IBS or Redundant colon

[Nico36]

So my symptoms started over ten years ago after a period of stress. I was later diagnosed with IBS with constipation, flatulence and abdominal pain -lower left side. The pain is only severe following a bowel movement. So I have a cycle of feeling fine until I have a bowel movement in the morning. It doesn’t seem to matter about the consistency of the stool but the more I go the worst the pain is. By the evening I am doubled over in pain with a heat-pack. I recently had a colonoscopy which revealed a redundant & tortuous colon with slight inflammation. I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced this? Is it possible that my symptoms are attributed to a redundant colon rather than IBS?

[Jackie1612]

hi Nico36, so sorry to hear about your pain. I get pain with bowel movements, and like you, the more I go the more painful it is. However, I have not had your diagnosis of a redundant or tortuous colon. As my last colonoscopy was a few years ago, I do not know if things have changed.

I usually have to lie down in the mornings with a hot wheat bag on my stomach, but by the evening I am usually alright. So the possibility is that your suspicion is correct. Did you get any advice on how to cope with this condition?

[edwangy]

I have the same , pain get worse in evening and can't sleep most niights. I've noticed that a lot of people seem to be diagnosed with redundant colon, it's very common, just means your colon is longer than 'normal' casing food to travel more slowly through your system. My question is, how come it only affects you as you get older when you've had it all your life. I personally think doctors do not have a clue so they just blame this along with diverticular disease, of which 60% of people over 50 will have without any symptoms. We just get fobbed off because doctors can't be bothered looking into our symptoms more thoroughly

[xjrs]

You may be suffering from visceral hypersensitivity (functional abdominal pain) - there is info about it here:

iffgd.org/lower-gi-disorder...

It is where the brain interprets the normal activity of the bowel as pain - this is due to a wearing down of neurons in pain control centres of the brain which can be caused by PTSD, neglect or abuse in childhood, extreme stressful events etc. The first line treatment is nerve pain agents such as low dose amitriptyline. There is a theory that being on something like amitriptyline for 6-12 months can help the pain control centre neurons to regenerate. Note that amitriptyline can cause constipation (which wouldn't be any good for you), but this can be helpful in people who are diarrhea dominant. Unfortunately I couldn't tolerate these. Linaclotide (for IBS-C only) & Alflorex probiotic have helped me with this intestinal pain.

The reason why Alflorex helped me is that my IBS started with a bout of holiday food poisoning. This led to a gut bacterial imbalance, which is true for many IBS sufferers. This imbalance can also be caused by other things such as restricted or unhealthy diets and stress. When bad bugs dominate the system, they can oversensitise the nerves in the gut too. When put together with visceral hypersensitivity, with the brain incorrectly interpreting signals and then the gut sending even more signals than it should, it ends up being a double whammy effect. If this is true in your case, something like Alflorex might help to bring things back in balance. When I took Linaclotide, it reduced my pain by 50%-60%. After taking Alflorex my pain reduced to zero and only comes back when I am challenging with new foods and before my body gets used to them (or I have to continue to give them up). Alflorex which has been scientifically studied for IBS has made me more tolerant to a much wider range of foods. Having a more diverse diet increases bacterial diversity in the gut. Bacterial diversity helps to additionally keep bad bugs away, in turn helping IBS symptoms.

There is also the Nerva gut directed hypnotherapy app to consider. This helps to calm intestinal nerves. In fact, any form of meditative practice can help calm the system down.

[Kiwi-mum]

I feel exactly how you feel.

I just have recently been diagnosed with the same and is suffering terribly, pain and constipation and unable to eat...

Does anyone have any advice on how to manage the constipation and pain?