IBS is ruining my life

[MyQuaterLifeCrisis]

I've been in agony for the last few days, bed ridden the whole of today except for doing the school run. This only started on Friday (though I've had flare ups in the past) and it's been non stop torture, I feel like I'm in labour! I'm scared to leave the house because I need the toilet all the time, though have chronic constipation so needn't worry really (sorry, tmi)

I can't really see a doctor, unless I want to wait two weeks for an appointment and then wait an hour to be called - I know they will just suggest taking paracetamol as they have before. I've been taking ibuprofen and buscopan throughout the day, which helps for a couple of hours and then it's back to square one. I just want the awful achey cramps to go away! I had a bowl of porridge for breakfast, and then a bowl of soup for dinner (no crap food) but it's still agony five minutes after eating, so now I'm too scared too.

Really need a long term solution for this that doesn't involve popping painkillers every few hours! Anyone experience this/have any suggestions?

TIA!

all

Bowel issues are the worst

I've been in the bathroom more than out of it all day yesterday and tonight's looking much the same already

So tired of being at home

Keep making plans for when this flare stops but it's been shit on and off since January

I wonder do we all go into our GPs (like me) and just sort of give them a PG rated version of the reality? "Yes doctor, I just get some cramps. I'm fine really. Anyway, so back to my blood pressure?"

You need to see a doctor

Definitely a GP visit OP, and ask to be referred to a specialist.
I also take a probiotic which makes a real difference, especially if I accidentally eat a trigger food - was recommended it by a dentist who is into 'alternative' therapies. If anyone would like the link I am happy to share.

Tramadol helps me, but then I also have colitis (finally diagnosed after 10year of being told it was IBS, it only shows up on colonoscopy if it's done during a flare-up and my blood tests were all normal!)

Tramadol was prescribed by my GI consultant and I get it on repeat. I don't find it constipating it just relieves the pain and D which then reduces the anxiety and relaxes spasms. It also doesn't make me feel spaced out like codeine does.

Tiger can I just ask, have you got ulcerative colitis or microscopic?-cant find much about microscopic

I was dx with microscopic last year but my meds need adjusting as I'm to all intents and purposes incontinent atm. I'm having difficulties with hospital who are lovely but appointment just isn't coming through and life is on ice and has been for most of this year

waaaah

You need to really push for testing for ulcerative colitis and chrohns. That amount of pain isn't normal for IBS.

You need to really push for testing for ulcerative colitis and chrohns. That amount of pain isn't normal for IBS.

I agree with others OP, you need to get tested for Coeliac, colitis and chrons and then pursue the correct treatment and diet. These are medical conditions that should be diagnosed officially before pursuing any sort of elimination diet as this will affect test results.

Coeliac disease runs in families and can do serious damage if left untreated, it also puts you at a higher risk of bowel cancer. Coeliac disease means you cannot properly absorb nutrients from food leading to anemia and other deficiencies. Everyone's symptoms are different and not just the obvious bloating, pain and bowel problems - it has been linked to migraines, depression and infertility.

My DM suffered awful symptoms for years before being diagnosed. Like you OP, she thought eating plain foods like porridge oats and toast was a good idea when in fact these things were making her very ill. Since then my sisters have been confirmed coeliac, neither had bowel issues but requested tests due to family history and anaemia. My blood tests are negative, although I've been told this is no guarantee that I might not develop the disease given the family history. I am gluten sensitive and have flare ups if I over do bread, pasta etc.

Hope you get this resolved

Things that helped me:

No Dairy - I drink Soya milk instead (organic Provamel)
No wheat- especially bread-
No spicy food.
No Beer
Cut down on sugar
Go easy on the meat- make sure it's properly cooked to very soft.

I have been fantastic for the past 2 years. ( I suffered like you won't believe).

YANBU - I have mild IBS and it's the pits. I have to have lactofree milk and can't have too much gluten.

I'd get an appointment even if in two weeks to look to get a diagnosis/suggestions.

You might be advised to do an elimination diet like I was.

Sorry you're feeling so rough, OP. Hope you get a docs appointment pretty quickly.

I just found this thread after I did an advanced search for 'IBS', as I'm not sure if it's what I have. For about the last 4 years I've had bouts of abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, nausea, and also feeling faint and dizzy with it at times. The stomach cramps feel like someone is wringing out my intestines, and kind of come and go in waves. The symptoms come on quite quickly - I can be fine in the morning and feel ill a few hours later - and it tends to last anywhere from 12-48 hours.

When I first started with the symptoms it tended to come on mid-month, so I thought it was hormonal and linked to ovulation, then I started getting symptoms around the start of my period too. I went to the GP about 3 years ago and he referred me to a gynaecologist who did loads of gynae tests that came back negative. He was convinced it was a gastrointestinal issue so he ordered the blood tests for gluten intolerance but they came back negative and I was promptly discharged. Thankfully the symptoms became less frequent and I'd only have a bout of them every three or four months, so for the past few years I've just lived with it. However already this year I've had about four bouts of symptoms, and it's come on again today.

Does this sound like IBS? I always thought it couldn't be IBS because I assumed that I'd have symptoms all the time if it was but having done some reading this afternoon it seems that the symptoms come and go, which I never knew. I think I'm going to ring my GP tomorrow and see if I can get an appointment because I can't go on like this.

Sorry for hijacking your thread OP, but felt there was a lot of knowledge and experience on here. Hope you feel better soon.

Sorry haven't read the whole thread, but Buscopan can make constipation worse .. another one in favour of cutting out gluten. I know you have to carry on eating gluten if you're going to have a test done, but honestly it is often a really quick way of stopping the problem.

Try some peppermint capsules

IBS is crap! I used to crap at least 10 times a day for years and years. I was then sent to the John Radcliffe in Oxford where a gastro-enterologist did some radio-active test in my gut and found that I did not re-absorb bile salts normally. I was pout in a course of Questran - I only need it periodically as it bungs me up good and proper, but it was the only treatment that ever did any good at all.

Research into IBS is very difficult - basically the gut has a brain of its own which is every bit as complex as the one in our heads. The truth of the matter is that no doctor has any idea of the real nature of this illness. Over the years I became heartily sick of being told it is "just" IBS - meaning of course that I did not have cancer or ulcerative colitis. Having my disabling and debilitating condition described as "just" something as though it was unimportant used to pull my chain in a big way!

I have Crohns and Questran (sp?) is very reliable and helpful for leading normal life. I sympathise.

Dairy is my main trigger- awful intestinal noises, cramping, wind and diarrhea within a few hours to a day or so of eating it. Cut it out, dramatic improvement!

This is probably unlikely, but have you been having anything with sweeteners?
There are various kinds which can make you have cramps.

I ate a box of those little sugar free sweets in a go (I cannot remember the name but they are little each with a different flavour) and had cramps like labour and a massive amount of trapped wind. I looked up the ingredients and saw this can be a well known side effect. Another thing that has this in it is chewing gum.

I had IBS for years, I used to be incontinent and couldn't do much. Sometimes the pain was so bad I seriously thought about killing myself and I am not saying that glibly. When I moved to the ME and had my first medical they asked me how it was diagnosed and what tests I had had. Obviously nothing just a GP telling me. I had a gastroscopy, colonoscopy and abdominal ultrasound and I had a massive ovarian cyst, infected and necrosed diverticulitis and 4 duodenal ulcers. I had antibiotics, omeprazole and duspatalin for 6 months and surgery of the little piece of bowl and the cyst removed and 8 years later can say I have not ever had one single cramp or twinge. I used to spend most of my life doubled up and had crapped myself in every outfit I owned. I know the NHS can't help but for a relatively small amount of money you could see a specialist and find out what's wrong with you. I wish I had.

Muddha, mine is microscopic colitis but even the consultants don't seem to know much about it! I've had a colonoscopy and 3 sigmoidoscopies that all revealed deep-tissue inflammation (from the biposies) but only the first showed visible inflammation during the procedure. I take Tramadol, pentasa and diphenoxylate. Tramadol relieves my symptoms.

Hope you get some answers soon!

Goodness Betsydrek that is shocking. Thank goodness you found out.
Yes, OP I hope you can find out what is wrong soon.