Possible IBS, struggling to discover triggers!

[missteal]

I've had digestive problems all my life. At first it was thought to be a weak pyloric sphincter when I was a baby. As a teenager I was diagnosed with acid reflux. When I was 23, after my second child was born, I started suffering with bad pelvic cramping and lower back pain. I had a laparoscopy aged 25 where they found very mild endometriosis and scaring sticking my ovary to my pelvic wall. Aged 27 I had another lap as the symptoms were still there. They found no endometriosis this time and said although I have adhesions they weren't enough to be causing my pain. I'm now nearly 29 and am having my periods stopped for 6 months at a time by a high progesterone medication as the consultant now thinks I have adenomyosis. The pain associated with my cycle has now decreased but I still get really bad cramps in the low pelvis region.

The IBS symptoms I have are....

Waking very early in the morning to rush to the loo with crazy cramps

Swing between constipation and the opposite nothing in between

Feeling and being sick on a regular basis, sick mainly first thing in the morning

Feeling exhausted constantly

Low mood

Problems sleeping as being woken up by the pain

Constant varying degrees of lower middle and upper back pain

Pain during sex (not sure if this is an IBS issue)

Acid reflux/regurgitation

Trapped wind

Sever bloating that goes from a flat tummy in the morning to looking 5 months pregnant by bed time

I'm not currently taking any IBS medication as the only things that seems to help anything is ranitadine for the heartburn and movelat for when I'm constipated. I've tried peppermint oil capsules and mebeverine.

My GP hasn't been very helpful. I had an endoscopy when I couldn't stop being sick which showed nothing. I'm not really sure how to help myself with this and would love any feedback. Do my symptoms sound like IBS or could it be something else?

Thanks for reading x

[PatV]

If you're having lower ab problems, I would ask to see a physical therapist who specializes in ab pain. I know, who knew? But mine really helped . Wish I could afford to continue. They are reputed to help with pain during sex as well as constipation . Also breathing exercises. I have PD and the Pt located the place that becomes locked into painful spasm after b.m.

Best of luck.

[kiwimiwi]

I have IBS-D only and am often suffering with awful cramps especially in the morning or in my sleep which wake me and I feel nauseated most mornings. I also have constant trapped wind, bloating, acid reflux and I have a weak and deformed pyloric sphincter! Your symptoms definitely do sound like IBS. I do not have endometriosis but I was tested to find out if I did have it when I was 16 because I suffered from abnormal bleeding, horrific pain and my hormones were all over the shop. They found no adhesions but found I had PCOS with overly large ovaries. My PCOS seems to affect my IBS somewhat as when I ovulate, my IBS gets worse! I asked my IBS consultant a few years ago about this and he said to me that there seems to be a big link between gynaecological problems and IBS in females especially in the 20-30 age range. My GP also had the same reply when I asked her about it a few months back when I was put on metformin but she also said that the only thing that can be done with IBS and gynae problems is to treat each problem separately and hope that the two are kept under control so as to not cause a major flare up.

In terms of the medication you're on, I was on ranitidine when my duodenal ulcer was found but my consultant said ranitidine is a very old medication and prescribed me lansoprazole instead which keeps acid production down in the first place. When you say Movelat for constipation, do you mean Movicol? Constipation is not my area of expertise but my mum has IBS with constipation and after some surgery recently she was given lactulose solution instead of movicol as it's easier on the system. The only problem with Movicol and laculose is that they can also give you bad cramps. Buscopan is an antispasmodic which stops abdominal cramps. This is my saviour because it not only works wonders on my IBS cramps but it also helps uterine ones as well!!

Hope this was useful!!

[missteal]

Thanks for your replies, very helpful xx