IBS

[Herat1986]

Mine is so bad this last few days.
It completely disappeared when I got pregnant with my oldest and now my youngest is 1 it is back with a vengeance.

Anyone else? How do you manage it? Is it worth a visit to the GP? Last time they gave me colpermil which I can just go and buy.

Mine has really flared up too recently and like to was a lot better when I was pregnant.
How does it effect you? Constipation or diarrhoea? Mine it ALWAYS worse in the morning and I take Imodium on bad days to help me get through other than that unfortunately I haven't found much else helps me :(

DH has IBS. He saw his GP as he was having to have a lot of time off work and was referred to a consultant for further tests which showed nothing of note. He finds that stress affects it a lot but that low fod map foods and some medications are helpful. He was given one called amitriptyline and also has something to take before meals. See if you can speak to occ health if you're employed as this helped him to. Although his employer ignored the advice it gave him some useful ways to discuss toilet breaks. It was also suggested he got an 'I cant wait' toilet card to help use facilities out and about. You can get them online.

Have you had any blood tests to rule out any of the obvious or regular reasons for it?

I've always had IBS to varying extents. I was found to have an extremely overactive thyroid, which needed to be brought under control. That is because high levels of thyroxine increase the metabolic rate and it is one of the known causes of IBS.

Mine did improve a lot as the levels of thyroxine reduced.

@popsadaisy mine is mostly painful bloating - will feel a bit constipated but when I go it's very soft (sorry - tmi!!)
Pre pregnancy it was really bad in the morning, now just seems to be all day long.
Im thinking I might need to keep a food diary to identify trigger foods.
X

@blackcat86 thank you. Yep stress has always been a big trigger for mine. I am employed but don't have occ health as such but I might visit GP if it doesn't improve.

@topsyet that's very interesting, no I've never had a blood test. Stool sample and then diagnosed IBS and given colpermil. That was a long time ago now.

Tried a combination of peppermint oil capsules and trying to lower stress. OK.

Tried FODMAP diet and above. Better.

Now I eat low carb high fat. I've had one bout in 8 months and that was extreme stress (new job, very tough, longer hours). It's changed my life.

Mine seems to be affected by the weather, sounds bizarre but as soon as it warms up I really suffer. Definitely try keeping a food diary, I found out that sweetcorn was a trigger for me which I probably would never have realised otherwise!
If you chew gum, check for sorbitol. Could also be in sweets and mouthwash. I had a really bad few weeks until I realised that the mints I'd started having (literally only 2 or 3 a day) contained sorbitol which is apparently well known to cause problems!

Mine disappeared when I was pregnant too.Mine was actually caused by stress originally but it will always be here now,controlled only through diet.

Thanks all - will Google FODMAP

@princesshoneysuckle same for me on both counts - how do you control it with diet? Did you work out food triggers and just avoid them? X

I've had IBS for nearly 25 years. I've learnt what all my trigger foods are so eat a very plain diet. Can't tolerate a alcohol any fruit juices or fizzy poo so I drink water or decaf tea
I have lanzoprazole daily because I get reflux a lot. I also take a probiotic every day which seems to keep my stomach calm

Obviously that should say fizzy pop! Damn autocorrect

Years ago a doctor suggested antidepressants for it - he said something about the brain and gut connection - but I was too scared to try them because of the side effects.

Fast forward a few years and after a family tragedy I needed to take antidepressants. One side effect is that my IBS has improved immensley - I wasn't expecting it but it hit me one day that it had been a lot better. Mine was linked to anxiety - there was definitely an underlying stomach issue, but fear of needing the loo suddenly in long meetings or the cinema etc made it worse.

I've resorted to an Imodium every morning. That's keeping me sane at the minute. Just had tests for lactose and gluten intolerance and chrohns and colitis. All came back negative. Doctor has gone silent.

I take buscopan every day, it's helped a lot with my spasms.

Hotcrossbun - can I ask you which antidepressant you are taking? - I have tried a couple but have had awful side effects.

Buscopan, peppermint tea and yakult (or other probiotic) attacks usually last a few days for me then it settles back down.

I take mebeverine when mine flairs up. I used to have IBS-C, but now I have IBS-D. Horrible cramps, bloating and when I eat I have to dash to the loo immediately afterwards. ☹️

Antidepressants sometimes work because there are lots of nerve cells in the gut. We’re starting to understand just how closely linked the nervous system and the gut are.

Peppermint tea or capsules. Probiotics. Buscopan ( never been convinced by that) Find what foods can trigger. Mine is triggered by stress or eating a lot of crap too much.
I eat a diet with lots of veg/fruit, lean meats. Less starchy carbs BUT not cutting them out completely. Less greasy foods eg just as a meal out or once a week.

But the best thing by far has been exercise, it's my stress reliever anyway. I do strength, spinning and swimming ( not all the time I switch around) but yoga has helped it amazingly. Think it's all the deep breathing and stretching the muscles etc.

I was told years ago that IBS is not an illness in itself but is a term used to describe a collection of symptoms with no immediately obvious cause(s). The key is to track down what might be triggering your body to produce those symptoms so I was advised to keep a food diary then try removing any suspects
For me a lot of bloating and wind seems to be triggered by carbs

@Daphnesmate - I take Sertraline. Started on 25mg (not a clinically effective dose, but my doctor suggested it to ease me in as I was v anxious about starting it), then 50mg and I'm now up to 100mg per day. I got slightly worse anxiety and jaw clenching at first but the side effects eased off fairly quickly. I found different brands have a different effect too - I got on best with Aurobindo. My stomach isn't perfect by any means, but so much better than it used to be - I don't have chronic runs before a big meeting anymore for example, and I'm less windy!

One of my big triggers is mint... if I eat a few mints I can guarantee an attack the next day.

@Herat1986 yes its everything I love unfortunately.Bread,cheese,chocolate,
And pastry