V mild & occasional IBS .. now everything gives me IBS at the moment. Should I be worried ?

[Porkbread]

I usually get IBS if I were to have lots of rich, fatty food several days in a row eg a full greasy English 4 days in a row. Surely anyone would be affected eating that for 4 days.

Lately, anything and everything is giving me IBS. I can't touch chocolate, bread, fizz, pasta.. to the point I've reduced eating.

Should I be worried ?

Definitely see a GP and keep yourself hydrated in the meantime. It’s always best to get checked out if your body changes what it normally does.

If you've recently had COVID (it's been circulating a lot since the summer), it is known to cause gastro issues.

No covid

Im 49 and peri. If that could be a factor ?.

See your GP & ask if this might be a gynae issue

Are you under more stress than usual at the moment?

Long term IBS sufferer here. Stress is a major trigger.

Also try cut out any dairy and gluten and see if this helps get you through this flare up.

to add, the weight is falling off me. I'm not stressed, that I know of,

Everything I eat is just going straight through me.

Go and see the GP. They’ll probably ask for a stool sample to rule out bacterial infections.

Unexplained weight loss, combined with other symptoms definitely needs a GP check. Could be Chrons or Colitis.

Age is definitely a factor.

I have had IBS since 1998 and it was mainly controlled, greasy/rich food, dairy and stress would trigger me but as soon as I hit the age of 45 and perimenopause came a knocking things have been simply awful.

I am 52 now and things just get worse and worse. Not only bad IBS but I also suffer from upper issues and have daily nausea, burping, acid etc. I have had 2 colonoscopies, a BAM test, various stool and blood tests and an due another gastroscope after Christmas.

I am convinced my hormones are causing this misery.

You have my sympathy OP. Worth popping to the GP though to get the basic tests checked over.

@Mismatchedshoes that sounds terrible, sending hugs to you xx

I currently daren't eat anything. I was at a Christmas meal last week and I had terrible IBS pain, just as the meal was being served. I would usually go to the toilet (for ages) and have terrible diarrhoea and then be OK, but I couldn't leave the table and be gone for that long. I barely touched the meal. The weight loss is worrying me.

I have put a call out to the dr

Yes go to the GP first and foremost to rule out any serious stuff. I read somewhere that the oestrogen depletion at this time of life affects your gut micro biome and causes gut issues so in the meantime you might want to try eating a few fermented foods, eg kefir and an apple a day, it has helped me as has drinking a glass of water first thing.

I hate that people always jump to it being perimenopause as things can be too easily dismissed and missed.

See your GP.

I've been to the Dr's . He has asked for a stool sample and bloods.

Worryingly, I've lost another 1lb today, despite eating a whole Domino's medium pizza last night and drinking. I never ever have pizza. That's a total of 4lbs lost in 18 days with no exercise, a weekend away with food and drink, party nights out and the general food at home.

Im now in full on panic mode that there is something seriously wrong and what if i can't work and we can't pay the mortgage

Edited to add I've previously had cancer, the first sign was unexplained weight loss. The cancer was contained and I had the all clear. That was a year ago.

I’m a bit 😳 that you’ve had cancer a year ago and now big change in bowel habits and sudden weight loss and you are only just worried. I’ve had cancer and this would send me running to the hospital.

I would see your oncologist or the surgeon who treated your cancer if you didn’t go through oncology, in addition to the GP. When I’ve had worrying things pop up, I eConsult through the GP, but I also call both my surgeon and my oncologist. It may not be cancer, but it may be related to cancer treatment.

Your symptoms to me sound a lot like me though and I was diagnosed with pancreatic insufficiency (my pancreas doesn’t work so I don’t produce the digestive enzymes to digest fat in foods). Totally unrelated to cancer, but very much brought on my poor lifestyle choices and chronic stress. I would hope the GP is doing both a FIT and a calprotectin test. Depending on how those come back, I would also ask for a faecal elastase test. Do you have regular follow up scans because of your cancer? When are you next due one of those?

See your gp. My husband was the same and then diagnosed gf and dairy free and more recently advised to avoid onion and garlic also but this was after months of drs appts and finally a dietician. He was also low on vit d. First point of call before making any drastic changes is your gp.

I've just been discharged by my cancer consultant at the cancer centre and put back to my previous consultant, pending an appt I would assume as he'll want to see me now I'm back under his care. Im supposed to be moving to yearly checks. My bloods, scans etc for the previous cancer were all clear 3 weeks ago. But I'm guessing that won't have checked for other types of cancer ?? They were checking for specific markers in my blood, relating to the previous cancer

Can't do stool or bloods until Tuesday at the earliest. I'm really worried. What a shit Christmas