Is this IBS or something else

[Nay0011]

Hi all,

I am new to this group, I was told I had IBS when I was 11 yr old (I am 22 now) it never really affected me really apart from some cramping and musus around my stools. But around 7 days ago I had struggle to poop which caused me to strain and my stools were hard and like small balls is the best way I could explain it - the issue was is it had a lot of dark red mucus on one of the stools which I have never had before - my mucus is usually white'ish yellow which is normal to me.

As soon as I saw this I was waved with anxiety and stress and called the doctors straight away which they have taken a stool sample and blood test. I had to use the toilet a few times after with no straining which I believe was due to the anxiety and the stools looked normal brown but was sloppy (again due to the anxiety).

But since then I have had mild cramps on the bottom left side of my stomach which is on and off, I have had no red in my stools since that one time, but I have been getting black specs in my stools for the last 4 days or so which is worrying for me aswell.

I've had no severe pain, no feeling sick or being sick and no rectum pain. I have been feeling a lot more tired then usual.

I have changed my diet since this happened as I was eating a lot of junk food and caffiene. I no longer drink caffiene mainly just water and I have cut the junk food and mainly eating low fat meats with herbs and potatoes, I have also introduced bananas and organic yogurt to my diet - but I haven't really seen a change apart from the black specs around my stools.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[JessFM]

I suffer terribly with IBS (In agony on the toilet as I type, been here almost 30minutes already.. not been able to go for the last week or so)

My thought is that possibly the stools could be a result of your change in diet and your bowels getting used to it? If your stools are small balls that is a sign of constipation. Do you drink plenty of fluid? Prune juice is supposed to also help. (I am too fussy to try it)

Hope your GP is helping , all the best

[Nay0011 in reply to JessFM]

Hi Jess,

Hope you're okay!

Thanks for responding to my post, I was thinking my stools could be showing black dots as I have changed my diet but then I googled it and it mentioned bleeding in the upper GI which made me quite worried. I am drinking plenty of water a day. Prune juice isn't to bad i have tried it plenty of times it is just sweet and it does work quite well.

[JessFM in reply to Nay0011]

Hi, thankyou for asking. I am currently just laying down feeling sorry for myself because my stomach is in a lot of pain. I'll live haha.

Remember, Google is not always the best thing to do when wondering about health issues. I used to always do that. My advice would be to keep an eye on your stool movements, you could even do a diary for your doctor. Plenty of fluids and try keeping your body moving when you can