of my own nature. Once I'm not worrying and enjoying things again, everything is normal and I feel great. But it can change so quickly it's frightening.

My poor husband tries his hardest to make things right for me so I won't worry, but he's 74 now and I feel as if I'm piIing a load of worry into him.

Last night I took an Imodium capsule which I keep on hand but refrain from taking unless it's necessary. I slept better and things settled down a bit. I'm going for a good walk today, that always helps.

Thank you Luisa22 x

[Luisa22 in reply to Misspomfrey]

It's interesting what you say Miss Pomfrey/

I have always been a "do-er" and a "fixer" temperament, and like to get things sorted, fixed, jobs done etc. I also get nagged by something until I build/mend/sort it.

So in a way, I have found IBS to be a kind of lesson for me. It can have a mind of its own. It can be to some extent a thing we can't always control, mend and get a perfect result. We might do everything right and still get a flare up etc, and it can be unpredictable. So if we like clear cut solutions it can worry us!

I think when we are unwell, it is natural to start thinking the worst case scenario. Which a HUGE percentage of the time is not true, so we live under this cloud.

So on that note, I hope you enjoy your walk! It was raining and so gloomy here, but I took myself out with my great big umbrella and went for a good walk, and feel much brighter now. And the sun came out!

[Misspomfrey in reply to Luisa22]

Hiya

You sound just like me!

I did enjoy my walk today thank you. We were 6 hours and it's a walk we've done many times and each time is different, varied including forest, river, lakes, hills, and so lovely. Rain kept off apart from a little drizzle here and there. We take our flask and sandwiches and we sat on top of a mountain with superb views. I'm feeling much better now albeit a little tired. Glad you enjoyed your walk, nothing better is there. X

[Luisa22 in reply to Misspomfrey]

That sounds like a lovely day! Just what I like best too.

[Hidden]

Hi,

All sounds familiar, particularly the worry bit. First BM constipation the successive BM's that day, diarrhea. Touch food and it brings it on, no matter what the food is. I don't get a reaction from rhubarb, also home grown. In fact my dietitian has suggested it is good for me. I don't eat it raw though and usually cook it with apples, tends to dilute the effect of the rhubarb. I believe it is good roughage, there may be the cause. Worry and roughage don't usually mix. I've got to say for me it is a relief from continual constipation though!

I use a Swiss made product called Rescue in pastille form to good effect. Not a cure but a help, it can cut the worrying some. It also comes as a fluid which you put drops on the tongue. Never found it as good that way but have also put it into my cup of tea. I noticed as a fluid it can stir up the stomach if you don't watch how much you are taking at a time. I see it is available in UK in fact around the world, it also can be had as a spray.

I have not looked into any scientific evidence regarding Rescue and can only say it works for me most of the time when my worrying is extreme. I started using it after being referred to a similar product for a Siamese cat I rescued, who had been severely beat and abused. I don't usually look at anecdotal evidence, but occasionally you just have to suck it and see, literally!

I have taken 2 pastilles when I started reading your thread, I'm having a really bad day. Finally sucked up the last of them and already feeling the relief and the stomach has settled a little as well. No longer the urgent need to visit the throne room.

Cheers

[Misspomfrey in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, yes, I'm inclined to agree, worry and roughage perhaps don't mix. I will look up the Rescue remedy. Best wishes.

[mistyboo]

Hi

I get a lot of your symptoms, and have had ibs since the 90's. but don't get D just the C.

The pencil thin motions are when the anal sphincters contract and wont open properly, thus only letting thin strands pass.

I also get the painful spasms with it which last for ages and give me pain up my lower back, from my botty.

I have had a Botox injection in the sphincter a few years ago which helped but it has come back now and am waiting to see the colorectal surgeon to see what he can do. If you are normally okay with the roughage I wouldn't stop it just modify the amounts. Hard motions will be even harder to pass otherwise.

The best advice is ask your GP.

Take Care

[Misspomfrey in reply to mistyboo]

Hiya

Strangely, the thin strands generally come immediately after the larger ones, if you get my gist 🤭 in the same BM. This scenario isn't consistent, and it only happens during a flare up. I've been asked if I want to go for a colonoscopy but I refuse. I couldn't go through it with the way I am with anxiety, especially the prep days beforehand. What I described I've been having for years and there's no other distinctive change, so I know really that it's the usual thing rearing it's ugly head.

If I could control the anxiety, I'd be a lot better. When I get these flare ups, on comes the depression and the fast heart beats and a general feeling of washed out. This lasts as long as the flare up lasts, then it all seems to lift.

Someone on here suggested the Bach Rescue Pastilles, which I took a look at and saw they contain Sorbitol which is no use for IBS and I'm sure I saw Palm Oil in them too.

Yes, I do modify the amounts of fibre, just ease off on some things till things settle

Thanks for your comments

[Luisa22 in reply to Misspomfrey]

You can definitely get the "Bach Rescue Remedy" as drops, and all they contain as far as I know are the essence blend plus brandy for preserving them. So no sorbitol, palm oil etc. It is safe for animals also, and supposed to be calming (pre vet visits...after a shock or moving house etc.)

I can't handle anything that's come within a mile of sorbitol. I avoid it like the plague. Though it could be helpful for constipation.

But palm oil even though it's supposed to be "bad" doesn't seem to bother me. But different additives have different effects on people.

[Misspomfrey in reply to Luisa22]

Yes, I believe you can get drops, I'll look into it when I get chance, thanks

[Linley]

Yes, you have described life with IBS and the anxiety it causes.....you never know what's going to happen next. Completely empathise with you. I have learned to try and keep myself busy so I don't dwell on yesterdays bad days. But my Gastro told me that anyone over 60 if they have a definite change of symptoms to get it checked out. Hope you have more good days 🤞

[xjrs]

I've had severe diarrhoea from rhubarb in the past.

[Luisa22 in reply to xjrs]

I am not surprised!

Rhubarb, stewed with some sugar was a well known old fashioned remedy when I was a child in the 1950s for anyone in my family who happened to be a bit constipated. I remember it worked very well indeed. So anyone with IBS D who can happily eat it has my respect!

But I remember at least it tasted nice. Sometimes my mother made a pie with it, which was an even nicer way to take your constipation medicine!.

[Misspomfrey in reply to Luisa22]

I remember that too when I was a child in the late 1950s 60s, our mam used to give us all a piece of raw rhubarb about 3 inches long with a bit of sugar on it, in a bit of newspaper 😃 from the back of the garden where there was loads of the stuff. It certainly did the trick 😐 we've got some in our garden now and I'm always wary of having any and if I do, it's just a tiny bit, stewed. It is nice though.

[Superzob]

Sounds like the alternating IBS I seem to have developed recently, which is completely unpredictable, seems unrelated to what I have eaten and can be very tiring (with the addition of disturbed sleep). The conventional wisdom is to try soluble fibre to balance things out, but that completely backfired with me.

So I’m afraid I can’t offer a solution at present, but I’ll let you know if I find one!

[Misspomfrey in reply to Superzob]

Thank you 🙂

[Luisa22 in reply to Superzob]

My IBS is also unpredictable and often doesn't seem related to what I have eaten. It is very tiring. Flare ups can be horribly exhausting, and sometimes when there isn't even a flare up I get some days when I am suddenly very tired, then that will just as suddenly disappear again for ages.

I didn't find soluble fibre to be any help either. And the problem is, in many food sources of soluble fibre, there is also INsoluble fibre.

I basically found I had to just do a balancing act with fibre of any kind. Sometimes I needed just a bit more, sometimes a lot less, sometimes just a tiny bit less. That has been my best way of balancing and navigating my own IBS.

It honestly feels like my birthday or something if I get a day when I'm just a TAD constipated (I don't mean badly!) Then I can treat myself to some of my favourite foods which are pretty high fibre. It feels like a kind of freedom.

And so my life goes on, each day doing that balancing act.

[Superzob in reply to Luisa22]

This sounds an awful lot like my experience. I used to have IBS-D until I tried Alflorex, which made me constipated, with occasional and sudden IBS-D to compensate. Tried reducing the dose, but that tended to result in the problem resurfacing. They then changed the formulation to add calcium carbonate as a prebiotic, which didn’t agree with me at all, so I changed to the chewable version, which might have resulted in the IBS-A; they have now reintroduced the original, but I only started a fortnight ago, so it’s early days to see what’s happening.

I have had numerous discussions with the Zoe health team about my gut reaction to their plan. It is clearly aimed at overweight constipated people who would benefit from an increase in fibre from additional fruit and veg, rather than underweight IBS-D sufferers whose condition is made worse by the introduction of more fibre. As you say, a lot of foods with soluble fibre also contain insoluble fibre, but I’ve received a comparative list which is helpful. They have also suggested a very gradual introduction of more fibrous foods on the basis that the gut microbiome will change gradually to accept it. At the moment, it feels that mine is under attack from all the “good” food I’m eating (my diet score improved from 31 to 49 in 2 weeks)!

I’ll keep everyone posted about my experience with the reintroduction of the original Alflorex and the Zoe Health Plan in case it helps others.

[Luisa22 in reply to Superzob]

I hope the new Alflorex will help you, Superzob. The only way to find out is to try it for a while I guess.

What you said about fibre sounds a bit like me as well. I am slightly underweight, though don't actually LOSE weight, I just can't gain much. But I have been like this for most of my life and certainly pre-IBS. I think I take after my Dad.

Anyway, with IBS D I have found that the usual advice we are given, to have more fibre definitely doesn't help. For some illogical reason a lot of advice I read says fibre helps with both constipation and too-loose stools. Who dreams this up? Don't they have the experience of fibre "making you go"?? I always knew that since I was a kid!

The only way I find to manage in a fairly healthy way is to adjust my fibre intake according to what my gut is up to on any given day. I can still eat veggies, but do have to watch out for certain kinds of veg, and have to peel some things. I can also usually manage peeled grapes or peeled stewed apple, but fruit and I are not best friends generally, even though my ability to happily tolerate honey says that I'm not fructose intolerant. So it seems to come down to fibre yet again.

Haha...I'm trying a "beetroot experiment" today. I love beetroot but it always made me go, but I miss it, so am trying one nice slice of a freshly boiled organic beetroot and see how that goes. I hope it works then I can include beetroot in moderation on my veggies list. I think it's good to keep trying with these foods, small amounts at a time and see what happens. I haven't given up hope yet.