to ask if any IBS sufferers can help me out? TMI WARNING!!

[acquiesce]

I suffer from chronic constipation and terrible IBS.
Currently doubled over in pain after taking paracetamol and buscopan.
So basically I have the feeling like I need to shit, and the cramps that come with it, and the inability to do so. Fucking torture.
Any tips other than ride it out - I have been riding it out since last night and I actually feel like I’m in labour again!

Sorry you are having a terrible time with your IBS op, what is your diet like?

Take out any 'white food' and replace with vegetables for starters,

ie porridge oats with blueberries for breakfast or sugar free museli

Apple and hanfull of almonds for mid morning snack.

Big chicken salad for lunch or omelette.

oatcake and strawberries for afternoon snack.

100gram steak and loads of steamed vegetables for dinner.

This was an example of a fantastic diet that improved my bowel and bloating 100%

For reference try the Louise Parker Method it really works long term.

If you do this and avoid sugarry drinks, stick to tea or coffee and lots of water, your constipation will disappear for good.

I find hot drinks move it along best for me, I just drank tea, but maybe peppermint?

I’ve also tried (after 20 years of IBS) a low carb high fat way of eating and it’s made a huge difference. it was always sugar that kicked mine off really badly but not eating carbs has changed my life!

Hope you get some relief soon.

I’d consider drinking Aloe Vera juice, peppermint tea and taking Slippery Elm capsules and probiotics.

I have IBS but suffer diarrhoea rather than constipation but all of the above do help calm down the cramps and pains. I totally overhauled my diet and worked on my stress levels. White bread and pasta are things of the past for me now too.

I hope you get some relief soon, OP.

I have IBS-C and buscopan makes my constipation worse. I try to avoid it as much as I can and avoid my trigger foods - google ‘low FODMAP’ diet.

My friend has had IBS for years and she swears by getting on all fours and rocking back and forth - sounds a bit weird I know but worth a try

IBS is so personal its difficult to advise, I second FODMAP. I cant tolerate too much fibre which is the opposite to advise given on this thread.
Unfortunately you have to find your triggers which is where FODMAP can help.
Good luck.

Glycerin suppositories.

Ibs-d here and also going to recommend low fodmap diet. It's a pain in the arse (excuse the pun) but it's been a real game changer for me.
.

When I get pain like you are describing I find the only thing that helps is laying on my stomach.

I had an ileostomy for a while and blockages were a worry.
Fizzy water was recommended and always worked for me. Good luck.

I don't have full on IBS but have constipation and bloating from food intolerances and am trying a FODMAP exclusion diet and it really has helped. Full exclusion means my guts feel really good, I'm just finding my specific intolerances now (fructose and sorbitol so far). It is backed by good quality research so really worth a try. I use the FODMAP ap from Monash (their website is here and there are some good supporting websites (I like a Little bit Yummy).

When I have bad cramps I find the best thing is a very hot bath.

My IBS is the complete opposite of yours, so I can’t help, but is buscopan not an antispasmodic? So it will be stopping your intestines from moving and pushing the shit towards where it needs to be?
Tummy massage in clockwise motions to help move things in the right direction.

Google the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle. Worked for me.

Use a suppository to sort you out immediately.
Drink lots of water every day.

Ditch white bread, biscuits, pastry and chocolate and eat lots more fruit and veg. Every day eat porridge (rolled oats) made with hot water and prunes and linseeds added.

While you are sorting out your diet take Movicol daily. Increase or decrease according to need.

Take a probiotic supplement daily - continue that ongoing.
Take a prebiotic daily as well.
Take live yoghurt every day.
Take linseeds every day, with lots of water.
Take Andrews if required.
Take Senokot if all else fails, though try suppository first, then Movicol or Andrews.

Some people do just have a slow metabolism as I do and I wish I hadn't been scared off taking laxatives when I needed them - there is no evidence that laxatives cause dependency and taken in the correct dosage can be lifesavers. Doctors told me being constipated wasn't a serious health problem and wouldn't do me any harm, it's just uncomfortable. That was NOT true - I ended up with a prolapsed bowel requiring major reconstructive surgery so do whatever it takes to deal with constipation as it happens as it CAN cause real problems over the long term.

It might be worth having a thyroid function test if you haven't already. Underactive thyroid causes slow metabolism and consequently constipation, as in my case.

If you have a slow metabolism taking extra fibre alone won't help as there is not the stimulation to propel things along.

I should also have included EXERCISE in my must do list. That speeds metabolism and helps propel things along.

Buscopan never did anything for me.

Hot water bottle

3x probiotic a day whether it in tablet or yoghurt form during a flare up.

Tummy massage.

Never heard of that diet so will be looking into that.
Having a baby stopped my ibs for 2 years

Hope you feel better soon!

Eat loads of veg and fruit. Cut out white bread, white rice and white pasta. Cut out sugar entirely. Cut out tea and coffee. Wat a lot of natural yoghurt. And stop drinking and smoking.

You’ll feel much better quite quickly. The fruit and the dietary fibre will help with the constipation.

I've been fighting the contractions from hell for years and I've now found a way that works for me.

Instead of curling up in a ball and crying like a baby or taking up permanent residence in the bathroom - I go and lay in a dark room and meditate the pain away.

It's really hard to resist the urge to go to the loo but I've found all that pushing makes it a million times worse.

It is not easy but I fight the urge. I take a couple of cocodamol and a hot water bottle and go and lay straight on my back in a dark room. I find that if I can concentrate on my breathing calmly almost like labour - I can will the contractions to stop.

GP told me to take Mebeverine but all they do for me is make my stomach bloated so I don't take them.

I don't know if you have worked out all your trigger foods but the absolute worst food for me is iceburg lettuce. Within minutes I am doubled up in pain.

Good luck OP

Oh, yes. Also go for a short walk every day - 2 or 3 miles. The exercise will help your metabolism and the mere movement will jog your bowels along.

My IBS has only recently been formally diagnosed (although I have had the symptoms for years on and off) and is alternating so I probably don't have the experience that some other posters do.

BUT since childhood when I have had episodes of constipation I've taken Andrews Liver Salts. Usually takes a day to work and I usually take them for a couple of days after I've "been" but no longer as I tend to swing the other way anyway and I don't want to bring it on any quicker!

White bread is one of my triggers too though, interesting to see that so many of us appear to have a problem with it.

Avoid buscapan, they act by stopping the contractions which isn't going to help you. They just delay the pain. I now eat a very high vegetable and protein diet. Even eating cauli broccoli and stuff. This is against the general advice for ibs but it is much better for me. Avoid brown bread and whole wheat like the plague. Same with fibre. Natural yoghurt and honey and porridge are good. Fruit if constipated works for me. The secret is sorting the diet out and not getting too stressed.

Sorry to hear you're in so much pain OP, I have IBS-A, when I get that sort of pain I try (in no particular order) warm bath, sip hot water, massage my stomach in clockwise direction with oil, go for a walk round block (don't go too far so you can run back to loo if necessary), lie on back and bring right leg to chest and rotate it in a circle then put it back down then repeat with left leg and last thing I'd try is glycerine suppositories.

Long term you could consider
A daily probiotic
Fodmap diet
Beverley Travis laxative mixture (my IBS consultant told me about this, I take couple of spoons per day so it's small enough amount so fodmaps in it don't affect me)
Linseeds and chia soaked in water
A liquid omega 3 6 and 9 supplement

Medication wise I take Methylcellulose tablets (prescribed). Depending on how severe your constipation is you could speak to your GP about a medicine called linaclotide, didn't work for me, was too strong and bounced me to diarrhoea end of spectrum, but I live in hope that they'll invent something that works eventually.

Hope you get some relief soon

Impractical answer is a cup of strong black coffee and a cigarette I have colitis and that always made things move for me.
Sensible answer is assume it's not happening. Hot water bottle and sleep. Cup of black coffee in the morning and give it an hour.

If this happens to me I eat a food that I am allergic to (that gives me the shits) and it usually works right away.

My answer is also impractical

Lots and lots of water and exercise!