Could this really just be IBS or shall I push for more with the doctors?

[Yourgirlhere1302]

If anyone on mumsnet has IBS please let me know if you can relate to these symptoms.

I have always heard of IBS, just never experienced it myself

Until I turned 30 years old. I have had bloating every single day, worse in the evenings. Going to the toilet multiple times. Sometimes constipated and sometimes the opposite. Pain in lower belly mainly. This “flare up” has been going on for 3 months. Every day! I also have been told I have PCOS due to having a womb scan. I have been told I am negative for blood in my FIT test (bowels)

Part of me thinks I should just now look into food diet for IBS and accept the diagnosis but the anxious person in me thinks I should ask for a colonoscopy.

Can IBS really be this bad?

Well worth a shot surely op. Yes do the diet and see how you go

And yes IBS can be “that bad”

I have always heard of it but never realised how rough it is. I have had bloating (I look 6 months pregnant) every day now for 3 months

Uncontrolled IBS can be horrendous. I have hEDS and the pain from IBS is honestly on another level sometimes, partly because there's nothing you can do about it other than wait for whatever you've eaten that's disagreed with you to wear off.

Yes IBS can be that bad.

however as you have fairly sudden onset it’s worth asking for a colonoscopy.

I find the evenings the hardest for pain. It came on so suddenly. By the end of the day my pain is quite bad and I have a fully swollen belly

Try peppermint oil capsules to help with bloating seem to really help me. Keep in mind though it likely will make you pass wind /burp but helps reduce the bloating.

You need to at least try the diet op

Have you been tested for coeliac disease?

I used to be like that every evening until I cut out the foods that triggered my IBS. I used to look five months pregnant, have horrendous gas, pain, it made it hard to fall asleep.

You need to figure out what your trigger foods are OP. For many of us wheat/gluten are a major trigger, for others it's dairy, for many its 'nightshade' vegetables, particularly when they aren't absolutely fresh. Other common triggers include alcohol, fizzy drinks, greasy/oily/fatty foods, spicy foods and caffeine, but you need to keep a food diary to figure out which foods trigger your IBS, because we're all slightly different.

Once you figure out which foods you can't tolerate, you can cut them from your diet and I promise you you'll start to feel and look much better. My IBS is largely under control now. The main issue I have is with stress, which I can't always control, but with knowledge, regular exercise and dietary changes you should get to a point where you can live a pretty normal life with IBS.

But yes, you need to go to your GP and get the tests for coeliac first.

Please, please ask for a Fit test (stool sample) and a colonoscopy. I think the Fit tests can be done privately if your GP refuses.
I don't mean to worry you, but my minor constipation and bloating turned out to be bowel cancer. I'm in my early 50s, but a friend has just been diagnosed at 41.
I know the likelihood is that it wont be cancer and I don't mean to worry you, but it's not worth the risk.

I have had bowel cancer. My colorectal specialist says that FIT tests have a sizeable false negative rate and that medical professionals who work in the field don’t rely on them, they have regular colonoscopies after age 50.

I would push for a colonoscopy and also change your diet.

I haven’t said I wouldn’t, I’ve literally just been told I have it.

So start the diet, commit to it, give it a good go and then push for alternative if doesn’t work

I have IBS and bile salt malabsorption, been ill all my life

bloating and diarrhoea all the time, there is hardly any foods I can eat, if I eat lettuce I am up all night vomiting and pooing.

I also get heartburn and oesophagus spasms

I take Spasmonal and loperamide daily to help

Sorry to hear that. They told me it’s negative but I have had specks in my bowel movements which they said must just be the IBS. That’s why I am a bit confused x

Could be diverticulitis?

Demand a colonoscopy. I know someone who had ‘IBS’ for years and was fobbed off repeatedly. One day she suddenly became very ill was rushed to an and e, diagnosed with bowel cancer and passed away 2 weeks later.

Have you also had full blood tests? I have IBS but the gp did really thorough blood tests, including a test for coeliac disease, and the stool sample tests before giving me a B12 injection and sending me away to figure it out basically. (B12 and folate deficiency showed up on my blood tests.)

I thought I had an issue with gluten because pizza makes me ill but I actually just can't cope with greasy/fatty foods. It's not always easy to figure out as it's so individual.

Like another poster I am also hypermobile (hEDS) but the GP just dismissed this having anything to do with it. Online says differently but it's 50/50 whether any health professional will take that diagnosis seriously in general.

As you can tell, I'm quite cynical now of getting any help with anything, but still think it's important to get all the important tests done.

I agree with demanding a colonoscopy and scans etc.

I was diagnosed with IBS. Yet since I had my gallbladder removed 10 years ago not had a single flair.

I can eat something and be bloated literally minutes after. I’ve learnt now what my “trigger” foods are.

I have IBS and had a colonoscopy when the symptoms started which ruled out anything sinister.

Garlic and onion are big issues for me, as is stress and unfortunately I love garlic & onion and have a lot of stress in my life!

My partner has IBS and he suffers terribly from bloating, gas, diarrhoea, gut pain. We've worked hard together over the last 3 years to try and get to the bottom of triggers and to try and improve his life. He kept a diary of food for a while and we identified a lactose intolerance. We worked hard to eliminate lactose (it's far more than just changing your milk!) This improved things but didn't stop it all. We then identified and tested a yeast intolerance (symptoms are different to the lactose but still very unpleasant). This all resulted in a real clean up of our eating. No yeast containing stuff (bread, beer, wine and all sorts of other things with yeast extract). Massively reduced dairy and the dairy we do eat is all lactose free. On top of that we are on month 3 of a complete diet overhaul and have ditched pretty much all pre-pared food. The exception is the odd can of baked beans. He also now takes a Biomel shake every evening (not sure if it really helps but he thinks it does). He has lost a stone (and I've lost half a stone) and is still losing and feels so much better but it does rely on my cooking all our lunches / dinners (we both wfh) which is mostly fine as I love to be in the kitchen but I will admit to occasionally wanting to just throw the towel in an make a cheese sandwich!

Finally stress is a real trigger and that he can only manage and not eliminate but one of the things that really stressed him out was not knowing when his arse was going to explode when we were out so sorting the IBS automatically reduced his stress.

We had reached the point where he was pooping only once daily and his gut felt "normal" for this first time in about 10 years, no pain, no bloat, no ridiculous gas, no diarrhoea. Then we went on vacation and despite it being self catering we were abroad and I really struggled to make the same food we normally eat and the change in diet threw him back into bad stomach and we spent half the holiday in the accomodation due to his unreliable gut (immodium really didn't help).

So yes - it can be that bad and improving it takes hard work and dedication to eating a really healthy, clean, wholefood, home made diet but it can really make a difference.

I have IBS it's been ongoing for around 15 years, certain foods at certain times of the day trigger my IBS, other times something that is just everyday food sets me off.

when it was first 'diagnosed' I had the colonoscopy and nothing was found.

I have cut out the ' irritating food' but sometimes I'll eat something in a restaurant and I'm off!! I have Imodium instants with me all the time just in case