Painfully blocked or just the usual suspect?

[XDjames]

There's a lovely image in this:

fascrs.org/patients/disease...

of a fist squeezing the colon, and it feels just like I'm blocked, and the pain is unberable until either it 'pops' or I eat something substantial that forces it.

I seem to get this in varying degrees from time to time, this time it's been growing since last night and kept me awake (thanks, that really helps, my day is 'totalled')

I'll ask the GP next week if this needs looking at (been a while since I got looked at) but maybe the description in the website is spot on.

Does anyone experience something like this and got told, nothing to see here, definitely IBS?

[Jackie1612]

thanks for posting this XDjames.

I do have similar symptoms and it feels like I am blocked. The pain and cramping seem to go on forever, then I go swimming for example, which helps for a while. I do not know why or what the answer is. It feels as if my bowel is malfunctioning.

Have not been back for further investigations, I hope you get some answers and relief.

[ratoncita in reply to Jackie1612]

I had a very painful attack last night, don’t know what caused it as it could have been a couple of things. I did have some ice cream which I haven’t had for a very long time, maple walnut, which I love! Could that have been the culprit?

[XDjames in reply to ratoncita]

Aha! I find it very hard to nail what sets me off. I eat several things in a day that could cause a terrible night/day/week. Was it the cassava cake that flipped the previous great week into a rubbish week. Anyway as a form of clutching at straws I'll steer clear of cassava!

[Jackie1612 in reply to ratoncita]

Wish I had some answers!

[LFHell]

Not sure if i have exactly that as i'm rarely constipated but i have started to struggle to go the last few months. With 2 occasions being so bad that I think I need to buy a stool as standing up or squatting was the only way I could go. I think i've worked it its fodmaps that cause this now but particularly onion/garlic flavouring in BBQ crisp flavouring. But i'm not 100% sure, just seems that was the common denominator! I've actually been eating more fodmaps recently to try to overcome this but i dont think brocolli and apples cause it. If you can avoid processed food i would, fucks knows what they are doing to our food that causes this!

I find magnesium a better laxative than movicol also, which made me bloated.

[XDjames in reply to LFHell]

I thought Laxido (similar to movicol) was giving me more wind.

And bravo for reintroducing foods to rule them out as possible baddies.

Regarding the stool, if you look online for advice on making it easier to 'go', you'll find it's a recommended approach.

I used to think that squat toilets (mainly found in Asia) with hose/douche sprays (in a subset of countries) were uncivilised, compared to the standard western approach. Although I never mastered the mechanics of protecting trousers and preventing small change etc. disappearing down the hole, it's a no brainer.

Likweise if you think about it (and particularly if you need to go a lot and might get very sore) the douche spray is both clean and kind, and makes more sense than a bidet.

[LFHell in reply to XDjames]

Its amazing the difference positions makes! Tho usually im ok but finding my trigger foods seems to have made my bowels worse in a way... Did that happen to you? I feel like dieticians have messed me up but i was doing ok before i started trying to add back fodmaps again so it could mean the diet really works even though its depleted my gut bacteria according to last tests I did (over time).. ! So i would definately like to eat some fodmaps! It just seems like they block me up rather than giving me D now. Anyone else found that?

[XDjames in reply to LFHell]

Really hard to say WTF is going on. On day I'm pretty much fine and can do anything I want then suddenly I'm in so much pain I can't sleep and my day is wrecked. Then next day is sort of OK. All over the shop, living day to day, waiting for it to decide to go for a holiday again. Dietician wasn't much help. Just another step in the GP-consultant-dietrician-talking therapy-we give up??? chain

[LFHell in reply to XDjames]

Sorry to hear that. Its not fodmaps for you? I had dairy allergy, pork and beef allergy on top of that! I would say Zoe are really good, if a little patronising at times. And I feel better without my triggers, just eating as many fruit and veg as i can, Pure sunflower margarine and preservative free gluten free bread. But i guess everyone is different. That Nerva app seems popular? I think mine is more food intolerance than something that takes holidays Have you tried Vivomixx probiotic and eating soya yhog/yhogurt as often as possible without getting bored of yhog?

[LFHell in reply to LFHell]

Have you also tried Dr Gut that seemed to work for me tho i haven't needed it much as dont get much gas pains now. And Enterscogel which im a bit scared to try but its for diorrhea and supposed to get rid of nasty bacteria.. if its bacterial?

[XDjames in reply to LFHell]

ah, Dr Gut 'drug free-natural clay' sounds dubious. so many things I could try, I try to look for clear evidence e.g. from clinicial trials or at least some type of peer-reviewed papers from academc research. That narrows the field rather to conventional medicine. Enterscogel does have a write up, even if research is funded by the manufacturer (not necessarily bad).

[LFHell in reply to XDjames]

Re Dr Gut i thought the clay sounded good if it did what it said - remove the bad bacteria - i was worried about it staying stuck in my gut though!? But i suspect it was the simethicone in it that helped, the times i've had pain it works and prob it was gas pains!

[XDjames in reply to LFHell]

Tried Zoe, but it couldn't help. Nerva could be OK, I need to persevere, maybe it could take the edge off sometimes. I don't seem toi to do well with read meat, not sure about yoghurt, probably (like Kefir) good in moderation. I am hsistant with probiotics as there are so many out there and it seems none has bene proven as a winner, just some say it works, others way it does the opposite.

[LFHell in reply to XDjames]

Fair enough, they say prebiotic foods are better anyway. Have you tried soya yhogurt, it can help too?

[LFHell in reply to XDjames]

I found a nice chia seed pudding recipe on Monash low fodmap website also, chocolate with vanilla yhogurt. So tasty! But i have heard people say sugar doesn't help SIBO also... ? So not sure. I dont know if i have SIBO tho, i think you symptoms sooner after food if its SIBO? Like within an hour... I'm no good with cheese, beef and pork and never suspected that before elimination diet. But also wonder if the diets cause intolerances. Hard to know. As they could never make a proper control group! It needs to be the same person...

[XDjames in reply to LFHell]

No I haven't messed with Soya, I don't like the flavour of what I did try, plus it's beans and they are major red flag for me. Chia ... maybe. Cassava could have triggered my latest torture. It's really hard to know if you have SIBO. ... youtube.com/watch?v=48oZZEA...(Not working as expected?)

I'm being ultracautious these few days as it's got really bad. God please let this pass. I don't know if the 'Hell' in your Id is significant. I should perhaps change mine to IBSHell!

[LFHell in reply to XDjames]

Yes it is significant - Im both pissed that i did the low fodmap diet because i think my issues were caused by other foods and now i can't add them back without pain. But also its so hard to avoid them and food is so boring with them. So it is hellish. Tho on the other hand, if i am strict with my diet i do feel better. Its just hard sometimes to resist trying new foods!

Oh Atlas microbiome recommended Cassava for gut bacteria so its probably a prebiotic food? Im scared of buying it as if you dont cook it properly it can contain cyanide. Did you make it from scratch? I am curious to try tho. Have you tried simethicone or what are your symptoms?

I def think its onion thats causing my slowdown issues. Diorrhea seems a better way to be, at least it passes!

[LFHell in reply to XDjames]

ps hope you feel better soon!