constant pain

[Poshy]

As I have mentioned before I have probably had IBS on and off all my life when I think back. Last November it moved up a gear, and I have 3 possible reasons. One is I have Sjogrens disease whereby my immune system attacks me so it could be now attacking my gut. The second was I had had a vomiting bug or something which cleared me out and then took antibiotics for another reason and so my good gut bacteria was destroyed. The third maybe being my diet and eating the wrong things to a point it collapsed. Either way the result was I now had permanent gut ache and nausea day and night for weeks on end until I sorted out some help. Today I am taking through my GP mebeverine and low dose amitriptyline which means I now cannot feel pain or not much but it worries me as to the cause of constant pain in the first place. Can anyone tell me if it is normal to have constant pain with IBS or any other complaint please or throw any light on this? Thank you.

[Wobbies]

Sorry but I can only say that I ma in the same boat. IBS for over 35 years. Constant pain for which nothing works. I also have RD and find my gut very sensitive to any meds. It has got worse over the years but have never found anything that helps. Am considering trying the Zoe programme but it is very expensive.

[Poshy in reply to Wobbies]

I am sorry you cannot find pain relief. It is no consolation for you at all. I do not know what RD is. Sorry. But I do know about sensitive guts. I too have been told about Zoe and very shortly I will be trying them out because it would be good to know if possible what foods etc are causing my gut to react so I can avoid them. It is dear but I think it is worth the price if it works. You can get 3 months for £120 if you need 3 months that is. Or £50 for one month etc. No one seems to have the answer as to why some folk get IBS and can probably be a load of reasons why. All foods these days have preservatives and the like in them and that is not good for the body, hidden things and all that. It is a minefield to get it right if you ever do so I think our food products are to blame overall no matter how hard to try to eat healthily.

[MyStar86]

Has the amitriptyline totally taken away your gut pain? Do you still have bowel symptoms or have the meds helped enough to say you feel better for it?

[Poshy in reply to MyStar86]

Yes it’s taken away the pain accept for a few pangs when awakening in the morning. I never had bowel issues, if it’s IBS, generally. Apparently u can get it without. Just the pain and nausea. It worries me what I am covering up.

[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, which is why you may have been prescribed this. 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, 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.

Equally, you may have the other factors that you have already mentioned.

[Poshy in reply to xjrs]

Thank you so much or this info. It does make some sense. I have learnt such a lot recently.

[Leo70]

I would have thought a referral to a Gastroenterologist should be given to you, especially as you are in such continuous discomfort.

[wendyjudyjohnpeter]

What aBout a low FODMAP diet this may ne helpful to get ibs undercontrol. Once you are on a low fodmap diet you can add one food at a time that is not on low fodmap to see if you can tolerate it. I am in Canada

[Plumt]

you may have pelvic floor dysfunction where the pelvis and subsequently abdominal muscles cannot relax

Look it up on dr Google