ear admin thank you for letting me join this IBS site as it may help my husband to understand it, and me too.
So about 3 months my husband was diagnosed by a doctor over the phone, and also to see a doctor at the surgery as he had been having tummy troubles. My husband has been prescribed Mebeverine tablets 135mg for it. He was told to take 3 daily but has cut this down to 1 as there was far to many side effects which he was having with them (he decided to do this gradually by his self).
My husband also has chronic arthritis and is on another pain killer for this, but going back to his "IBS", should those of you who have it still get like a pinching feeling in the tummy and feel bloated which is annoying you please. Would also like to ask, if I can does anyone need to use the toilet more than usual with IBS and sometimes can not get there quick enough?
I value you your help and know it is a personal thing regarding how many times you go, but am wondering if you need any type of ultra sound scans or a specialist opinion on this.
My sincere thanks to all of you as know this is a delicate illness! to talk about.
🙂
Written by
Billy-the-kiddie
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I hope you don't mind me asking a couple of questions.
Has your husband's doctor said his painkilling drugs are unlikely to cause stomach or bowel problems?
The reason I ask is because most of us with IBS can't tolerate some painkillers, but others cause fewer problems if any. Asking the doctor about that might be wise.
And, has the doctor run a couple of basic stool analysis tests? The "FIT" test, plus another for raised levels of "Calprotectin" (and also possibly "Lactoferrin".)
It sounds as if it was all done over the phone. But of course no one can run Lab tests over the phone.
The FIT test checks for any small amounts of blood anywhere in the GI tract.
The Calprotectin test will show if there are any raised inflammation markers in the GI tract.
Negative results do lean the diagnosis more towards IBS, with symptoms etc also taken into account.
Positive results will need further investigation and probably further tests most likely with a GI consultant.
From what you said, your husband's symptoms are quite recognisable to many people here with IBS. But the tests should be done anyway.
Hello Luisa22 hope you are as well as can be expected, I thank you so very much for your answer and have to say that my husband went to his G.P, well it was one of those stand ins who was very pleasant and felt my husband's tummy and just told him he had IBS.
I honestly thought he should have been sent to a specialist for a proper diagnosis as his tummy keeps rumbling and making funny noises, know they are not anything to laugh about but he is suffering from this "IBS", his tummy also keeps pinching and then the pinching will subside until the next bout. He has no energy and does not seem able to do anything without his tummy pinching etc.
I am getting very worried about him as we have been married since 1981 and it is hard for me to know what to do for the best, it is really awful to see my husband like this as he appears to have no strength anymore and I need to know why on earth this has happend to him.
It even takes all the stuffing out of him doing the slightest little thing, and the flatulence is getting him even further down. I just don't know what to do for the best as even thought he should ring our 111 number to see if they could suggest something I could do for him, I am registered disabled and my family are no longer around, it is just my dear husband and myself I have no friends even and to make matters worse for 7 years I have been trying my hardest with our housing association to move out our ASB neighbour who is on his own, same age as my dear husband and this neighbour is an alcoholic and uses a class A drug which I have informed the Police about but as we have no actual evidence they are just putting down on their records what we hear, times and any odd goings on.
Also we have a mouse/rat problem and they have come inside our housing association home, I have had a pest control firm out and he has been wonderful but as they have not taken the bait he put down he got in touch with the Environmental Health people who have been out several times alas as there are no droppings to see have closed the case, but these vermin are still here. The water board found a drain on the path outside our bungalow and it had rat holes in it, our water board did it as a favour and told us to get onto the highways who should have come out and done something about it, but they are saying it is down to our housing association to sort out but it is outside our bungalow and it should by rights down to the highways. We have had our drains CCTV endless times and they are as clear as a bell, maybe it is because all the bleach I put down the w/c but they are still coming from somewhere. It is like living in a nightmare here and because of our neighbour we have had to use our front room to try and get some rest in a chair and the sofa.
Life here is not good and my dear husband has just been to the w/c again, 4th time since we got up at 04:20 this morning, he has just said that his back hurts when going to have a "sit down" and I do not know if this is something to do with the IBS or god forbid anything else.
I am so so very sorry for having to tell you all this but know people like yourself are hopefully here to advise and help someone like me who is so unsure that this is IBS and not something else, I am so very grateful for your dear help and advice as I am lost of what I should do about my dear husband, he also has chronic arthritis and takes it 3 times daily, I to have an inoperable back problem which has left me taking 30 odd tablets each morning, lunch time and bedtime, have to take Morphine to help with the pain as well.
So this is what is happening in our lives and now my dear friend and husband is like this and am worried to death about him having to rush to the w/c for a sit down, so I have to use the toilet as quickly as possible so that my husband does not have a embarrassing accident.
Bless you and everyone for answering my post and I apologise for it being such a long answer, and would not blame you if don't reply to me. Take care and hope to speak soon
Oh my gosh....you have a lot to cope with in your life and it all sounds quite stressful. Dealing with housing associations etc is hard work and often very stressful.
I wonder if Citizens Advice could help at all? Or Age Concern? ( if you are both over 60?)
But you already have probably tried things like that and you are still up against housing people who don't want to be too helpful because it costs money, or have their own agendas.
It sounds very uncomfortable and distressing, what your husband is feeling. Could the stress of the other problems be affecting him do you think?
The symptoms you mention he has, could easily be IBS. or might be something else there is an actual medicine for! Without proper tests it;'s not possible to know, and that's the problem.
I am surprised indeed that his GP wasn't even willing to run basic stool testing !!
Something is amiss with that, I'm sorry to say. Could he see another GP perhaps? Or even a GP from another surgery or clinic?
Feeling a tummy and pronouncing "you have IBS" is not good enough. I'm afraid. Tests are a hassle, yes, but they are a good way to find out if further investigation is needed or not, and whether it's something that could respond to treatment or medication.
My kind wishes to you and your husband. I do hope something happens to make him feel at least a little bit better. I am so sorry you are both struggling like this and in pain and discomfort.
So very sorry that I am late in replying to you, so much has been going on and from me asking about my husband's IBS our neighbour has been a nightmare.
I am on about 25 different tabs a day so somehow only wake a couple of times a night in a chair and not our bed, my husband on a seat sofa gets off for about 2 hours and then it's 10 mins here and 10 mins there same every night, trouble is after almost 43 years of marriage without a cross word between us he has been very grumpy and this is not my husband but with everything going on expect it has something to do with it.
You are right though nobody can help us move to somewhere else unless we swap or like we are on what our housing association has is Bucks Home Choice where you bid each week if there is somewhere you want to move to, and we have been on this list since 2010. Also the G.P should and I agree with you should have taken I thought a blood test, stool or even sent him for an ultra sound scan, not just say it after feeling his bloated tummy, know it goes down but do not think it should keep being like this.
You are so kind in replying to me and I will pass your message on to my husband.
Have these tests been conducted? These can be run by your GP - no specialist needed initially. It involves both blood and stool sample tests. There should also be a test for coeliac disease. It cannot be diagnosed over the phone and it would certainly be negligent of a doctor to do this.
If these tests come back clear and your husband has IBS like symptoms, then IBS is diagnosed. If tests don't come back clear e.g. calprotectin inflammation marker is elevated after running the test twice, a referral to gastroenterology for a colonoscopy will be made. IBS can still be diagnosed after this and is statistically more likely.
IBS can create urgency.
If your husband has had everything else ruled out through testing, then I would start with a good probiotic, since many people's IBS is due to a gut bacterial imbalance. Alflorex worked best for me and has been scientifically studied for IBS. It may also help with the bloating.
Hello, the thing about IBS is that as it a syndrome, just like other syndromes, it’s impact on those who have it can vary a lot between each person. Also it is never definitively diagnosed, it’s more a case of nothing else being diagnosed to account for the symptoms so doctors give it a label of an irritable bowel. So other respondents are right that more investigations are needed and as anxiety often contributes to the condition, a phone call is really not very helpful though I know personally how difficult it can be to get to see a GP in person. Mebeverine can cause constipation as in truth can any medication intended to calm the bowel but especially so if IBS-C or Mixed is involved. Impact will be less I assume if it’s IBS-D but mine is Mixed so can’t speak from experience. If your husband hasn’t already had more tests including a colonoscopy then he should request them as a decision that IBS is the cause of symptoms can only really be certain after other possibilities has been ruled out. Best wishes to you and your husband.
Can not thank you enough for replying to my post, have just typed a very long message above but I am so very grateful for your suggestion about this IBS and thank you for being so very kind to me. xxx
Hi xjrs, just apologising for not replying sooner to you and everyone, life is having quiet a game with us at the moment in fact it has been ever since our ASB neighbour moved in, and being turned out of your own bedroom has not helped.
I will read what you have very kindly put on for me and have a very serious read as my husband is all I have left in this world and if anything happened I would go too.
Bless you for your help and I pray it is something that can be controlled. xxxxx
Symptoms of urgency are very common and a lot of us may have got caught out at times! Mebeverine is a standard treatment that GP's would give as a starting point, however, I feel (like the other replies) that your husband needs to at least have bloods done, FIT and calprotectin (these are both stool tests) done. Some surgeries will do a FIT but not calprotectin (mine doesn't and so my calprotectin has to be done twice a year by the gastro department at my local hospital but I also have IBD as well as IBS...) IBS is diagnosed by eliminating other possibilities therefore the GP should be doing these basic tests as a starting point and not assuming it has to be IBS because of what he/she was told over the phone!
I have to use toilet anything from twice to ten times a day, I had calprotectin last November and it was 480 had a colonoscopy had fit test, both were ok apart from slight diverticulitis and a polyp, got referred to gastro had a phone call from them in June this year who said it just my ibs playing up, gastro asked for blood tests and another calprotecin to be done then we would take it from there. I got a letter at the end of July saying my calprotectin was now 48 and they would be discharging me from gastro back to my GP, the letter went on to say the gastroenterologist had spoken to me about my lifestyle and diet and had given me advice on both, the annoying thing is we did not even discuss my lifestyle or diet, the only reference was when they said we think it’s your ibs playing up.
I think that nowadays, hospitals will look for any excuse to discharge people and a 'normal' calprotectin result is good enough to do that it seems! My calpotectin is not considered an issue (around 90 last one) yet I can have bad symptoms and gastro will say something like; it's the IBS not the IBD playing up. They also briefly mention lifestyle, in 1 sentence (I am 1.5-2 stone overweight so nothing horrendous) and I swim 2-3 times a week, yet I am told to de-stress and be healthier (I don't drink or smoke and eat healthy most of the time) so what else is there to do? The medics are on auto pilot - they say the same to almost everyone.
I think it’s got to the stage where they go to work and clock watch, the higher up the ladder they get the worse they are, I had an op last year for a stuck kidney stone, the CT scan before showed I also had one in the kidney, after the op I had a Catheter in and a catheter from bladder to kidney, after two weeks I had both catheters taken out but have to self catheterise once a week for rest of life, a month later I had another CT scan just to confirm all was ok and they saw the kidney stone had not been removed while they were in the kidney, I asked why but no one could say why I just got put back on the list for removal, while I was in hospital the carers were wonderful, the trained nurses spent most of their time on their phones or chatting, I didn’t see a doctor until I was wheeled into surgery. My wife used to be a staff nurse she left the profession after 20 years due to the way things were going, she carried on paying her nurses yearly fees for another 10 years in case she decided to go back into it. It’s a shame someone don’t take control and sort it out, I was in the hospital two weeks ago for blood tests the out patients department was nearly empty, I asked the phlebotomist why she said most appointment now done online or on phone, why people can’t be seen face to face is beyond me, we have all these out patient departments empty, nursing staff in the department walking about looking for something to do, it’s crazy, when I walk in I went up to reception and to book in only for her to not even look at me but just say please use self booking, there were 4 receptionist behind a screen just chatting and telling people to use machine, it’s getting very worrying.
Sorry to hear you have had this experience. I agree on the fact that we are not getting face to face appts; my next gastro appt in Sept is a phone consultation which it has never been before. The NHS need to get a grip on things...
Dearest Boxroad you have been through so much and can still make time to answer posts of which I am eternally grateful to you for.
I simply agree with what you have written and it is all true, I have left my main answer somewhere think it is at the beginning please, please forgive me for not getting back to you before now as have had an awful lot to cope with as you will see.
Hope and pray that you will be alright as you are able, and I apologise again for being so late on coming back to you and all the good people on here.
I agree. These things are getting very worrying. It's really bizarre. A doctor needs to examine a patient, and you can't do that over the phone, and it's not even satisfactory over a Zoom or Skype call.
Oh Boxroad, you have been through a complete nightmare, but somehow you have had the strength to come through all this and I can only say how brave you have been it must have been awful, can not think of a more polite word to use on here and would not anyway, I just think you are one of the most bravest to have gone through all this one remarkable person.
I do not think a like would be appropriate as you have been through something that sounds horrendous but would like to thank you from my heart for telling us about your dear kind self.
Dearest Frasina, So pleased you have heard of Mebeverine and you say this is just a starting point, like you I asked myself about blood tests to see if it was IBS from the results but you and all the other kind people have agreed that his G.P should have done something more, he did get a 10 min appointment where he did lie on a couch where the locum G.P who is now at the practice full time, felt his tummy but did not do the other things she could have.
All of you have given me something to go on, please excuse the pun but under any other circumstances it would maybe be funny but it is far from when my husband has had an "accident", just so embarassed when this happens. It has not for about a month now as he has managed to get there just in time, but it needs sorting properly and I will make certain that this is done and soon.
I can not thank you enough for replying to me about something personal like this, and also sharing your own problems too.
Hello Diana16, my husband is also on this but has cut it down to take just 1 daily, he is also on Isorbide , he cut the Mev down as they were giving him side effects.
Weird how these medicine affect people in different ways, my husband will get a very hot heat and says it feels like its on fire which is not every day, it might happen twice a week . It would be good to know why as it is very puzzling why. I did report this on the Yellow card site, and they said they would make a note of it!
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Newly-diagnosed IBS-D and feeling a bit lost...
Has anyone been diagnosed with IBS by a gastroenterologist at consultation?
Gallbladder removed 5 years ago
Ibs symptoms constantly for 2 months 
