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!

Short term: peppermint (tea, oil, whatever), hot water bottle

Medium term: FODMAP

Long term: less stress, work out your triggers, exercise, drink water, DON'T eat the food that triggers

I did the FODMAP diet and cut out all things with fiber: so NO chickpeas, lentils, beans, bran, cruciform vegetables(cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower)

I ate white bread and meat, (lamb, turkey) and no roughage at all and it magically cleared up.

I had the diarrhea type though.

A strong black coffee is amazing for getting things going. I have a small cup every morning. When I detox from coffee a small cup of hot water and lemon has the same effect.

I also eat oat bran now as my breakfast and did a two week fast on Kefir (bioutiful dairies) to recolonise my gut. Worked a charm for the bloating. I also use a probiotic called flat tummy by Optibac.

Using a hula hoop is amazing also.

Hope you find relief soon. IME buscopan isn’t any good to take as it stops spasms in smooth muscle and will stop peristalsis which will make your constipation even worse.

A spoon of Psyllium husks in a large glass of water with a spoon of ground chia seeds might work for you. Squeeze in some lemon juice and a sprinkling of xylitol (sugar from fruit) or honey.

Get one of these op, it will change your life

www.squattypotty.co.uk

Are you absolutely sure it's IBS? I don't mean to alarm you but ovarian cancer has similar symptoms to what you describe, particularly the stabbing pains. Can you request a blood test from your GP?

Upping my veg/pulses and lowering bread, pasta etc helped me, as did exercise, yoga and mindfulness.

If you haven't already, definitely get a medical diagnosis and get them to check for any other potential causes first. IBS is almost a diagnosis of elimination. A friend of mine was repeatedly fobbed off with 'IBS-D', when in fact she had diabetes.

Try colpermin, you can buy it otc

One of the side effects of buscopan is CONSTIPATION. Get off the meds and reexamine your diet.

I have ibs and find fruit and veg make it so much worse so I avoid them.

A one off dose 3 capfuls of milk of magnesia last thing at night will clear your bowels in the morning.

Long term, examine your diet, eliminate the triggers and start taking a high grade pro biotic.

Dried prunes/apricots.

Prune juice.

Constipation is horrible. Someone mentioned suppositories, Tesco sell them, as do most big pharmacies.

i agree with fodmap diet for the longer term management.
the usual high fibre diets that ate advised can actually be unhelpful. after doing a full fodmap exclusion I found that pulses and legumes and certain veg were actually my worst triggers and I used to have these I'm abundance.

I also find buscopan pretty useless but mebeverine from the gp is really helpful.

don't take cocodamol. codeine constipated.

also worth trying some laxatives to keep things moving. there are different types. ones that bulk (e.g. fibogel), ones that draw water in to help make it easier to pass (laxido/ movicol) and ones that I simulate the bowel to encourage the passing motion (senna, dulcolax)
at times I find it necessary to take one from each group. the likes of fibogel and laxido are the most gentle and best for longer term use though.

stress can also be trigger so also advise learning some relaxation strategies and taking time to look after yourself if you think stress is likely to be a factor. mindfulness is great

One of the things to bear in mind is that different people have different sensitivities. The FODMAP approach is to remove all of the food groups that are known to cause issues and then once your digestion has settled down to reintroduce each group very slowly and carefully and see which you react to.

It may be that there are other things which cause you problems too or some other causes for your IBS, but as a large proportion of people with IBS (about 70%) are sensitive to one or more of the FODMAPs it's definitely worth a try. If you use the Monash tested foods you also know exactly what you are eating and therefore what you are reacting to as they have lab tested all the food listed on their app so if you follow it very carefully it's more of an experiment than a diet.

For example I'm testing my third food group now to see if I am sensitive to mannitols (in things like mushrooms and sweet potato). I've done fructose and sorbitol (mostly found in fruits) and I seem to be very sensitive to sorbitol (at a one blackberry level!) but can have a small amount of fructose (ie 1tsp of honey is OK but two will give me a day of constipation and I assume more will lead to stomach cramps but I stopped at 2tsps). Next is lactose, fructans, oligosaccharides and galactans. It will take about three months to do the exclusion and reintroductions.

Some of the suggestions people have made here wouldn't work for me at all, apples, prunes, apricots, honey, most sweeteners (eg sorbitol, xylitol, fructose/glucose syrup) and many fibrous vegetables all mess with my gut and many things marketed as prebiotics for me lead to significant pain because they are oligosaccharides which is likely my worst trigger (also means I can't eat anything with wheat or a few other grains regardless of how they are processed or anything from the onion or garlic families). There will be other things I can eat just fine that might really hurt someone else. It's a pain to work through but can help understand your body better and I think put you in a better position to persuade your doctor that you've really tried diet management should it not help at all.

For now try a warm bath to soften it up x

I have ibs d. Brown bread is one of the biggest triggers. I can only eat white sandwich bread.

FODMAP diet is amazing! Without it I would have never found out I cannot tolerate apples, onions, honey, chickpeas and lentils. I feel so much better now

Codeine also slows your guts down, be wary of using that.
Have you been tested for coeliac disease?

I too have IBS-C

I tried the fodmap and found onion and garlic to be big triggers for me.

I take peppermint oil capsules and acidophilus (from holland&barrett) daily and they help

I have IBS C too. Try Colpermin peppermint oil capsules or medicinal charcoal, I find these work far better than Buscopan. Also try to drink plenty of water and give your tummy a gentle massage xx

I'm exactly the same as you, OP.

I take 1 slippery elm capsule at night (the dose is actually 2 but that was too much for me) and it works really well. It's also stopped my GERD symptoms, so double bonus!

I used to take aloe Vera which is great too, one capsule a night was enough to stop the symptoms. The capsules or liquid are much better than the tablets.

I also agree with Lianne, Colpermin are great for the pain although any peppermint capsules (H&B used to do them) work really well.

That's really interesting Bunny. I started looking at FODMAP because I have silent reflux and was looking for anything that might reduce my symptoms as PPIs and Gaviscon don't work for me and I'd never noticed any triggers for my reflux so was at a bit of a loss. My sister has IBS and was talking about FODMAP and I thought I'd give it a go as it's one of the few dietary management schemes which has a good evidence base. Hasn't helped the reflux but I have learned how to track symptoms a lot better. Some of the FODMAPs take about 12 hours to start to cause issues for me which then go on for a further day or two. Without doing the exclusion and reintroduction I'd not have known they were the source of the problem.