IBS driving me crackers today - hints, tips and sympathy required please

[CheesyFeet]

I'm a regular lurker who used to post under another name but due to problems with my employer I have changed my name.

Would love to hear from anyone who suffers from IBS. I've really been struggling with it today. I'm in a very stressful situation at work atm (basically waiting to hear whether or not I've been sacked ) and it seems to be badly affecting my nether regions.

i had a bout of whaterver mine is while camping and fainted in the loos. I had to crawl out of the loo and ask someone to find my dh...

I've too had this mildly for many years. It's definitely worse at certain times of the menstrual cycle. I generally get only mild pain, very little incontinence or diarrhea but horrible bloating. Mebeverine/colofac helps (I take a double dose but only once a day). Triggers for me our business lunches or dinners - that nice mixture of stress and rich food. My most vicious attack was a huge steak dinner with my new boss in the US - ghastly. I now cope by eating a small snack before I go out for the meal and picking delicately during it. Sticking to salad, vegetables and very plain stuff helps and, if I feel an attack coming on, just eating very little at all.

Just thought of some other triggers: beer, cream, large quantities of red meat.

I am suffering with this right now & have been up all night with it.
Mine tends to flare up when I am very stressed (now is a perfect example of this), but I was told that dairy& alcohol can irritate it.
I had some herbal tablets which were reccomended to me by a friend, which helped keep it at bay. Can't remember the name, think it was acid something or other. Have also tried the peppermint tablets.

Beetroot, I had something similar to what you describe during my periods. It was like intense shooting pains & felt like it was bowel related.
My gp told me that it was just period pain, but at the back of my womb.

I've had IBS for a while, the turning point for me was when I was referred for tests by the GP and was diagnosed lactose intolerant. I've now cut out all dairy and lactose, but still get symptoms around the time of my period (that horrible gurgling tummy ...etc...!)
If I accidently eat dairy (ie a meal out) I now have the most awful stomach pains, much like many others have described.

Beetroot, that's exactly what I get from time to time. The last time (was actually only just over a week ago but before that it had been at least a couple of months), all I could do was crawl from my bathroom to my bed (room next door) and wait until the dizziness has passed. Like I said it's similar to food poisoning for me but it's short lived. My guess is that the gp will send you for a few tests just to check it is this and nothing else (which again I had but I was around 20 then!). Good luck for Weds and let us know how you get on.

Yes, good luck for Wednesday, beetroot.

Beetroot if you are only getting this at around the time of menstruation it may be endometriosis - probably endometrium attaching to the bowel, hence your symptoms. Make sure you let us know how you get on. I'll be really interested to hear what your doc says - I can compare with mine!

thanks jan, i will let you know tomorrow evening

doc say nothing to worry about take some pain killers!!!!!

Oh. So is that it , then, beety? Surely the painkillers wont help with the fainting, though?

WARNING A BIT GRAPHIC!!!

I have chronic IBS since last summer after a really bad bout of food poisonsing.
Am due to have barum(SP?) meal at hospital to identify the problem more clearly. They have ruled out chrones. Esp as not lost any weight, and rapidly putting it on!!!
I have been given some low dose of antidepressents which has a really benifcial effect on the bowel spasm ( and is good for migraines) but even at this low dose I am really drugged up and sleepy.
one tablet had a effect for two days, and I overslept one morning so the kids were late for school.
If I take it early evening , I am doped on sofa and I have lots to do every evening getting ready for the next day.
So i cant organise a suitable time for me to be brain dead, or comatose.

I have lived on boscopan tablets for months and months.
the pain is so bad that it brings on my period. I had a period for two weeks , then had two days off, then tummy started hurting and then period started again.
All the docs insist that this isnt related, but everything else has been ruled out.
Over the past year the Gps threw lots of pain relief at me, most of which made the problem worse.
I spent 5 months hidiously constipated, knocking back fibre jel three times a day etc with little effect.
Now I am on the opposite end of the problem, which means my clothes are fitting better, but on a good day i only go between 3-5 times a day.

I now have terrible piles, which is very ironic because i gave birth to four children , two of whoom were big babies, with little trouble in that direction.
Now I am always bleeding, and at one stage lost a lot of blood because of the severity of them. I cant use over counter stuff, because the food poisoning has damaged lots skin tissue out and in.

I have constant pain of varing degrees, and am always tired.
i suspect that there is nothing to be done to help my situation, and I just have to get on with it all and cope with it.

i thought the worst time was when in hospital with the food poisoning, now I think its the after effects of such a serious illness.
At least my hair and eye lashes have stopped falling out , but i have aged a great deal.

So if your planning a BBQ this summer, be careful,food poisoning , its not fun.

Williamsmummy that sounds rough.

I'm on AD's anyway, they make me very sleepy and I have piled weight on, so I can definitely sympathise there.

I really hope you get some answers.

Beety couldn't you see another doctor? Sounds fairly dismissive to me.

i am not sure what to do. I guess the painkillers wil help as they will stop the pain and i wont faint..faini=ting is due to the pain.

I am going ot have acupunture as well

Did he put it down to period pain, beety?
Do you get this much pain every month?
I would go & see another doctor & get a second opinion if you are still concerned.

A good friend of mine had severe endometriosis and was fobbed off for years by doctors saying it was "normal" (like they would know). Would def echo the others in seeking a second opinion.

yes just said it was priod pains..and there was nothing i could do about it.

I haven't read the whole post, and don't want to give anyone false hope, but I know of two people who suffered through IBS and were effectively treated through hypnotherapy. There must be some specialists out there - perhaps worth giving it a go? One friend who had the IBS said that she was definitely the skeptical type re: hypnotherapy but it still worked, to her surprise.
Hope things improve for those of you who suffer. It must be so hard.

If the pain is that bad, it should be investigated further IMO, beety. You should not be suffering that much pain.
Are you going to go back to another gp for a second opinion?

No advice on IBS but I thought I would send some {{{Hugs}}} to you and I love the new name.